Eva Kaili’s sister Madalena is trying to delete her company from the EU transparency files

While Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera claims that pressure has increased on Eva Kaili to admit her guilt over Qatargate, Politico deals with the MEP’s sister, Madalena.

According to a report by the well-known paper, Madalena Kaili is seeking a new, “clean” slate since she wants to delete her company from the EU’s transparency records.

Politico recalls that the Greek non-profit company MADE Group was involved in projects related to those promoted by Eva Kaili in the European Parliament, while the former vice-president of the European Parliament was present at the events organized by her younger sister.

In the same report, it is recalled that the MADE Group applied for and won EU tenders, while it once received 105,172 euros from a pilot program promoted by Eva Kaili in the European Parliament.

In Brussels, Politico continues, Madalena Kaili was known as the executive director of ELONtech, a technology “observatory” the events of which were sometimes held at the European Parliament with Eva Kaili as a speaker.

After the Qatargate scandal broke late last year, ELONtech tried to become “invisible”, removing all references to the name “Kaili” and telling its unpaid advisers that it was “obliged to curtail its operations” due to “unforeseen and turbulent conditions,” according to a December 14, 2022 email obtained by Politico.

Traces of ELONtech’s activities in Brussels, however, survive on LobbyFacts.eu, a website that maintains data from the EU Transparency Register, which tracks lobbying in the Union. In fact, Madalena Kaili recently asked LobbyFacts.eu to delete all relevant information from the website.

“I hereby request the deletion of the data found under the name ELONTECH, European Observatory of New Technologies of European Justice, of which I am a co-founder,” Madalena Kaili wrote in a Dec. 30 email to LobbyFacts.eu, which was also seen by Politico.

“They have been falsely entered on this platform, they are not a legal entity, nor do they operate as a lobbying organization,” claims Eva’s sister Kaili.

What LobbyFacts.eu answered

Vicky Cann, one of the activists who manages LobbyFacts.eu, which is run by the Corporate Europe Observatory and Lobby Control, told Politico that Kaili sent several more emails asking for ELONtech’s information to be removed.

Cann added that all the data was taken “from the EU Lobby Transparency Register, so all the information we show came from there and was self-reported”.

The email of attorney Michalis Dimitrakopoulos

In an email to Politico, Maddalena Kaili’s (as well as her sister’s) lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, agreed that “ELONtech had no involvement in the development of the EU Blockchain Observatory or contribution at any point.” Mr. Dimitrakopoulos also added that ELONtech “had no legal entity, never received European funding and had nothing to do with lobbying services.”

“We, too, do not know why (ELONtech) falsely appeared in this registry without any justification,” the lawyer said, adding that he had contacted the Transparency Registry about the matter and was awaiting a response.

Whoever did it, the Transparency Registry entry for ELONtech contains its correct address and staff phone number — although that information can be retrieved from an event promotion page on ELONtech’s website.

Politico notes that Mr. Dimitrakopoulos did not immediately respond to further questions about who may have created the listing without Madalena Kaili’s knowledge.

As of press time, the Transparency Registry Secretariat had not responded to Politico’s questions about the possibility that ELONtech had been added to the registry by someone outside the organization.