Yesterday, things were looking bleak for Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. Nord Stream 2 isn't completely out of the woods yet. But even if the parliament blocks this compromise, it would just result in the proposal not being adopted - keeping Nord Stream safe. There has been speculation that France never intended to support the commission's proposal, but was using Nord Stream as a bargaining chip in an unrelated dispute with Germany. Given that France hadn't expressed much interest in the Nord Stream issue before this week, this seems to be the most likely explanation for the about-face.

Source: Forbes February 08, 2019 17:15 UTC