Russia challenges EU energy market rules
GENEVA
(AP) — Russia has filed a complaint against the European Union's energy
market laws claiming they violate international rules, the World Trade
Organization said Thursday.
Associated Press
Russia challenges EU energy market rules
By JOHN HEILPRIN
8 hours ago
Among the stakes in the challenge to EU policy are how much control Russia's state-controlled gas company, Gazprom, will be able to exert over European pipelines and the degree to which Europe can diversify its supply lines.
Russia's case takes aim at the EU's so-called Third Energy Package, a bundle of laws that bans suppliers from owning transit facilities, such as pipelines. The laws took effect in September 2009 with the aim of opening up European gas and electricity markets.
In
particular, the EU laws will affect the South Stream pipeline, in which
Russia's Gazprom holds a 50 percent stake. The pipeline is due to
provide gas from Russia to Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia,
Austria and Italy by running under the Black Sea and circumventing
Ukraine. It is expected to ship up to 63 billion cubic meters of gas
from 2018.
European officials
have warned Gazprom it would have to allow third-party gas producers to
use the South Stream pipeline to comply with its new regulations. Russia
is Europe's third-largest trading partner and its biggest gas and oil
supplier, providing Europe with about a quarter of its gas.
Russia
argues that the EU regulations are "inconsistent" with international
trade rules on subsidies, services and other measures, the WTO says. The
next step is for Russian-EU diplomats to try to settle their
differences through consultations at the WTO. After that, an arbitration
panel could be set up.
According
to a WTO statement, the dispute focuses on the production, supply and
transmission of natural gas or electricity, alleged discriminatory
certification requirements, and access to network capacity by
transmission service operators. The Geneva-based WTO oversees the rules
of trade between nations that affect the flow of goods and services,
exports and imports.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin has been focusing on energy relations with the
EU since well before the Kremlin's annexation of Crimea or the unrest in
Ukraine's east, which brought into sharper focus the 28-nation bloc's
close proximity, energy dependence and trade ties to Russia.
Since
at least 2012, Moscow has described the EU energy market regulations as
discriminatory against Gazprom and argued that South Stream should be
exempt from the market regulations.
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