The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday (12 February) against a motion to reject a proposed list of priority energy projects, ignoring the demands of Greens and leftists who warned against funding new gas infrastructure.

Lawmakers in Strasbourg voted against a motion tabled by the Greens that would have rejected the so-called fourth EU list of Projects of Common Interests (PCI), presented in October last year by the previous European Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker.

That motion was rejected on Wednesday by an overwhelming majority: 443 votes against, 169 in favour and 36 abstentions, according to Euractiv.com. “In a transition period, we need energy from gas as a necessary bridge towards even cleaner, climate neutral energy sources,” said Cristian Bușoi, a Romanian MEP from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) who chairs the Parliament’s industry committee.

The Commission’s proposed list contains 151 energy infrastructure projects, 70% of which are related to electricity and smart grids. But it also contains 32 gas infrastructure projects.