MEP PLEDGES AGAINST EXCESSIVE CORPORATE LOBBYING INFLUENCE

Prior to the European elections, a campaign called ‘Politics for People’ was launched and coordinated by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU). ALTER-EU seeks to expose and challenge the privileged access and influence enjoyed by corporations and their lobby groups in EU policy making. It sees rolling back corporate power and exposing greenwash as a precondition for adequately addressing global and European problems like poverty, climate change, social injustice, hunger and environmental degradation

MEP candidates were asked to sign the ‘Politics for People’ Pledge, promising that if elected they would stand up for citizens and democracy against the ‘excessive lobbying influence of banks and big business’ in Brussels.

Over 1,330 MEP candidates from across EU 28 signed the Pledge. Out of this number 174 MEPs were elected. They represent 23% of the total number of 751 MEPs. The campaign recommends to them the following concrete actions:

Concrete Actions Recommended by the Campaign

1. Insist upon full lobby transparency at the EU level by promoting the introduction of  a mandatory transparency register. MEPs can campaign to ensure the transition to a mandatory register which will require all EU lobbyists to sign up. Until such a mandatory register is introduced, MEPs can refuse to meet with unregistered lobbyists and demand that commissioners and EU officials do likewise. Finally, MEPs could develop, pro-active transparency procedures, such as maintaining an online list of all meetings held with lobbyists.
2. Take action to end the dominance of the financial industry and other big business lobbies during all steps of the legislative process including within the Commission advisory groups: MEPs can demand that the Commission stops granting big business lobby groups privileged access and influence to policy-making via its advisory groups, formally called expert groups. This could include ensuring that the Commission delivers on its promise of ending corporate dominance of these groups as too many are dominated by business interests, which is reflected I the kind of policies they recommend. In particular, MEPs can refuse to vote for the 2015 budget until industry dominance of all Commission advisory groups has been ended. This could also include the dominance of the finance industry within the European Supervisory Authority’s stakeholder groups established in the wake of the financial crisis. MEPs have used a similar tactic in previous years to improve the representative nature of these advisory groups.
3. Counter efforts by corporate lobbyists to weaken or dismantle important regulations, for example in the context of EU-US trade talks: MEPs will be able to campaign to maintain important EU regulations and standards on the environment, consumer rights or public health, and they can work to ensure that they do not get weakened by the business lobby, be it based in Brussels or in the USA.
4. Support citizens’ ‘right to know’ and participatory democracy by releasing ‘legislative footprint’ reports, ensuring that EU documents and information are pro-actively published and that citizens are involved in all stages of the decision-making process: MEPs can support citizens’ ‘right to know’ by demanding that EU institutions pro-actively publish key information such as negotiating texts on trade talks, for example.
5. MEPs can also help to ensure that the views of European citizens, whatever their background are heard at every stage of the European decision-making process and not only during the pre-defined periods of public consultation. MEPs can also publish a legislative footprint (a list of all lobby meetings held and correspondence received) when acting as rapporteur on a committee report, to bring transparency to the law making process.
6. Work for tough revisions to the code of conduct for members of the European parliament, for example, by making sure MEPs don’t have second jobs that lead to conflicts of interest: MEPs will have the opportunity to demand tough revisions to the code of conduct for MEPs, including introducing independent oversight of the implementation of the code; a ban on holding second jobs that entail conflicts of interest; a ban on external funding of staff and offices; the introduction of more detailed declarations of interest and new rules to regulate the revolving door when MEPs leave the Parliament.
7. Demand lobby transparency and ethics reforms from commissioner candidates during the confirmation hearings and make sure they stick to their promises: MEPs will have the opportunity to quiz commissioner candidates and ask them tough questions about lobbying transparency, conflicts of interest and ethics within their departments during the confirmation hearings which will be held in September 2014. Commissioners can then be held to account by MEPs, citizens and civil society for the statements and commitments they make.