On Tuesday 11 November, MEPs endorsed the committee vote (see EUROPE 13356/12), rejecting the motion to reject the list of projects of common interest (PCI) and mutual interest (PMI) comprising priority energy infrastructure projects (delegated act to regulation 2022/869) (see EUROPE 13302/8), by 131 votes to 431 with 35 abstentions.
The motion, proposed by Marie Toussaint on behalf of the Greens/EFA group, Cornelia Ernst (The Left, German), Marisa Matias (The Left, Portuguese), Nora Mebarek (S&D, French) and Marina Mesure (The Left, French), condemned the inclusion on the list of two controversial gas pipeline projects, EastMed and Melita TransGas, as well as hydrogen infrastructure projects transporting partially or exclusively fossil hydrogen.
The CAN Europe coalition of environmental NGOs believes that the list voted through by the European Parliament “undoubtedly confirms the unbalanced rush to hydrogen”.
“Hydrogen is not the miracle solution for the energy transition, and the next European Commission must not open the door to the greenwashing strategy of the gas industry, which simply wants to see its core business of selling gas and building infrastructure continue”, said the coalition in a statement published just before the vote.
To view the motion for rejection: https://aeur.eu/f/b98 (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)