The Turkey-Bulgaria gas agreement

Question for written answer  E-000226/2024/rev.1
to the Commission
Rule 138
Lars Patrick Berg (ECR)

Nord Stream II, labelled ‘Putin’s pipeline’, was hugely controversial. The Commission questioned its compatibility with EU energy security and regulatory practices, Parliament argued that it would reinforce EU dependency on Russian gas supplies, US senators threatened crushing legal and economic sanctions against the German port of Sassnitz and the Biden administration threatened to block the project.

In stark contrast, another ‘Putin project’ – namely the agreement signed in January 2023 between Turkey’s BOTAS and Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz, which creates a route for Russian gas to enter the EU – was met with relative silence.

Can the Commission:

• 1.explain why it has taken so long to act in this case,
• 2.indicate what specific plans it has formulated to address the issue, and
• 3.clearly indicate the timeline it has set out for implementing these actions?

Submitted:24.1.2024