THE EU TRANSPARENCY REGISTER : WORK IN PROGRESS

The Joint Transparency Register Secretariat points out that in democracies, citizens have the right to freely convey their individual or collective views to decision-makers. They can naturally do so directly themselves, but they can also mandate intermediaries to represent them and advocate on their behalf. Public decision makers it goes to say need themselves a wide exposure and a wide diversity of input to be able to make informed decisions and to deliver appropriate policies matching realities. This is why Public Affairs, Government Affairs, Advocacy, as well as what is commonly called Lobbying are recognized as both legitimate and necessary activities.

In the Annex of the revised Agreement between the European Parliament and the European Commission on the Transparency Register for Organizations and Self-employed individuals engaged in EU policy-making and policy implementation, reference is made to a broad range of activities that include: Advocacy, Lobbying, Public Affairs, Promotion, and Relations with Public Authorities that are carried out with the objective of directly or indirectly influencing the formulation or implementation of policy and the decision-making processes of the EU institutions, irrespective or where they are undertaken and of the channel or medium of communication used, for example via outsourcing, media, contracts with professional intermediaries, think tanks, platforms, forums, campaigns and grassroot initiatives. Furthermore, the EU Transparency Register makes a distinction between Directly influencing i.e. influencing by way of a direct contact or communication with the EU institutions or other action following up on such activities and Indirectly influencing i.e. influencing through the use of intermediate vectors such as media, public opinion, conferences or social events, targeting the EU institutions

The EU Transparency Register does not provide any definition of such activities as Advocacy, Lobbying, Public Affairs, Promotion, and Relations with Public Authorities nor does it set any time threshold regarding the time spent on such activities.

Admittedly , the EU Transparency Register looks for an inclusive classification that includes a multitude of interest groups ranging from business to not-for-profit organisations but lumping together Advocacy, Lobbying, Public Affairs, Promotion and Relations with Public Authorities may not be clearly understood by practitioners. Defining practices is an essential starting point to the establishment of any mandatory system that is practical in how it is applied and that is strong enough to support challenges for compliance.

Beyond registration (and boasting that now over 30,000 people are bound to the Transparency Register Code of Conduct) there is need to precisely defined activities and the rules that apply including public officials’ interactions with those that carry such activities. We need to provide specific thresholds (amounts of time and money spent), and clearer definitions of who is a ‘lobbyist’ and what ‘lobbying’ activities and contacts will trigger the requirements for the registration and reporting of persons who are compensated to engage in lobbying.