Thursday, July 15, 2021

Poland wins the case of the German pipeline before the CJEU


 On July 15, the Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the appeal brought by Germany against the judgment of the EU General Court in the case of the OPAL gas pipeline, the onshore branch of Nord Stream.

According to the arguments of the German side, energy solidarity was to be only a political declaration, without broad legal significance.

The CJEU upheld the judgment issued in the first instance, which was favorable to Poland.

The ruling ends a dispute that has been in courts since 2016.

The onshore branch of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in Germany, OPAL,  has been operating since 2012. This link has been a subject of dispute since 2016 when the European Commission excluded OPAL from the so-called The Third Energy Package. With this decision, the EC created simulated competition conditions that could only be met by Gazprom, a Russian company selling its gas to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline.

EC's judgment allowed Gazprom to use 100% of the pipeline and not part of it by the EU rules. Such a move sparked outrage in Central Europe. Several countries in the region, including Poland, protested. Both the Polish government and PGNiG submitted complaints to the Court of Justice of the European Union against the decision. The governments of Lithuania and Latvia stood on Poland's side and Germany's governments on the other.

On September 10, 2019, the Court of the European Union (first instance) annulled the decision of the European Commission. In the opinion of the judges, it was issued in breach of the principle of energy solidarity. The German government appealed to the CJEU (second instance), demanding the judgment to be revoked. According to the arguments of the German side, energy solidarity was to be only a political declaration, without broad legal significance.