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A long-awaited voluntary register for lobbyists was inaugurated by the European Commission on 21 March 2007, which as of next year will require public affairs professionals to state who they work for and how much clients pay them to put their views to EU officials.
Many thousands of people work in Brussels to influence EU legislation. Prior to 21 March 2007, they did not face any binding rules, and there is at present little information to indicate precisely how many of there are and how much money is spent.
Introducing the register, which will be available from Spring 2008, Administration, Audit and Fight against Fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas said: "I hope the lobbying profession will see as an opportunity, rather than a threat - a chance to prove that their business was clean and legitimate."
"All these groups or bodies are invited to register publicly whom they represent and what their objectives are," Kallas added. "They are invited to declare funding sources and major clients. This ensures the Commission as well as the public can identify and assess the driving forces behind positions taken and interests presented."
While the system will be voluntary, the commissioner explained that only those lobbyists who were registered would be recognised as speaking for clients or a sector of industry when they contribute to comments on EU policy that are taken into account when new legislation is drafted.
Lobbyists who did not register would only be seen as speaking in their own name, undermining the weight of their comments. Those who gave inaccurate information would face sanctions.
The around 22,000 lobbyists working in Brussels will have to disclose information on clients and fees under new European Commission rules. The Commission's blueprint foresees a website run by two EU officials that will list all PR consultancies, in-house corporate staff and public interest NGOs as well as their clients or donors and the fees or budgets they receive to influence EU policy.
Kallas first launched plans for the new lobbyists' register in 2005 as part of a wider transparency initiative also embracing disclosure of receipients from the EU's Common Agricultural Policy.
But the project was reportedly watered down by Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Single Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy and Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson when it started looking "too radical," some veteran campaigners say.
But Kallas told reporters on 21 March: "No watering down has taken place. Of course, we have had discussions, but the concept has remained the same."
LinksDossier: Transparency Initiative
LinksDossier: EU and US approaches to lobbying
On the issue of perks and gifts for lobbyists, the EU has not yet suffered a scandal like that associated with Jack Abramoff 
- a Washington lobbyist exposed in 2005 for cheating clients and bribing US officials to the tune of $66 million.
The Commission has said its existing rules for EU officials were "crystal clear," forcing them to seek permission before accepting favors or gifts, and requiring them to declare any potential conflicts of interest. Former staff need to inform the Commission about their new jobs for two years after they leave, it said.
Former telecoms commissioner Martin Bangemann left EU politics in 1999 to join the board of Spain's Telefonica SA for a reported $1 million yearly salary. EU governments launched an ethics lawsuit against him.
The Commission has only recently published a list of special advisers to commissioners, after a transparency group complained that one was on the board of two power companies at the same time as he advised Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.
Administration, Audit and Fight against Fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas told journalists: "We'll come with observations and proposals in the second half of the year and see where we need to improve the situation and where it can be left alone," concerning the professional ethics of Brussels' civil servants.
"This is more workable...I find it prudent to act sooner rather than later," the administration commissioner said, adding that reports his original transparency plans had been weakened by Commission President José Manuel Barroso and the trade and industry wing of the Commission were not true.
On the issue of gifts: "The discussion about gifts sometimes becomes absurd. You cannot create an automatic system that can automatically regulate all things that can be treated as gifts."
Lobbying organisations have not yet issued a formal reaction to the register's inauguration - previously, the
European Public Affairs Consultancies' Association
(EPACA), the representative trade body for public affairs consultancies working with EU institutions, has indicated its support for the registration of all lobbyists but opposes mandatory publication of "commercially sensitive or confidential financial information". It proposes a self-regulating council to draw up a code of conduct and simply the disclosure of lobbyists' clients and their mission.
Paul de Clerck, of Friends of the Earth Europe in Brussels, said: "Our concern remains that a voluntary registration system will not secure similar transparency from those organisations which simply choose not to sign up. To achieve the European Transparency Initiative's (ETI) stated objective of improving public trust in the EU political process, the Commission needs to make some major improvements."
Luxembourg Green MEP Claude Turmes said: "Shedding some light on the murky lobbying process in the EU is long overdue and would go some way to generating confidence in the EU institutions. Unfortunately, the softly, softly approach proposed by Commissioner Kallas fails to address some of the key areas concerning transparency of lobbying in the EU. The Commission has made no attempt to address the problem of privileged access of some private interests vis-à-vis the institutions, for example through setting guidelines for policy advisory bodies and so-called 'high-level groups'."
The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation in the EU (ALTER-EU) welcomed the Commission's announcement as "an important step in the right direction".
"But given the global relevance of the EU and the influence of organised lobby groups on EU policies," the group's statement continues, "the voluntary approach favoured by the Commission is too weak and too limited.
"Regrettably, the Communication ignores wider problems of undue corporate influence on EU policy-making. By first trying out a voluntary lobbying register, the European Commission is wasting precious time – EU citizens will have to wait several more years before they get effective EU lobbying transparency."
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