Nord Stream 2 AG submitted a third permit application and an EIA to the DEA on 15 April 2019 in order to secure the interests of our shareholder and financial investors, despite our legal reservations. This south-eastern route runs through an area that was previously disputed between Poland and Denmark, and therefore not available for any project developer.
The permit application and EIA were submitted following a decision made by the DEA on 26 March. Nord Stream 2 AG, however, appealed the DEA’s decision on 17 April as we consider its request for a third permitting and consultation procedure disproportionate and illegal.
Nord Stream 2 AG already has two other separate route applications pending with the DEA. The first, applied for in April 2017, is based on the guidance received from the Danish authorities for the existing Nord Stream Pipeline and crosses Danish territorial waters. The second application, applied for in August 2018, is an alternative route in Danish EEZ passing north-west of Bornholm. At this time, the north-western route was the environmentally preferred route within the Danish EEZ.
In accordance with the permits already granted in four countries, work on the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline is ongoing in Russia, Finland, Sweden and Germany. More than 1,200 kilometres of the two lines – more than half of the total distance – have already been laid.