Designing practical rules for financial disclosure of lobbying activities in Brussels is the final and perhaps highest hurdle in the way of Commissioner Kallas's initiative to make the EU more open and transparent to the general public.
Last month, Brussels's largest public-affairs companies - represented by umbrella group EPACA - refused to participate in a proposed voluntary register because it would have forced them to disclose the names of their clients and the amount of fees they receive (EurActiv 23/08/07).
But Kallas said he will not bow to pressure and was seeking practical solutions to the problem. "Without financial disclosure, this whole exercise loses credibility," the Commissioner told a group of Brussels-based journalists last week (30 August). "There must be financial disclosure. We will fight to have an acceptable solution to this question."
He added he was "positive" about the outcome and timing of his proposals, the details of which are due out in spring next year. "We will have, at the beginning of spring 2008, a register. And we will have a substantial amount of participants who will join the register."
Once again, he made it clear that, if the voluntary registration system failed to attract sufficient numbers, he would table some hard regulatory proposals to replace them. "The time-limit is the time of this Commission," which has a mandate until October 2009, Kallas said. "End of 2008, we can obviously evaluate how the system works," he said - adding that he would then be "ready to consider the next steps".
