EU LOBBYING EXPENDITURES (2016) BY MEMBER STATES

Source: Transparency Register/Politico Research

EU Lobbying Expenditures from entities in each country

1. Belgium: € 427.3 Million
2. Germany: € 180.5 Million
3. United Kingdom: € 154.4 Million
4. France: € 105.8 Million
5. Netherlands: € 65.1 Million
6. Spain: € 63.9 Million
7. Italy: € 58.1 Million
8. Sweden: € 31.9 Million
9. Denmark: € 20.6 Million
10. Austria: € 19.7 Million
11. Portugal: € 18.8 Million
12. Poland: € 17.8 Million
13. Ireland: € 16.8 Million
14. Greece: € 15.9 Million
15. Luxembourg: € 15.7 Million
16. Finland: € 15.3 Million
17. Hungary: € 10.5 Million

Lobbyists spent a record € 1.7 billion influencing the European institutions in 2016. Sixty-sox percent of lobbying spent comes either from companies themselves or law firms and consultancies working for them. NGO spending accounts for only 19 percent of the total, although within that category some organizations also somtimes share the interests of corporate, for example, the European Digital Rights Initiative, which receives funding from companies like Google and Microsoft or IFOAM- Organics International, which is backed by the organics industry. The rest is made up of research and academic institutions and regional organizations.

Top Spenders

1. European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC): € 12.1 Million
2. FleishmanHillards: € 7.0 Million
3. Insurance Europe: € 7.0 Million
4. Interel: € 5.0 Million
5. Association for Financial Markets in Europe: € 4.7 Million
6. Burson Marsteller: € 4.7 Million
7. BusinessEurope: € 4.2 Million
8. European Banking Federation: € 4.2 Million
9. EuroChambres: € 1.6 Million
10. European Trade Union Confederation: € 1.2 Million
11. Confederation of Danish Industry: € 1.2 Million

Individual firms like Deutsche Bank, Google, Microsoft, Exxon and Shell also feature in the top 20 lobbyists.