“Who is afraid of Nord Stream 2?”

The EU should welcome the controversial gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, despite deteriorating relations with Russia, writes Karel Beckman in an in-depth article for Energy Post. “For Europe, there seems no reason to be afraid of Nord Stream 2,” writes Beckman. It had a sound economic rationale behind it and the EU’s successful creation of a competitive, integrated gas market had made the geopolitical argument largely redundant. “Of course, it is still a bitter pill for existing transit countries, such as Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, to see their gas transit income reduced. That, however, is how free markets are supposed to work,” writes Beckman.

Read the article in German here.

Also read the CLEW factsheet Germany’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.