BERLIN, November 9. /TASS/. Germany takes a dim view of the plans of the European Commission (EC) to amend the Gas Directive in order to put the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline construction project under the European management, the Handelsblatt daily wrote on Thursday.

So far, the German government has supported the project, which is viewed as a commercial one in Berlin, the newspaper said. The country’s Association of Energy and Water Industries sticks to the view. "Regarding the Nord Stream 2, the issue is about a private economic project," chief executive of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries Stefan Kapferer was quoted as saying.

The German government has also rejected the EC’s initiative to grant it a mandate on negotiations with Russia, which Brussels sees resulting in placing the Nord Stream 2 project under the requirements of the EU’s Third Energy package.

Earlier the European Commission adopted amendments to the Gas Directive, which is part of the Third Energy Package of the European Union, stipulating that all gas pipelines running through the EU’s territory should meet the European regulation.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to come into service at the end of 2019. The pipeline is set to run from the Russian coast along the Baltic Sea bed to the German shore. Each of the pipeline’s two stretches will have a capacity of 27.5 bln cubic meters. The new pipeline will double the capacity of the first stretch and will basically follow its route.