He insists the tech ‘observatory’ he co-founded is not a ‘lobby’ organization
Eva’s sister Kaili is reportedly trying to remove her company from EU transparency records, according to a Politico report, which emphasizes that she insists that the technology “observatory” she co-founded is not a “lobby” organization.
In Brussels, Eva Kaili’s sister Madalena was known as the executive director of ELONtech, a technology “observatory” whose events were sometimes held at the European Parliament with Eva Kaili as a speaker.
After the Qatargate scandal broke late last year, ELONtech tried to be inconspicuous by 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 circumstances,” according to a Dec. 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 bloc — and Madalena Kaili recently asked LobbyFacts.eu to delete all related information from the website.
“I hereby request the deletion of the data found under the name ELONTECH, European Observatory of New Technologies of European Law, of which I am a co-founder,” Maddalena wrote in a Dec. 30 email to LobbyFacts.eu, which also came to the knowledge of Politico. “They are falsely listed on this platform, they are not a legal entity, nor do they operate as a lobbying organization.”
Vicky Cann, one of the activists who runs 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”.
In an email to Politico, Maddalena Kaili’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 said that ELONtech “had no legal entity, never received European funding and had nothing to do with lobbying services”.
“We also don’t know why the [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 created it, the Transparency Registry entry for ELONtech contains its correct address and staff phone number — although this information can be retrieved from an event promotion page on the ELONtech website.
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