Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 30 / Trend V. Zhavoronkova/
The European Commission stays committed to the development a pipeline through Central-Eastern Europe, a source at the Energy Department of the European Commission told Trend on Monday.
"We are working on building up the necessary infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe," the source said.
According to the source, the Commission believes that in the medium term, further pipelines are necessary and it is realistic to connect Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary and Austria.
In late June the consortium of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field development selected the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) as the gas transportation route to the European markets. TAP is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and then to Western Europe
Nabucco West was the second pipeline that competed for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe. It was proposed to transport gas from the Turkish-Bulgarian border, transiting Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania to the Central European Gas Hub at Baumgarten, Austria.
The source at the European Commission said that with an effective and functioning internal energy market and the necessary infrastructure and reverse flows in place, once the Azeri gas enters the EU, it can be transported anywhere in Europe.
"Interconnections championed by the European Commission, will secure the ability of gas to reach member states that have just one or only few suppliers, such as Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary," he added.
The source also mentioned that in October, the European Commission intends to publish an EU-wide list of 'Projects of Common Interests' (PCI).
According to the source, those energy infrastructure projects could have access to co-financing under the EU funds 'Connecting Europe Facility' und will benefit from fast permit procedures.
Earlier Reuters with the reference to EU diplomats reported that Nabucco West along with the TAP project is included on the list of PCI.