Since the start of its commercial operation in 2011, OPAL gas pipeline (which transports Russian gas from the Nord Stream to the final customers in Germany and the Czech Republic, has been to a 100% exempt from EU internal energy market rules on third party access and tariff regulation.
Now, the Commission has decided that the use of only 50 % of OPAL's capacity will be exempt from third party access rules and the operation of the other 50 % of the pipeline capacity will be covered by stringent EU market rules. These rules ensure transparent and non-discriminatory access to all gas companies.
