Germany Considers Tighter Investment Rules Amid Nord Stream 2 Rumors
(Bloomberg) — The German government is examining measures that could help it stop a potential sale of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline after speculation emerged earlier this year over reviving pipeline gas deliveries from Russia.
Berlin is considering amending the legal basis for investment screening, the economy ministry said in response to a parliamentary inquiry from Green party lawmakers including Michael Kellner, which was first reported by Der Spiegel magazine on Friday.
Germany’s Foreign Trade and Payments Act wouldn’t currently allow Germany to block a sale of struggling Nord Stream 2 AG as it’s a Swiss-based company, it said. Under the regulation, an investment screening is only triggered when it concerns a company that is not part of the European Union or the European Free Trade Association, which Switzerland is a member of.
Speculation about the future of the pipelines started swirling after US President Donald Trump began to push for an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine earlier this year, with some industry officials in east Germany openly supporting the country’s return to the cheaper pipeline gas. Earlier media reports pointed to interest from a US investor in the pipeline assets.
The government has pushed back against calls to revive the pipeline project that links Germany and Russia, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently supporting European Union efforts to include the partially damaged links in sanctions against Russia.
–With assistance from Petra Sorge.
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