We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
GERMANY’S ENERGY REGULATOR suspended the approval process for Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline today, dealing another setback to the geopolitically sensitive project and causing Europe’s sky-high gas prices to soar further.
The regulator said the Swiss-based “Nord Stream 2 AG” operating company first needed to become compliant with German law before it could be certified, potentially delaying the project’s start date.
Benchmark European gas prices jumped around 10 percent higher on the announcement, adding to jitters on a continent already facing soaring energy bills — with winter fast approaching.
Critics have in recent weeks accused Moscow of intentionally limiting gas supplies to Europe and driving up prices in an effort to hasten the launch of Nord Stream 2, a claim Russia denies.
US, EU criticism
Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom holds a majority stake in Nord Stream 2. Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall, France’s Engie, the Anglo-Dutch firm Shell and Austria’s OMV are also involved.
The 10-billion-euro project ($12 billion) has for years been dogged by delays and drawn fierce criticism from Germany’s eastern European Union allies like Poland and from the United States.
The Baltic Sea pipeline is set to double supplies of cheap natural gas from Russia to Germany, which the EU’s top economy says is needed to help it transition away from coal and nuclear energy.
But opponents say the recently completed pipeline will increase Europe’s energy dependence on Russia — which already provides a third of Europe’s gas.
Crucially, the pipeline also bypasses Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, depriving that country of much-needed transit fees.
Washington has called the project a “bad deal for Europe”.
Ukraine — in conflict with Russia since Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea — has warned that the pipeline could be used by Moscow as a “dangerous geopolitical weapon”.
Nevertheless, the US earlier this year waived sanctions on the project imposed by former President Donald Trump, as the Biden administration looked to shore up transatlantic relations.
Delay welcomed
The pipeline was finally completed in September but is waiting for the approval process to be completed before it can go online.
Like its Nord Stream 1 predecessor, the 1,200-kilometre (745-mile) pipeline will be able to ship around 55 billion cubic metres of gas annually from Russia to Europe, with Germany as the main transit hub.
Germany’s energy regulator said the certification procedure “will remain suspended until the main assets and human resources” have been transferred from the Nord Stream 2 parent company to a new German subsidiary that will own and operate the German part of the pipeline.
Germany’s energy regulator has four months to give its green light for Nord Stream 2. Before the suspension, the review was scheduled to last until early January.
After that, the European Commission still needs to give its recommendation.
Today’s suspension will likely slow down the process. Should the operator start using the pipeline without awaiting certification, it risks being fined.
Germany’s economy ministry said the suspension was “purely regulatory” and that “if the requirements are met, the (regulator) can continue its review within the remaining four-month period”.
Nord Stream 2 AG said it was setting up the German subsidiary “to ensure compliance with applicable rules and regulations”.
“We are not in the position to comment on details of the procedure, its possible duration and impacts on the timing of the start of the pipeline operations,” it added.
The halt was welcomed by Germany’s Green party, which opposes Nord Stream 2 and is in the final stages of forming a coalition government with the Social Democrats and the liberal FDP party.
Greens MP Oliver Krischer said Gazprom kept giving the impression “of not taking German and European law seriously”.
The suspension will “significantly delay the launch of the pipeline, which is therefore unlikely to play a role this winter,” he told Germany’s Rheinische Post newspaper.
The NGO Environmental Action Germany (DUH) also applauded the hold-up.
It urged Germany’s incoming government to cancel “Europe’s biggest fossil fuel project” altogether.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Why not just reduce the men’s pay down ? They all get paid way too much anyway
@GRONG: Chris Evans could surely do with a lower salary, but Graham Norton is worth every penny.
@GRONG:
The BBC are competing for talent on an open market. If they reduce the likes of Graham Nortons salary, he may go looking elsewhere for better terms
@Tweety McTweeter: let him go elsewhere, in reality he would have to leave Britain to earn more.
Gary Lineker gets nearly 2 million for a show that is presenter-proof. Ratings would be unchanged if Dan Walker or Gabby Logan presented. It’s strange how it can be justified.
@Derek Goulding: people forget that he also presents the most popular radio show in Britain. His breakfast show on Radio 2 attracts millions of listeners. Not saying he deserves his huge pay. But he presents more than just MOTD.
I wonder what their wages are compared to their viewship numbers. Are they advocating for equal pay despite being less popular or profitable? Also, you’ll never see feminists push for equal pay in modeling, fashion jobs, pornography, or any job which women are paid vastly more than men. Also, you’ll never see feminists push for gender quotas in dangerous jobs. 99% of workplace fatalities are men, and that’s the way feminists like it.
@50 Pence: isn’t Oprah one of the highest paid TV stars in the world. Why don’t feminists complain at her pay being so much more than many male equivalents
@gjpb: because she owns the production company so paid herself?
@gjpb: not a public service broadcaster either, paid for by a government enforced payment.
The wages has to do with ratings. It just happens that the most successful BBC presenters are men. Pull up your socks and stop moaning ladies
@Ger Murphy: male and female co-hosts on the same show are paid vastly different amounts
@Ger Murphy: Chris Evans? It is nothing to do with ratings, but he you can detail how a female newsreader in the same news bulletin can be paid less then men, but prove it to be down to ratings then I am happy to be convinced.
@Paul Fahey: and how many years is Evans there? Years
.. Not that I like the guy he’s an absolute plum
@Dave O Keeffe: the male in the cases that were highlighted in the guardian was doing the show for a longer period as well as doing additional shows that the female was not doing
@Paul Fahey: Chris Evans has a breakfast show on Radio 2 with 8 million listeners but i suppose if you don’t like him they should reduce his wages
@Dave O Keeffe: not true
If they think they are being underpaid why don’t they leave and get a pay raise elsewhere?
This sort of stuff makes me sick. It’s cultural marxism. Good example is Emily Maitlis, i’m sorry but she does NOT do the same job as Evan Davis. Davis is the anchor Newsnight host, does it 3 nights a week during the three nights with the highest viewership and often when the most complex political stories are breaking. Maitlis anchors it one or two times a week, often on a Friday night when no-one is watching and she does some reporting for the show. There is no way in heck they are doing the same work, yet she is hopping on the gender bandwagon and likely to get a big pay rise. Sickening.
@Fred Jensen: and there was you last year arguing that a Brexit vote would effect workers rights and equality.
@Fred Jensen: I didn’t realise complex political stories broke on the same days every week
@Dave O Keeffe:
Then you don’t know much about politics, politicians have the weekend off too usually.
There is a lady in work getting paid more than me yet we do the same job. But to be fair she is selling more..
More pay gap nonsense. People just eat this up without looking at sources themselves. If you are paid less in violation of the legislation in place it would be simple, sue them. But they’re not, they are paid according to their original negotiations, ratings, work load, length of service etc. If there was a gap because you are a woman it would be illegal. Any gap there is, is because the market doesn’t value you the same – and that market contains 53% women btw. I was told on here by a feminist to shut up whinging, let me direct that back at you now, shut up whinging and do better at your job. Stop looking for more money for doing less and being of less value to the market.
They should stop moaning & be grateful for the high salaries they already are earning.
Must be galling for feminists to have to admit that despite the inroads made through gender quota initiatives men in media are held in much higher esteem by the public right across Western civilization.
What people get paid is a lot more complex than their gender. It seems the women are just using this gender thing as an excuse to up their wages. The market for hiring male presenters seems a lot more competitive for the male presenters, thus the higher wages. Its nothing to do with gender inequality. Its the market.
Not this again. If there was such a thing as “pay gap” then why don’t company’s get women instead of men as they would save more money. It because it is a bunch of nonsense.
Give us money because we are women, that’s what all this nonsense is turning into. How about show viewership/listenership figures, how about show hours worked. This is just more of the pay gap lie which is an earnings gap. They never compare like with like , they never show hours worked, type of jobs worked. Its just play school economics where they take all male earnings v female earnings and compare only that. If you want the true representation of whats going on the show the ” Gender Performance gap”.
This would not happen in Ireland as Dee Forbes DG of Telly Eireann looking for a huge licence fee increase for the cosy quango and all the so called RTE stars only release their salaries nearly on foot of a high court order.All journalists are paid far too much a bit like CEOs in the goverment friendly charity sector. Openess and transparency for every institution that gets public money but not RTE as they know they are a Goverment propoganda machine.
Ah yes, but how much do gay people get paid in comparison to straight people, that’s the real question of our times.
It’s beyond absurd to suggest there is any gender gap in pay at the BBC, Fiona Gormless Bruce has little to complain about not the ghastly Claudia winkerman. It’s all about talent and negotiations and it would seem a damned good agent, this said is it being seriously suggested all women at the BBC are paid the same as Fiona Bruce? If so it would be bankrupted. As for the Male’s, again it’s Talent, Ratings and negotiations, Chris Evans is a multi millionaire and was so long before his stint at the BBC. The only surprise has to be Jeremy Vine, WTF is going on there, must be the prouncing around the Election night virtual reality set I guess
Disappointing comments for the most part on this. I am so sick and tired of men dominating radio and television. Really galling that the few women who are in the BBC are being paid substantially less than the men. It is illegal to discriminate on gender. Men are not better broadcasters than women they just get more chances. Are you on the side of fairness or the old white man elite ?
@carodeer: what rubbish.look at the amount of female presenters on TV.
No doubt you now want quotas on TV too
@carodeer: Fairness. Which is why i disagree with you. You may be sick of the male presenters but that’s your opinion. Some men are paid more because they are more popular. It is illegal to discriminate on gender so obviously you agree this must not be the reason for the pay difference. It may be because they are not worth that level of pay, or don’t do the extra shows and research required. Just maybe its not because women are victims again. Maybe its because they are not as good.
Let’s look at this absurd idea of a gender pay gap:
We live in a capitalist society. The main goal of the majority companies is to make profits.
Let’s assume men and women do exactly the same job across the board. Now let’s assume the women get paid 25% less than the men.
What should the business do?
Simple answer: Hire all women and no men.
QED…And I didn’t need an econometric model, just common sense.
Claire Balding??? Christ, under no circumstances should she be equally high paid…
The problem here is determining what equal work means. Let’s say a man presents for 3 hours at the BBC and a woman presents for 3 hours…Should they get paid the same?
Well no. Not if the man is Graham Norton and the woman is Claire Balding…
Tá sé bréige. Níl sé fíor ar fad! NUACHT BRÉIGE!
The best way to solve this would be to only employ men.
@TehJurolan: or they get Chris Evans to declare his gender as non-binary
What I want to know is why the hell are there not more black people and Muslims and Chinese in top positions in our Northern European Christian country, it’s a disgrace, is what it is. It was bad enough when it was discovered that there were hardly any black people and Chinese people and Muslims to be found in the country at all(thank God we’ve been rectifying that disgusting situation) but NOW THIS – UNBELIEVABLE!!
Explains a female actress taking over Dr. Who role?
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say