The European Commission has drawn up plans to ensure that a new Russia-Germany gas pipeline - Nord Stream 2 - does not reshape EU energy markets for Russia's gain.
But the draft plan, a classified 10-page document seen by EUobserver, will only take effect if EU states agree, amid Germany's likely preference for handling the project without Commission involvement.
The plan called for an EU decision "authorising the opening of negotiations on an agreement between the European Union...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.