Public Hearing of the Committee on Petitions, Brussels, 29 January 2008

Following petitions submitted to the European Parliament in 2006 by Lithuanian and Polish petitioners, the European Parliament Petitions Committee decided to respond with a report on the environmental impact of Nord Stream. The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the Committee on Foreign Affairs will also contribute to the report.

The Petitions Committee aims to adopt its report by June 2008 and to submit it for adoption in Plenary in July 2008.

In order to foster an open debate about Nord Stream, the Petitions Committee fixed a Public Hearing on 29 January 2008, to which all Members of the European Parliament were invited. The Hearing attracted a high turnout, essentially from Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Members of the European Parliament.

Nord Stream’s Managing Director Matthias Warnig and Permitting Director Dr. Dirk von Ameln were also invited to speak. Other panellists included Rambøll, the independent consultancy carrying out environmental impact studies on Nord Stream, and high-level energy, environmental and other relevant stakeholders from EU institutions, think tanks and NGOs, as well as third-party experts.

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas reminded Members of the European Parliament that it was not the role of the European Commission to carry out Environmental Impact Assessments, but rather a matter for the countries concerned. He also noted that Nord Stream had participated in numerous consultations and appeared to be fulfilling all of its obligations under international legislation. He also praised Nord Stream’s transparency.

EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs explained how Nord Stream will enhance Europe’s security of energy supply by bringing additional natural gas through a new route. Therefore, the EU has granted it priority status under the Trans-European Energy Network (TEN-E) guidelines. Piebalgs stressed that Nord Stream is not the only supply option, but it is a good one, and therefore should be seen as complement, not a threat, to other projects that also need to be completed. He urged Members of the European Parliament to support the Nord Stream project.

Nord Stream welcomed the initiative by the Petitions Committee as it provided a great opportunity to further advance the dialogue with the European Parliament. Nord Stream was unable to answer all questions in the time allotted during the hearing. Therefore, all members of the respective European Parliament Committees received replies to outstanding questions in writing.

Presentations and the document containing responses to open questions can be downloaded here:

Matthias Warnig, Managing Director, Nord Stream AG: Abstract Statement

Dr. Dirk von Ameln, Permitting Director, Nord Stream AG: Presentation

Neel Strobaek, Project Director, Rambøll: Presentation

Nord Stream - Q+A document on the Public Hearing

Link to speech by Stavros Dimas