Abstract
This article aims to explain the influence of different dimensions of political deliberation over the two strings of the Nord Stream pipeline on the European Union’s ability to act as a unified actor with coherent strategy in the realm of global energy diplomacy. This study concentrated on four main cleavages of the project’s political contestation: international, supranational, transatlantic and environmental. The analysis of the Nord Stream project’s political contestation implies four basic insights. The first one is the absence of principal unity among EU member states regarding both of their economic interests and interpretation of key political developments on the continent. Second, the market-oriented spirit of EU legislation complicated the incorporation of any broader geopolitical considerations in decision-making over the pipeline’s future. Third, the EU’s overdependence on the US in geostrategic issues highlighted problems in realization of idea of “geopolitical Europe” as an independent actor with a coherent strategy on the international level. Fourth, the policies for reaching each of the three broad goals of EU energy policies (marketization, securitization and decarbonization) are often contradictory between each other, which was exemplified by the presented case.
Highlights
The issue of pipeline Nord Stream in recent years turned to be one of the most heatedly discussed topics in international relations on the European continent.This article aims to explain the influence of different dimensions of political deliberation over the two strings of the Nord Stream pipeline on the European Union’s ability to act as a unified actor with coherent strategy in a realm of global energy diplomacy
In order to avoid the confusion in terms and to underline the continuity of the main political idea staying behind the construction of both strings, we would name all four lines in general Nord Stream project, and the first string – Nord Stream pipeline
Apart from described in other section political struggle on the platform of European Council, the anti-pipeline states managed to implement measures for influencing the process of object’s construction: proposing alternative to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline roots (Amber pipeline advocated by Poland and Baltic countries at the beginning of 2010s); bulding new gas insfrastructure with co-financing from EU funds to minimize own dependency on Russia (LNG terminals in Polish Swinoujscie and Lithuanian Klaipeda; Gas Interconnector between Poland and Lithiania (GIPL), Baltic pipe between Danemark and Poland; Balticconnector between Estonia and Finland) (Vicari, 2019:11-15); complicating Gazprom’s pipeline construction by legal means (6.45 billion euro fine issued for the participating in Nord Stream 2 construction companies by the Polish competition watchtdog in 2020 (EURACTIV, 2020))
Summary
The issue of pipeline Nord Stream in recent years turned to be one of the most heatedly discussed topics in international relations on the European continent. This article aims to explain the influence of different dimensions of political deliberation over the two strings of the Nord Stream pipeline on the European Union’s ability to act as a unified actor with coherent strategy in a realm of global energy diplomacy. Most of the existing studies highlight often some particular aspect of the Nord Stream project neglecting the multidimensional essence of the issue. It represents the main drawback of existing scholarship. The first section would be briefly dedicated to the history of the evolution of the Nord Stream pipeline project from the 1990s until the current time with paying attention to its broader political significance.
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