Nord Stream 2 AG claims roughly $8B from the EU under the Energy Charter Treaty, arguing the 2019 Gas Directive amendment discriminated against its pipeline. The case survived the company’s Swiss insolvency and the 2022 halt of the project. In 2025, the EU adopted Regulation 2025/1494 banning transactions connected with Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2, and in 2026 Regulation 2026/261 on phasing out Russian gas, which the claimant is now also attacking in the General Court.
LATEST DEVELOPMENT · APR 27, 2026
On 24 January 2026, the tribunal issued Procedural Order No. 19 demanding a detailed answer from the EU on whether sanctions authorisations are available so the arbitration can continue. On 27 April 2026, Nord Stream 2 AG filed an annulment action (T-264/26) against Regulation 2026/261, pleading expropriation without compensation and misuse of powers.
BACKGROUND
Nord Stream 2 AG built the twin pipeline carrying Russian gas across the Baltic Sea to Germany, an $11B project financed by Gazprom and five Western energy majors. Before the pipeline could be certified for operation, the EU extended its Third Gas Directive to offshore pipelines from third countries in 2019, a change Nord Stream 2 AG says was designed specifically to burden its project with unbundling and third-party access rules that made the pipeline commercially unworkable. The company first challenged the directive amendment directly in the EU courts (Case T-526/19) and, on 26 September 2019, separately commenced UNCITRAL arbitration against the EU under the Energy Charter Treaty, registered with the Permanent Court of Arbitration as Case No. 2020-07.
The arbitration has run for years against a backdrop of geopolitical upheaval. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led Germany to halt certification of the pipeline, the United States to designate Nord Stream 2 AG a Specially Designated National, and the company to seek protection from bankruptcy in a Swiss cantonal court. The tribunal, chaired by Ricardo Ramírez Hernández with Philippe Sands and David Unterhalter as co-arbitrators, has repeatedly had to grapple with whether the case can proceed at all given US and now EU sanctions constraining payments to counsel, experts and the arbitrators themselves.
That difficulty sharpened in 2025 when the EU adopted Regulation 2025/1494, banning transactions connected with the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines outright, and again in 2026 with Regulation 2026/261 on phasing out Russian gas imports. Nord Stream 2 AG has told the tribunal these measures risk exposing the arbitrators, the PCA and counsel to sanctions liability simply for continuing the case, prompting the tribunal’s Procedural Order No. 18 suspending proceedings and Procedural Order No. 19 demanding the EU clarify whether sanctions licences are available. The company has simultaneously gone back to the General Court, filing Case T-264/26 in April 2026 to annul the 2026 regulation as an uncompensated expropriation and a misuse of powers.
The dispute is now proceeding on two tracks at once, an ECT arbitration effectively frozen by the respondent’s own sanctions regime, and a fresh annulment action testing whether the EU can regulate away the very investment that is the subject of the arbitration. Neither the tribunal nor the General Court has yet resolved the substantive claims.
TIMELINE
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JUN 15, 2026FILINGT-264/26 published in EU Official JournalNotice of Nord Stream 2 AG’s action against the European Parliament and Council over Regulation 2026/261 was published, confirming the case had been formally registered and identifying the applicant’s counsel of record.
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APR 27, 2026FILINGNord Stream 2 AG files annulment action against Regulation 2026/261The claimant brought Case T-264/26 before the General Court seeking annulment of the EU regulation phasing out Russian gas imports, or alternatively the provisions barring imports through its pipeline, pleading expropriation without compensation and misuse of powers.
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JAN 24, 2026PROCEDURALTribunal issues Procedural Order No. 19 on sanctions authorisationsThe tribunal pressed the EU to clarify whether sanctions authorisations or licences are available to allow the arbitration, including payments to arbitrators, counsel and the PCA, to continue.
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OCT 22, 2025PROCEDURALGAR reports second sanctions-related suspensionPress coverage confirmed the tribunal reluctantly suspended the arbitration a second time over the EU’s Nord Stream transaction ban, consistent with Procedural Order No. 18.
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OCT 22, 2025PROCEDURALTribunal issues Procedural Order No. 18 suspending proceedingsThe tribunal suspended the arbitration in light of the new EU transaction ban and the claimant’s parallel General Court application.
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OCT 13, 2025FILINGNord Stream 2 AG applies to annul Article 5af of the sanctions regulationThe claimant submitted an application to the General Court of the EU for annulment of the transaction-ban provision and told the tribunal the regulation compelled it to seek a suspension of the arbitration.
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JUL 18, 2025OTHEREU adopts Regulation 2025/1494 banning Nord Stream transactionsThe Council amended Regulation 833/2014 to prohibit direct or indirect engagement in any transaction connected with the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.
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JAN 22, 2025PROCEDURALProcedural Order No. 14 on composition proceedings and hearing postponementThe tribunal addressed the claimant’s ongoing Swiss composition moratorium and its request to postpone the scheduled hearing.
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JAN 9, 2025OTHERSwiss court again extends Nord Stream 2 AG’s bankruptcy moratoriumThe Cantonal Court of Zug extended the composition moratorium protecting Nord Stream 2 AG from creditors, with the tribunal separately briefed on the insolvency timeline’s effect on the arbitration in Procedural Order No. 14.
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NOV 27, 2024JUDGMENTGeneral Court rules on remanded Gas Directive challengeIn Case T-526/19 RENV, the General Court’s Fifth Chamber, Extended Composition, ruled on Nord Stream 2 AG’s challenge to the 2019 Gas Directive amendment after the case was remanded by the Court of Justice.
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JAN 16, 2024PROCEDURALArbitration resumes after suspensionFollowing the earlier stay prompted by sanctions and insolvency, the tribunal allowed the case to move forward again, with the claimant filing further merits submissions later that year.
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JUL 14, 2023PROCEDURALTribunal rules on impossibility and stay of the arbitrationIn Procedural Order No. 11 the tribunal considered whether US sanctions made it impossible for Nord Stream 2 AG to pursue the case and addressed the EU’s damages arguments.
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JUL 12, 2022JUDGMENTCJEU partially overturns dismissal of Gas Directive challengeThe Court of Justice of the EU (Grand Chamber) held that Nord Stream 2 AG’s action against the 2019 Gas Directive amendment was partially admissible, annulled the General Court’s 2020 inadmissibility order, and referred the case back to the General Court to rule on the merits.
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JUN 30, 2022PROCEDURALTribunal issues Procedural Order No. 8 amid insolvency proceedingsThe tribunal, composed of Ricardo Ramirez Hernandez, Philippe Sands and David Unterhalter, addressed the procedural background including the Swiss composition moratorium.
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MAY 10, 2022PROCEDURALSwiss court grants Nord Stream 2 AG provisional stay of bankruptcyThe Cantonal Court of Zug suspended Nord Stream 2 AG’s bankruptcy proceedings, giving it a composition moratorium as it sought to restructure amid Western sanctions.
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FEB 23, 2022OTHERUS designates Nord Stream 2 AG a Specially Designated NationalFollowing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US Treasury designated Nord Stream 2 AG an SDN, and Germany halted certification of the pipeline, undermining the company’s ability to pursue the arbitration.
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DEC 31, 2020PROCEDURALProcedural Order No. 4 on preliminary phase on jurisdictionThe tribunal ruled on the EU’s request to bifurcate the proceedings and hold a preliminary jurisdictional phase.
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DEC 9, 2019PROCEDURALTribunal decides EU’s challenge to arbitrator Peter Rees QCThe EU challenged Peter Rees QC, an arbitrator appointed by Nord Stream 2 AG, citing a financial interest in Royal Dutch Shell, a project investor.
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SEP 26, 2019FILINGNord Stream 2 AG files notice of arbitration against the EUNord Stream 2 AG commenced UNCITRAL arbitration against the European Union under Article 26(4)(b) of the Energy Charter Treaty, later registered with the PCA as Case No. 2020-07.