News of the decision by the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf was shared by Poland's state-owned oil and gas company PGNiG, which has challenged the Nord Stream 2 AG company's request for a derogation, energetyka24.com website reported.
The judgement represents a victory for PGNiG and its German subsidiary PST, which had asked the Düsseldorf court to uphold an earlier decision by Germany's Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) not to grant an exemption to Nord Stream 2, energetyka24.com said.
"The German court shared the arguments raised" by PGNiG, "stating that Nord Stream 2, as a gas pipeline not completed before the date of the entry into force of amendment of the Gas Directive (i.e. May 23, 2019), does not meet the basic condition entitling to apply for a derogation," the Polish company said in a statement posted on its website.
"Thus, it was unequivocally confirmed that Nord Stream 2 must operate in accordance with the rules resulting from the Third Energy Package," PGNIG CEO Paweł Majewski was quoted as saying in English.
The Switzerland-based Nord Stream 2 AG company had applied to BNetzA for exemption from having to separate energy supply and generation from the operation of transmission networks, energetyka24.com reported.
Nord Stream 2 AG also sought to be relieved of having to ensure third-party access and transparent and cost-reflective tariffs, according to Poland's PGNiG.
PGNiG argued there were no formal and technical grounds for the exemption and in May last year, after a four-month process, BNetzA rejected Nord Stream 2 AG's application.
The Switzerland-based company then lodged an appeal with Düsseldorf's Higher Regional Court, which has now upheld BNetzA's decision and sided with PGNiG, according to energetyka24.com.
In its statement following the Düsseldorf court's ruling, PGNiG said that, together with the Polish government, it "has consistently taken steps to ensure that EU law is enforced" both with regard to Nord Stream 2 and other gas pipelines in Europe.
The company noted that Poland last month won a case concerning the Opal pipeline, an onshore extension of Nord Stream 1, before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
(pm/gs)
Source: energetyka24.com, pgnig.pl