MANDATORY TRANSPARENCY REGISTER FOR LOBBYISTS

On 27 April 2021, the European Parliament (EP), meeting in plenary session, adopted a Decision on the conclusion of an interinstitutional agreement between the EP, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on a mandatory transparency register for all lobbyists.

The report won broad support, with 646 MEPs voting in favor, four against and 49 abstaining.

Several amendments aimed at improving the European Parliament’s own transparency did not garner sufficient support. An amendment by French MEP Leïla Chaibi introducing a rule for Members to publish all meetings with interest representatives failed, with 234 MEPs voting in favor, 400 against and 56 abstaining. Similarly, an amendment by Chaibi introducing a rule for Members to commit to only meeting registered interest representatives failed with 182 in favor, 495 against and 13 abstaining. 

Another amendment calling for introducing a rule for Parliament’s officials to meet only with registered interest representatives,failed by a close margin, with 315 voting in favor, 355 against and 19 abstaining.

INFORMATION TO BE ENTERED IN THE REGISTER

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

(a) name of the entity; address of the head office and the office in charge of relations with the Union, if different from the head office; phone number; e-mail address; website;

(b) form of the entity;

(c) interests represented;

(d) confirmation that the applicant operates in accordance with the code of conduct;

(e) name of the person legally responsible for the entity and of the person in charge of relations with the Union;

(f) an annual estimate of the full-time equivalents for the persons involved in covered activities according to the following percentages of a full-time activity: 10 %, 25 %, 50 %, 75 % or 100 %;

(g) goals, remit, fields of interest and geographical level of engagement;

(h) organisations of which the registrant is a member and entities with which the registrant is affiliated;

(i) registrant's members and/or affiliation with relevant networks and associations.

II. LINKS TO UNION INSTITUTIONS

(a) Union legislative proposals, policies or initiatives targeted by the covered activities; E-mail address provided will not be published.

(b) membership of Commission expert groups and other Union supported forums and platforms;

(c) membership or support of, or participation in, intergroups and other unofficial grouping activities organised on the European Parliament’s premises;

 (d) names of persons with authorisation to access the European Parliament’s premises.

III. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Registrants, including intermediaries, shall declare the amount and source of any Union grants contributing to their operating costs. The amounts declared shall be in euros. (a) Registrants promoting their own interests or the collective interests of their members vis-à-vis any of the signatory institutions shall provide an up-to-date estimate of the annual costs related to covered activities according to the grid below. The estimate of annual costs shall cover a full year of operations and refer to the most recent financial year closed, as of the date of registration or the date of the annual update of the registration details.

Bracket size of annual costs, in euros:

Clients shall declare the intermediaries carrying out covered activities on their behalf and the cost for each individual intermediary according to the grid below. The estimate of annual costs shall cover a full year of operations and refer to the most recent financial year closed, as of the date of registration or the date of the annual update of the registration details. Any current intermediaries that are not covered by the most recent financial year closed shall be declared separately by name.

Bracket size of representation costs per intermediary, in euros:

(b) Intermediaries shall declare the estimated total annual revenue generated that is attributable to covered activities according to the grid below. The estimated total annual revenue generated shall cover a full year of operations and refer to the most recent financial year closed, as of the date of registration or the date of the annual update of the registration details. Revenue from individual clients for covered activities shall also be listed  accompanied by an indication of the Union legislative proposals, policies or initiatives targeted by the covered activities: Bracket size of revenue generated per client, in euros:

The estimated total annual revenue generated for covered activities shall be calculated automatically by the register based on the aggregate of the estimated revenue generated per client. Intermediaries shall declare on the register the clients on behalf of whom covered activities are carried out. Any current clients that are not covered by the most recent financial year closed shall be declared on the register separately by name.

(c) Registrants that do not represent commercial interests shall provide the following financial information: (i) their total budget for the most recent financial year closed; (ii) their main sources of funding by category: Union funding, public financing, grants, donations, their members’ contributions etc.; (iii) the amount of each contribution they received exceeding 10 % of their total budget, if the contributions are above EUR 10 000, and the name of the contributor.