About: Transparency initiative

Business and the struggle between climate and profit

Business lobby groups use their influence to hold back EU legislation on climate change. The authors of a recent study believe this should force companies to reconsider their priorities. EURACTIV France reports. 

A penny for your thoughts: MEPs and the revolving door

Losing your seat in the elections can be a devastating blow for an MEP, but there can be a silver lining, especially if you were a member of a prominent parliamentary committee, writes Vicky Cann.

EU’s voluntary-lobbyist-registration policy belies its calls for transparency

Developed countries often lecture states in the developing world about transparency. So it seems the height of hypocrisy that the European Union is not requiring lobbyists to register, writes Giorgi Meladze.

Almost half of French MEPs have second jobs

30 out of France's 74 MEPs have sources of income besides their elected mandates, according to the French High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP). EURACTIV.fr reports.

Philip Morris tops NGOs’ lobbying spending table

Tobacco giant Philip Morris was the company that spent the most money on lobbying the EU last year, according to data compiled by civil society organisations.

Brussels defends track record on lobbying transparency

The European Commission has defended its track record on corporate lobbying and transparency, after accusations it used the financial crisis to increase its powers while pursuing a big business agenda.

EU lobbyist register to become mandatory by 2017

Lobbyists trying to influence EU policymakers will soon have to disclose details on their budget and methods, after the European Parliament approved tougher rules and called on the Commission to make the EU’s lobby register mandatory by 2017.

EU lobby register on track to becoming mandatory

A working group appointed to review the EU's transparency register has proposed a set of practical changes to the current database and called for making registration for lobby organisations mandatory by 2017.

Parliament VP: If you want true lobby policing, you need more resources

A review of the EU’s Transparency Register, due to be completed in December, has highlighted divisions on key issues such as the compulsory registration of lobbyists. Rainer Wieland, a German MEP working on the review, says such questions could be postponed to a later date.

Transparency review to ‘make life difficult’ for Brussels lobbyists

In its review of the transparency register, the EU will propose new ways to penalise lobbyists who refuse to disclose information about their methods, but divisions over mandatory registration still hamper the tool's effectiveness.

EU fails to scrutinise lobbyists who operate in the dark

With the European Commission and Parliament leading a joint committee to scrutinise the EU’s lobbyist transparency register, NGOs are keeping a close eye on the developments. The Parliament's credibility is at risk if the register is not made mandatory, argues Paul de Clerck.

UK draft lobby register follows in EU’s footsteps

The British government has opened a consultation to introduce the first statutory register of lobbyists in Westminster, drawing on the experience of a similar transparency register in Brussels, which went online last year.

Council ‘ready’ to join EU transparency register

Openness in the EU institutions received a boost yesterday (23 June) after the Council of the European Union declared that it was "ready to consider" joining a new transparency register launched by the Commission and Parliament. 

New EU lobby register to go online in June

Plans to establish a joint register of lobbyists for the European Parliament and the European Commission were today (11 May) formally given the green light at a plenary session of the EU assembly in Strasbourg, paving the way for the registry to go online in June.  

MEPs back joint Parliament, Commission lobby register

Plans to establish a joint register of lobbyists for the European Parliament and the European Commission were yesterday (19 April) backed by the EU assembly's constitutional affairs committee. MEPs also called on the Council of Ministers to join Brussels' new 'transparency register'.

EU struggles with being open about transparency

EU member states are reluctant to reveal whether or not they support proposals by the European Commission to overhaul EU transparency law, a media investigation carried out this week reveals, triggering fears that the European Union is becoming less accountable to citizens.  

PA professionals see EU transparency ‘declining’

Public affairs professionals believe that the transparency of decision-making in the EU institutions is declining, according to a new survey presented last week in Brussels.

EU breakthrough on lobby register

European Parliament Vice-President Diana Wallis yesterday (15 September) welcomed an announcement by the Council that it will "review" plans to draw up a common lobby register for all three European institutions. 

EU transparency talks to resume next month

Talks between MEPs and the European Commission on improving the transparency of EU decision-making will resume on 6 May, European Parliament Vice-President Isabelle Durant announced yesterday (26 April). Meanwhile transparency groups called for the establishment of a mandatory lobby register common to all EU institutions by 2014. 

New EU lobbying rules to cover national embassies

Participants in the European Commission’s lobby register should declare expenditure on lobbying Council presidencies and permanent representations of EU member states, the EU executive said yesterday (28 October), presenting tighter financial disclosure requirements as part of a wide-ranging review of the scheme. But transparency campaigners criticised the revision for failing to fix "fundamental flaws".

Transparency Initiative

The drive to strengthen ethics rules for EU policymakers and the estimated 15,000 lobbyists, NGOs and other pressure groups seeking to influence them in Brussels has triggered extensive public debate since the European Commission launched its Transparency Initiative in 2005. But will it be enough to restore citizens' confidence in the European project? 

Law firms, think-tanks ‘boycotting’ lobby register: Kallas

Not enough law firms or think-tanks have signed up to the European Commission’s lobby register, Administration and Anti-Fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas said on Tuesday (8 September).

EU states mull greater transparency in Brussels

The Council of Ministers, which represents the 27 governments of the EU, will take on a more active role in making its activities in Brussels more transparent for the general public, it emerged this week (8 September).

Low expectations for autumn lobby transparency review

Lobby transparency is unlikely to be a priority for the Swedish EU Presidency given that the appointment of a new European Commission and ratification of the Lisbon Treaty will have to be dealt with under Stockholm's watch, the executive director of the European Centre for Public Affairs, Tom Spencer, told EURACTIV.