Abstract
Utrecht Journal of International and European Law (previously Merkourios) is an Open Access, peer-reviewed, student-led law journal, focusing on international and European law.The journal aims to contribute to legal scholarship on international and European law by promoting these fields' progressive development and providing an international forum for interaction between academia, practitioners and students.
Highlights
Nord Stream, the longest long-distance gas transmission pipeline (1224 km), is due to start operating in 2011.1 It enables the export of natural gas from the Russian Arctic to meet increasing2 European Union demand.3 Nord Stream’s shareholders are Gazprom of Russia (51%), Wintershall and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany, Gasunie of the Netherlands (9%) and SUEZ of France (9%).4 Besides the terrestrial pipelines in Russia and Germany,5 the project includes submarine gas lines from Vyborg to Greifswald.6The Nord Stream project has raised a number of issues concerning its impact on the region’s energy security and geopolitics
It stipulates that coastal States shall, in normal circumstances, grant their consent for marine scientific research projects performed by other States in their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or on their continental shelf and such consent shall not be delayed or denied unreasonably
The transboundary environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Nord Stream consortium did not include in its risk assessment these vast amounts of chemical agents allegedly dumped in the Baltic Sea by the USSR’s navy after 1947, which raises the question of scientific uncertainty
Summary
Nord Stream, the longest long-distance gas transmission pipeline (1224 km), is due to start operating in 2011.1 It enables the export of natural gas from the Russian Arctic to meet increasing European Union demand. Nord Stream’s shareholders are Gazprom of Russia (51%), Wintershall and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (both 15,5%), Gasunie of the Netherlands (9%) and SUEZ of France (9%). Besides the terrestrial pipelines in Russia and Germany, the project includes submarine gas lines from Vyborg to Greifswald.. Estonia’s rejection of the Nord Stream consortium’s application to conduct sub-sea surveys in its EEZ raises the question of whether its position was in conformity with Article 246(3) of the LOSC It stipulates that coastal States shall, in normal circumstances, grant their consent for marine scientific research projects performed by other States in their EEZ or on their continental shelf and such consent shall not be delayed or denied unreasonably. Whereas in 2005 the Russian vessels conducted marine scientific research in the Estonian EEZ in breach of Article 246(2) of the LOSC, the lawfulness of the Estonian authorities’ rejection of the Nord Stream consortium’s application to conduct scientific research in its EEZ in 2007 is subject to different interpretations in light of Part XIII of the LOSC The latter may be regarded as a consequence of the imprecise formulation of Article 246(5)(a) of the LOSC. The precedential Nord Stream project’s EIA is scrutinised to better understand the role an EIA has in States’ deliberations on whether to grant a permit for laying submarine pipelines in their EEZ
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
