South Stream bilateral deals breach EU law, Commission says

On 4 December 2013 the European Commission said that the bilateral agreements for the construction of the Gazprom-favoured South Stream gas pipeline – concluded between Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria – were all in breach of EU law and needed to be renegotiated from scratch.

EU officials say the decision has nothing to do with new talks on an EU-Ukraine free trade treaty. But the South Stream decision squared with Ukraine's threat to leave the European Energy Community, a club of south-east European states, due to lack of EU "solidarity."

The gas news came one day before Ukrainian envoys came to the EU capital for talks on reviving the trade pact.

EurActiv reported on the 6 December 2013 that six EU countries are in "a mess" over the bilateral deals they signed with Russia on the South Stream gas pipeline, with Bulgaria the most desperate to get EU help.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Serbia hosts South Stream ‘first welding’ ceremony http://www.europeansources.info/record/serbia-hosts-south-stream-first-welding-ceremony/

Kapital, 05.12.13: EU opposes construction of South Stream (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/4380041-eu-opposes-construction-south-stream

ESO: Background information: Ashton and EU ministers to skip Kiev meeting http://www.europeansources.info/record/ashton-and-eu-ministers-to-skip-kiev-meeting-ukraine-a-thorn-in-the-side-of-nato-russia-ties/

EurActiv, 06.12.13: EU countries ask for help to escape from South Stream 'mess' http://www.euractiv.com/energy/caught-south-stream-trap-bulgari-news-532179

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