Launching his Green Paper on a European Transparency Initiative on 3 May, Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas admitted that no hard regulatory measures were likely to come out on lobbying transparency under his term in office.
"We will start with voluntary measures," Kallas said, adding that compulsory measures would follow "only if it fails" and probably "not until the end period of this Commission" due to the length of the legislative procedure.
In the Green paper, the Commission rules out mandatory registration of lobbyists, saying "a tighter system of self-regulation would appear more appropriate". Charting the "way forward", the paper proposes:
- a voluntary registration system, "run by the Commission, with clear incentives for lobbyists to register". Such incentives would include "automatic alerts of consultations on issues of known interest to the lobbyists"
- a common code of conduct for all lobbyists […] "developed by the lobbying profession itself, possibly consolidating and improving the existing codes"
- a system of monitoring and sanctions "in case of incorrect registration and/or breach of the code of conduct".
Since it was announced in March 2005, the transparency initiative has stumbled over a series of practical obstacles about how to regulate lobbying. Key issues include:
- Defining what is lobbying: the Green paper defines it as "all activities carried out with the objective of influencing the policy formulation and decision-making process of the European institutions".
- Defining who should be considered as a lobbyist: the Green paper defines lobbyists as "persons carrying out such activities, working in a variety of organisations such as public affairs consultancies, law firms, NGOs, think-tanks, corporate lobby units ("in-house representatives") or trade associations.
However, these definitions do not make things much easier as they embrace a very wide variety of activities, persons and professions. Widely thought to be the toughest nut to crack in any form of lobbying (self-)regulation are law firms, which are bound by confidentiality rules forbidding them from disclosing the name of their clients.
By contrast, some public affairs firms such as Hill & Knowlton have already taken steps and publish a list of clients on their website. Not all in Brussels do the same at present.
Another key issue in the debate about lobbying transparency is money. The Green Paper says lobby groups which seek to influence EU policies "must be clear who they represent, what their mission is and how they are financed".
But suggestions by NGOs that all of the above groups and professions should disclose full details about funding will certainly prove hard to implement. In fact, the Green Paper does not make it one of its recommendations.
