© AFP
France and Germany have struck a compromise allowing Berlin to remain the lead negotiator with Russia on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe, a proposed deal showed Friday.
France, a pivotal player in the EU gas talks, had said earlier it would support European Union oversight of new offshore energy pipelines,
a move that could have crippled plans for the undersea pipeline between Russia and Germany.
But France and Germany have now agreed to oversight from the "territory and territorial sea of the member state where the first interconnection point is located," according to a copy of the draft obtained by AFP.
The pipeline is due to emerge at the German Baltic port of Greifswald, from where gas will be distributed to other EU countries.
The draft text replaces the older wording stating the EU rules on gas imports will be applied by "the territory of the member states" and or the "territorial sea of the member states".
The draft compromise was submitted to a meeting of the EU ambassadors discussing a revision of gas market rules for the 28-nation bloc, diplomats said.
Comment: If true, Turkey is just trying to put lipstick on the Nusra pig. But they're in a tough spot. The Turks have supported Nusra for so long that it's hard to just abandon them. This last move smacks of desperation. Turkey agreed to handle the terrorists in Idlib. They failed. So when the time comes, the Syrians are legally justified in launching their Idlib offensive to cleanse the province of the thousands of al-Qaeda terrorists occupying it.