EU lobbyists invited to register from Spring 2008

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."