A part is pictured at the construction site of the so-called Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Lubmin, northeastern Germany, on March 26, 2019. | Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images Nord Stream 2 goes to EU court over gas rules Decision to call for annulment is the latest push by the Gazprom-led company to avoid being subject to updated EU law.

The company behind the contentious Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has asked the EU's Court of Justice to annul recent changes to the bloc's gas market rules, which it says discriminate against the project.

The decision to call for an annulment is the latest push by the Gazprom-led company to avoid being subject to the updated law, which it says endangers the billions of euros that have been invested in the project. It also comes as debate is growing in the U.S. over whether or not to sanction companies working to help build the pipeline.

The EU’s Gas Directive was revamped earlier this year and extends the bloc’s gas liberalization rules to cover new offshore gas pipelines from non-EU countries.

It’s an effort to bring the Russia-backed project — opposed by the European Commission and many Central European countries but supported by Germany — under the EU’s regulatory umbrella.

The pipeline is to run 1,200 kilometers from Russia to Germany, but the new rules would only apply to the section of Nord Stream 2 in German territorial waters, a stretch of about 50 km — making the application of the new gas rules complicated and costly for the company.

The company has filed its call for an annulment with the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It follows a separate legal threat made by Nord Stream 2 earlier this year, when it warned that it is considering suing the EU under international law unless it receives a derogation from the rules.