Several EU Member States involved in South Stream project asked Vice-President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič to clarify the situation with Russia following its announcement to stop the project. The representatives of the Member States and the Vice-President agreed that the EU must remain strongly committed to integrating Central and South-Eastern European gas markets and diversifying gas suppliers, sources and routes.
Representatives of EU Member States – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Romania and Slovenia, as well as European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič have discussed gas infrastructure priorities for Central- and South-Eastern Europe after the Russian Federation and Gazprom announced to stop the South Stream project, they said in a joint statement.
“Member States directly concerned took note of the currently unofficial nature of this announcement and invited the Vice-President to clarify the situation with the Russian side.
“All Member States agreed that the EU must remain strongly committed to integrating Central and South-Eastern European gas markets and diversifying gas suppliers, sources and routes. This is also a key objective of the Energy Union, one of the priority projects of the new Commission,” the statement said.
“The integration of gas markets and the diversification of gas supplies will namely require putting in place the necessary infrastructure and implementing harmonised rules for the benefit of customers in that region,” they added.
“This can be achieved by implementing key regional projects (e.g. LNG terminals with corresponding pipeline systems, connections to the Southern Gas Corridor, or the development of East Mediterranean and Black Sea offshore gas reserves), by improving interconnections within the region, in particular between Bulgaria and its neighbouring countries, and by improving North-South interconnections enabled with bi-directional flows,” the statement said.
“New routes operated in line with EU law can also contribute to increased security of supply in the region,” it added.
“To achieve this common objective, and in view of the vulnerability of the region as demonstrated in the recent stress tests, it is crucial to swiftly complete projects already underway and speed up development of projects of common interest identified as being of strategic importance.
“In this context Member States and the Vice-President welcomed the joint statement signed today by Greece, Bulgaria and Romania on the natural gas ‘Vertical Corridor’ connecting their countries,” the statement said.
Full statement read here
