Est. 4min 03-04-2008 (updated: 28-05-2012 ) Alexander_Stubb.jpg Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram The Commission’s upcoming lobbyists register should be mandatory and common to all three institutions, recommends a report adopted on Tuesday (1 April) in the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee. But some NGOs and transparency groups believe the proposals are inadequate. The report, drafted by Finnish MEP Alexander Stubb (EPP-ED) – who is now set to become his country’s foreign minister – was adopted by a majority of 18 votes, with one vote against and three abstentions. The report calls for a mandatory public register for lobbyists to be established, common to the Council, Commission and Parliament and providing for “full financial disclosure”. The register should also include a “common code of ethical behaviour,” it says. Lobbyists must abide by this common code of conduct or “face sanctions,” MEPs insisted, including possible expulsion from the register via “a common mechanism”. Commenting after the vote, Stubb said the call for “a common register and common code of conduct between Parliament, Commission and Council” represented “a major step forward”. Under the ‘one-stop-shop’ proposal, lobbyists would only need to register once to access all three institutions, he explained. The report stresses that all actors with a regular influence on the institutions are lobbyists and should be treated “in the same way” – whether representative of public or private interests. Its definition of lobbyists includes “professional lobbyists” and “companies’ in-house lobbyists” as well as “NGOs, think tanks, trade associations, trade unions and employers’ organisations”. It also cites “lawyers when their purpose is to influence policy rather than case law”. Stubb’s report calls for the financial disclosure requirement to reveal lobbying expenditure “within meaningful parameters” rather than exact figures. It should be applied equally to all registered lobbyists, it says. This would mean that professional consultancies and law firms would have to disclose “the relative weight of their major clients and the costs associated with lobbying,” while NGOS and think tanks would be required to “state their overall budgets and main sources of funding,” said MEPs. Ahead of the vote there were calls for MEPs to ensure the report went far enough. Fintan Farrell, chair of the EU Civil Society Contact Group (an alliance of NGOs), warned that “not including the names of lobbyists and meaningful financial information would […] fail to provide confidence in the EU institutions. Commission spokesperson Valérie Rampi had earlier told EURACTIV that “the names of individuals are not as important as the name of the organisation they are working for” and warned that a form of “financial disclosure that placed too much of an administrative burden on lobbyists would not be accepted” (see EURACTIV 14/02/08). Meanwhile, lobbying transparency group ALTER-EU said that “full financial disclosure needs clear criteria” and lamented that “no bandwidths for the disclosure of financial details have been set”. Paul de Clerck of Friends of the Earth Europe called on MEPs to ensure that “meaningful ranges and thresholds” are developed. Stubb’s report proposes creating a joint working group between the three institutions to prepare a proposal on a common register “by the end of 2008,” which should define the financial disclosure criteria in more detail. It suggests “mutual recognition between Parliament, the Commission and the Council” of separate registers as a compromise in the event that agreement over a common register cannot be reached. The report is yet to be adopted by the full plenary of the European Parliament, with the vote set to take place during the Strasbourg session in May. Read more with Euractiv Commission to target expert groups in transparency driveThe European Commission has said it will publish a list of individual experts who sit on its advisory groups by the summer, after transparency campaigners yesterday (25 March) presented a report accusing the EU executive of bias in favour of industry. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters Positions"Lobbies are an essential part of the work done by MEPs" and policymaking would be "very poor" without their contribution, said Finnish MEP and author of the report Alexander Stubb (EPP-ED). "With this report we ensure a level playing field to lobbies and increase transparency," he added. Constitutional Affairs Committee chair and German Socialist MEP Jo Leinen (PES, DE), said the report represented a "decisive step for a new culture of transparency in Brussels," adding that it meant "strict rules" would apply to lobbying in future. "This report should clarify some of the myths around lobbying," said Inigo Mendez de Vigo, the constitutional affairs committee spokesman for the EPP-ED Group. "The report is fully supported by the EPP-ED group," he added. UK Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis expressed her doubts as to "the effectiveness of a voluntary registration system". Although financial disclosure is crucial, "it is only part of the overall picture" and identifying who the lobbyists are and their roles in any given policy process is "as important," she added. Expressing support for the report, Socialist Group spokesman on constitutional matters Richard Corbett (PES, UK) said the new rules "make relations between pressure groups and the European institutions more transparent". Moreover, Spanish MEP Carlos Carnero González (PES), who led negotiations on the Socialists' behalf, welcomed the new rules which "help to reinforce the confidence of citizens in the legislative work of the European Parliament". "The Treaty of Lisbon, once ratified, provides the legal base for a mandatory register of all lobbyists present and active in Brussels and Strasbourg," said Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) MEP Andrew Duff (UK). "In the meantime we should proceed on the basis of the voluntary system and provide incentives for participation as well as sanctions for breach of codes of conduct," he added. The report received a mixed reaction from lobbying transparency groups. The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) welcomed "Parliament's calls for full financial disclosure and for names of lobbyists to be included in the register," but highlighted "crucial points" to be improved, including a commitment to ensuring that "new rules for lobbyists are in place before the European elections in 2009". Paul de Clerck of Friends of the Earth Europe described the upcoming plenary as "the moment of truth for the Parliament," expressing his hope that MEPs would "close the remaining loopholes by calling for a clear timeline and inserting meaningful ranges and thresholds for financial disclosure". NGOs would be "reluctant to associate themselves with a register that obscures more than it reveals," said Fintan Farrell, chair of the EU Civil Society Contact Group, an alliance of non-governmental organisations. Farrell questioned the inclusion of non-governmental organisations in "a register which hides the names of lobbyists and avoids giving precise information about the financing of lobbying activities". The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) called on Parliament to distinguish representatives of regional and local government from professional lobbyists, private companies or NGOs in any EU legislation as they are "not of the same nature". "Our efforts to shape EU legislation on behalf of our municipalities, cities and regions cannot be compared to lobbying by the private sector or NGOs," said CEMR Policy Director Angelika Poth-Mögele. BackgroundAlexander Stubb's report estimates that there are about 15,000 lobbyists and 2,500 lobby organisations in Brussels. Around 5,000 lobbyists operate in the European Parliament alone, Stubb believes. The European Commission is planning to introduce a lobbyists' register and a code of conduct for interest representatives in spring 2008 as part of the wider transparency initiative launched by Administration and Anti-Fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas. Opinion is divided regarding the depth of the register's financial disclosure requirement and whether this should include names and precise spending figures for individual lobbyists. Questions have also been raised as to whether the register should be applied equally across law firms and professional consultancies as well as trade associations, NGOs and think tanks. Moreover, EU lawmakers and lobby groups are unable to agree on whether the register should become mandatory (as opposed to the voluntary model proposed by Kallas) as well as whether there should be common or separate registers for each institution. Timeline May 2008: Parliament to vote upon Stubb's report at Strasbourg plenary. Further ReadingEuropean Union European Parliament:Draft report on the development of the framework for the activities of interest representatives (lobbyists) in the European institutions(12 February 2008) [FR] [FR] [DE] [FR] [DE] Amendments 1-86 [FR] [DE] Amendments 1-86 [FR] [FR] [DE] Amendments 1-86 [FR] [DE] [FR] [DE] Amendments 1-86 [FR] [DE] Amendments 87-89 [FR] [DE] Amendments 1-86 [FR] [DE] Amendments 87-89 [FR] [FR] [DE] Amendments 1-86 [FR] [DE] Amendments 87-89 [FR] [DE] European Parliament:Press release: Constitutional Affairs Committee calls for more transparency on lobbying [FR] [FR] [DE] European Commission:Draft Code of Conduct for Interest Representatives [FR] [FR] [DE] European Commission:Transparency Initiative [FR] [FR] [DE] Political Groups EPP-ED Group:Alexander Stubb MEP: Parliament goes for more transparency(1 April 2008) Socialist Group:Press release: More transparent rules for Brussels lobbyists(1 April 2008) [FR] Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE):Press release: Lobbying of the EU institutions should be subject to full transparency(1 April 2008) [FR] EU Actors positions EU Civil Society Contact Group:Press release: NGOs concerned by U-turn on European Transparency Initiative ALTER-EU:Press release: EU lobbying transparency a step closer but still some way to go(1 April 2008) Council of European Municipalities and Regions:Press release: Transparency initiative: Regions and municipalities are not private lobbyists!(31 March 2008) [FR]
