“Explaining Germany’s contradiction: Energy Union and Nord Stream 2”

Germany’s foreign policy with Russia is one of the reasons why the federal government backs the creation of an EU Energy Union at the same time as the construction of the contentious pipeline Nord Stream 2 that is to connect the two countries, writes Severin Fischer for Europe’s World. “The combination of Germany’s foreign policy tradition vis-à-vis Russia, its support for the German gas industry and its different interpretation of the Energy Union project can serve to explain Berlin’s support for Nord Stream 2.” The cooperation of Russian and German businesses on the project was seen as a way to “keeping a window for political dialogue” between the two countries open, despite the conflict brought on by the annexation of Crimea, according to Fischer.

Read the article in English here.

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