BRUSSELS, Dec 19 Reuters European Union nations39; energy ministers were struggling on Monday to agree a cap on gas prices, an emergency measure that has split opinion across the bloc as it seeks to tame the energy crisis.

National leaders last week urged their ministers to approve the cap on Monday to finalise a policy that has been debated for months without agreement despite two emergency meetings.

After two rounds of discussions on Monday, ministers paused talks and planned to reconvene at 1500 GMT.

EU officials said Germany, Europe39;s biggest economy and gas market, and other countries sceptical of price caps, had not backed the latest compromise, but that procap countries appeared to have enough support to approve it anyway.

Nobody in Germany is against low gas prices, but we know we have to be very careful not to wish for the good but to do bad, said German economy minister Robert Habeck on Monday, ahead of the meeting.

If the EU were to agree the price cap without Germany39;s support, we39;d have to live with it, Habeck said.

To pass, the proposal requires support from a reinforced majority of 15 countries representing at least 65 of the EU population.

There are enough votes to outvote them, one EU diplomat said. But Germany will be at the heart of this new system, so it would be way better to have them on board.

Countries were considering a compromise proposed on Monday by the Czech Republic, which holds the EU39;s rotating presidency.

In the draft…