Chornyi & Marhold: In Uncharted Waters: The Contested Legal and Political Landscape of Nord Stream 2

Vasyl Chornyi (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC) & Anna-Alexandra Marhold (Leiden Univ. - Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies) have posted In Uncharted Waters: The Contested Legal and Political Landscape of Nord Stream 2 (in European Energy Law Report, MM Roggenkamp & C Banet eds.,forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Energy is often at the heart of geopolitical struggle. But even when measured against the standards of the industry, it is hard to find a project as politically charged and controversial as the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) gas pipeline running from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. In this contribution, we unpack several aspects concerning the project and shed light on its crucial legal and political dimensions. We start by providing a brief description of the historical background of the NS2 project. We then turn to its relevant EU and international legal aspects, after which we discuss the recent instances of political and legal contestation surrounding this project, including the US sanctions legislation on NS2, as well as Investor-State Arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement proceedings. The final section will provide a conclusion based on the insights of our study.