MAKING LOBBYING ACTIVITIES TRANSPARENT

In most European countries the influence of lobbyists is shrouded in secrecy. When undertaken with integrity and transparency lobbying is a legitimate avenue for interest groups to be involved in the deliberative process of law making. It is when lobbying is non-transparent and regulated that problems arise.

The role of regulation of lobbying is to make the public aware of the interests behind proposals and the links between lobbyists and policy makers.

Most European countries have yet to implement legislation to control lobbying and those that have lack enforcement mechanisms and sanctions for non-compliance.

In 2012 Transparency International (TI) published a report entitled ‘Money, Politics, Power: Corruption Risks in Europe' looking at 25 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Here below were TI’s recommendations for making lobbying activities more transparent:

Transparency of lobbying activities

1. Introduce mandatory registers of lobbyists in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
2. Replace all voluntary registers with mandatory registers in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
3. Adopt a broad definition of lobbyists for lobbying regulations that extends to public affairs, consultancies, corporate lobbyists, law firms, NGOS and think tanks and guarantees the listing of individual lobbyists in all 25 countries.
4. Make all lobbyist registers accessible online to the public in all 25 countries.
5. Adopt codes of conduct for lobbyists and lobbied persons in all 25 countries.
6. Include clear sanctions for failure to established lobbying regulations in all 25 countries.
7. Institute legislative footprints which document the time, person, and subject of a legislator’s contact with a lobbyist or stakeholder in order to protect citizens with greater access to information or gave input into draft legislation in all 25 countries.

EU Level

1. Make the Transparency Register’s mandatory for all interest representatives and extend the register to cover all three institutions including the Council.
2. Institute ‘legislative footprints’ to help track the influence of external advice on new EU policies, legislation and amendments by providing a declaration of all meetings connected with all interest representatives/lobbyists.

European Parliament

1.  Amend the European Parliament’s code of conduct to include a ‘cooling off’ provision to prevent MEPs from moving straight into lobbying jobs after the end of their term.
2. Provide for a code of conduct that outlaws all secondary employment that creates a conflict of interest, and include an obligation for MEPs to keep a record of all significant meetings with interest representatives in connection with their work – a ‘legislative footprint’.
3. Ensure more robust sanctions that are applied in the case of breaches of the code.

Businesses

1.  Disclose publicly and regularly lobbyists’ clients, issue areas, targets, techniques and financial information.
2.  Ensure corporate reporting by companies includes lobbying efforts, political activities and spending. Company engagement in the political arena should be mainstreamed into corporate sustainability reports, as are environmental and social standards.
3. Disclose any forms of political engagement, such as funding or support for civil society organisations, scientific research or public relations activities.

Civil Society

1. Mobilise groups and media working on governance and democracy issues to track and disclose lobbying activity in order to arm citizens with the information to participate in informed public debates.
2. Ensure civil society organisations disclose their own lobbying efforts and funding streams to guarantee maximum transparency of their links with various stakeholders.