Senior EU Parliament Member Welcomes EU Council's Mandate to Discuss Revised Gas Directive
Jerzy Buzek, chairman of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee of the European Parliament, welcomed on Friday receiving a mandate by the Romanian presidency of the EU Council to begin negotiations with the European Parliament on a revised version of the text of the EU Gas Directive
Earlier in the day, the Romanian presidency of the EU Council announced that the EU member states' ambassadors agreed to provide it with the mandate to discuss the issue with the EU Parliament.
"I welcome the positive news from the Council - @ro2019eu [Romanian presidency of the EU Council] got the mandate to negotiate the Gas Directive revision! I very much count on constructive trialogue on Tuesday in Strasbourg," Buzek wrote on his Twitter page.
In November 2017, the European Commission proposed extending EU energy rules to gas pipelines from third countries to Europe. In particular, the commission seeks the right to demand a separation of gas sales and pipeline operating activities, as well as third-party access to a pipeline.
European Commission's Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said in January that Romania, as current chairman of the EU Council, had submitted for consideration a revised version of the amendments to the EU Gas Directive, which could affect Gazprom's gas pipeline construction projects, especially Nord Stream 2, and the extension of the TurkStream gas pipeline to the European countries.