MAKING THE EU MORE TRANSPARENT THROUGH LEGISLATIVE FOOTPRINTS

Lobbying of the European Union (EU) needs to become more transparent and open to public scrutiny. EU policy-makers should therefore collect and disclose comprehensive information on who influences whom in the European Union EU decision-making process to ensure a level playing field for all interest representatives and thus balanced legislative outcomes. It will help to ensure that legislation has the public interest at its heart and that the risks of corruption, conflicts of interest and regulatory capture are reduced.

The aim of a legislative footprint is to document lobbyists’ influence on policies and legislation. Whether annexed to legislative reports or published in ‘real time’ on official websites, such initiatives serve to inform the public which interests have shaped draft and final legislation.

Despite increasing calls for the introduction of ´legislative footprints` to better track and monitor the real level of influence of lobbyists on the decisions that are taken by the democratically elected representatives and administrations, its use is still new to the European institutions.

Regulatory efforts and emerging good practice can be found in the European Commission and the European Parliament. All these initiatives fail however to provide comprehensive data that would inform EU citizens on who sought to influence which legislative act, how and with which human and financial resources and through which channels.

1. European Commission: The recent adoption of the two European Commission Decisions to record and publish data on meetings between high level public officials and interest representatives is a big step in the right direction. Since 1 December 2014, senior European Commission staff, including Commissioners, members of their Cabinets and Directors-General, are required to disclose on their websites details of meetings with lobbyists, including the names of organisations and self employed participants, time, location and the subject of the meeting.
2. European Parliament:  The European Parliament should make it obligatory for rapporteurs, shadow rapporteurs and committee chairs to publish a legislative footprint. MEPs, their offices and political groups should publish detailed information on lobby contacts as a matter of best practice. Members of the European Parliament, their Accredited Parliamentary Assistants, Political Group staff and relevant administrators in the Committee Secretariat and research departments should record and disclose information on who has sought to influence them, when and how, as they are also regularly approached by lobbyists. This should be required for all lead MEPs, including rapporteurs, shadow rapporteurs and chairs. At a minimum, rapporteurs should annex a list of all relevant lobby contacts during the drafting process to Committee Reports due to their particularly influential role in the legislative process. In any case, only lobbyists that are registered in the EU’s Transparency Register should be met with. Any contribution that has had or sought to have a tangible influence on the draft legislation or the political process should be disclosed in a comprehensive manner. This should include contacts, including scheduled meetings with lobbyists, participations in briefings or conferences and written input. Exceptions should take account of the European Commission guidelines. Where contacts are not aimed at influencing legislation (e.g. constituent inquiries or personal contacts); or where publication would endanger the life, integrity or privacy of the individual, interfere with court proceedings or administrative procedures, the information should be adapted or withheld from publication. Along the lines of the recently introduced practice of the European Commission, the recorded data should however include: the date; the name of the person taking the meeting (MEP, APA, etc.); the lobby organisation, including the Transparency Register ID (only registered lobbyists should be met); the client (if applicable – and including the Transparency Register ID); the individual lobbyists’ name; the topic of discussion (in bullet points or keywords); and the concrete legislative file, if applicable.
3. Council: Legislative transparency can only work if it involves the entire legislative process from start to finish and all institutions that take part in it, including the EU Council. Making lobby influence on the Council – and therefore on national governments – visible is however more difficult than for the European Parliament and the European Commission. A meaningful recording of lobby contacts for the Council must include the Council secretariat and the Permanent Representations of Member States in Brussels, but also lobby contacts that take place in the 28 national capitals.

Key Targets

European Commission

• European Commission staff
• Commissioners
• Members of Cabinets
• Directors-General
• Heads of Unit

European Parliament

• Rapporteurs
• Shadow Rapporteurs
• Committee Chairs
• Administrators in the Committee Secretariat and research
• MEPs
• Accredited Parliamentary Assistants
• Political group staff

Council

• Council Secretariat Officials
• Permanent Representations of Member States in Brussels
• President of Permanent Representatives Committee
• Council Working Groups and Presidents
• National Governments