Commission proposes transparency register for EU lobbyists

 

Transparency register for EU lobbying to become mandatory as European Commission proposes legislation for European Parliament, the Council and the Commission

Lobbyists in Europe could soon face more scrutiny as the European Commission has proposed a mandatory transparency register of organisations and people whose business is to influence EU decision-taking processes.

Under these proposals, meetings with decision-makers from the three main institutions would become conditional on prior registration in the register.

The Commission’s First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said the EU institutions need to work together to win back the trust of citizens.

“We must be more open in everything we do. Today's proposals for a mandatory transparency register covering the Parliament, Council and Commission are an important step in the right direction. Citizens have the right to know who tries to influence EU law-making. We propose a simple rule: no meeting with decision-makers without prior registration. Through the Register, the public will see who is lobbying, who they represent and how much they spend."

The Commission today proposed an Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA) which it said will put in place a robust system ensuring the transparency of lobbying activities, building on the existing voluntary Transparency Register of the Parliament and the Commission.

The Commission proposed that all three institutions – including the Council – should be subject to the same minimum standards for the first time.

“Under these proposals, meetings with decision-makers from the three institutions would become conditional on prior registration in the Transparency Register. Since the Commission introduced this rule for its own interactions with interest representatives in November 2014, there were around 4,000 new entries in the existing Register,” the Commission said.

A study by Transparency International of the 4,318 lobby meetings declared by the top tier of EU officials between December 2014 and June 2015 shows that more than 75% of meetings were held with corporate lobbyists.

On the other hand, only 18% of meetings were held with NGOs, 4% with think-tanks and 2% with local authorities. Google and General Electric are some of the biggest spenders, each declaring EU lobby budgets of around €3.5 million per year.