THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION VIEW ON LOBBYING

On June 27, 2013 Vice-President of the European Commission Mr. Maroš Šefčovič delivered the following remarks on the occasion of the OECD Forum on Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying held in Paris, France.

“The word 'lobbying' has obvious negative connotations, and there are sadly plenty of reasons why this is the case: sometimes it seems that hardly a week goes by without another revelation of alleged backroom deals, cash-for-influence or other such nefarious deeds. But 'lobbying' in its broadest sense is part of the EU policy-making process – in fact, it is part of the policy-making process in all states -, and gives decision makers the information they need to make informed legislation.

Instead of lobbying, we often use the terms "advocacy" and "interest representation". The reason we use these broader terms in official texts is because they better describe the activities of all those who are engaged in what is a legitimate and often useful task. In fact, lobbying isn't just about big business trying to impose its agenda on the lawmakers although this is the perception many people have. Nowadays, lobbying can come from everyone: from religious groups to law firms, think tanks to NGOs, from cities to trade unions, industry associations to advocacy groups. It represents – and should represent - the whole diversity of our societies.

That's why we prefer to talk about 'interest groups', because that is precisely what they all are. They all have an interest to promote and defend, a line to take on any particular piece of legislation, and it is entirely legitimate that they should be allowed to discuss that line with policy makers.

But even if lobbying, interest representation or advocacy is done in a proper way, decision-makers must, of course, pay attention. Decision-makers must take into account what stakeholders think; they must take into account to all points of view. But, in the end, they must take their own decision, based on their own beliefs and according to their own inner compass.

One fundamental requirement to make lobbying compatible with the democratic process is that it is done in transparency, and in compliance with law and ethics. In other words, decision makers and the public must know who is active in lobbying or advocacy, on what grounds, on whose behalf and with which means.

International Dimension

Lobbying can be an international exercise. As the world gets smaller, and the level of interdependence continues to grow, the way in which lobbying works is changing as well. Lobbying techniques have evolved to match the multilevel governance processes, acting both at national and at continental level, as is clear within the European Union.

But it goes beyond that: the EU is just one global player – an important one, of course, but just one nonetheless. We still need to build coalitions with other countries and blocs at an international level, and lobbying tactics have taken this into account. For many major interests, influencing the decision-making process in Brussels is more than often now the first phase of a strategy designed to also have an impact in Washington; and sometimes the reverse is the case.

This is why I think that we should also maintain and develop a regular dialogue, and try to develop our knowledge and understanding about such cross borders phenomenon."