European Parliament directorate says MEP’s encounters over dinners fall outside ‘scope of mandatory publication’
“Mr Kelly had no official role at the meetings and was not a speaker and did not have access to the list of attendees prior or after the event,” the MEP’s team informed the European Parliament’s directorate in a statement. “Interactions in question were short passing remarks of general points. No communication was made with any stakeholder prior to the debate dinners, including in relation to any sort of side meetings.
The dinners were dedicated to debating the energy performance of buildings, biomethane and a planned revision of hydrogen rules. Mr Kelly has strongly denied favouring the gas industry, saying he meets a wide variety of stakeholders as a vital part of policymaking. The EPP was strongly internally divided on the buildings directive, and ultimately their MEPs split between abstaining, opposing and supporting it. This allowed just enough votes for it to pass in Strasbourg this week.
Dublin Green MEP Ciarán Cuffe, who led negotiations to find a deal, said Mr Kelly should be given credit for working to persuade the EPP not to block the deal.“I want to acknowledge Seán Kelly’s role in getting this deal across the line. I also understand that he argued strongly internally for the file within his group, albeit with the concessions he proposed. If the EPP had opposed it, it would not have passed.
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