The European Parliament rejected by a large majority (177 votes in favour, 497 against and 22 abstentions) on Wednesday 9 March a motion to object to the fifth list of priority cross-border energy infrastructure projects of the European Union, known as ‘projects of common interest’ (PCIs).
The PCI status allows these projects to benefit from accelerated authorisation procedures and to become eligible for European funding under the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ (CEF).
The inclusion of gas projects in the list drawn up by the European Commission (see EUROPE 12836/3) had angered some MEPs who refuse to grant European funds to fossil gas (see EUROPE 12831/11).
In particular, some had denounced the presence of the Melita gas pipeline project, aimed at transporting gas between Sicily and Malta, while Yorgen Fenech, a former board member of the company operating the pipeline, Electrogas Malta Ltd, was placed under investigation for the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was investigating suspected corruption.
On the Greens/EFA Group’s initiative, the request for an objection was supported by all the Greens, almost all The Left Group, about 40 members of Renew Europe, but very few MEPs from the S&D (19), EPP (4), Identity and Democracy (1), ECR (1) Groups, as well as some Non-attached Members (8). This is not sufficient to have the list rejected.
As it is a delegated act, Parliament had no possibility to amend the list, but only to oppose it.
Lamenting the outcome of the vote, MEP Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA, France) said: “There is no room for further investment in gas when tackling the climate crisis. Moreover, the war in Ukraine and the current surge in energy prices show that investments in fossil gas are increasing import dependency, raising costs for Europeans and financing conflicts”. See the result of the roll-call vote: https://aeur.eu/f/ok (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)