MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION ON LOBBYISTS

Back on 17 November 2015, the EP Committee on Constitutional Affairs (Rapporteur Sven Giegold) submitted a Draft Report on Transparency, accountability and integrity in the EU institutions (2015/2041(INI)). Here under are the recommendations made regarding lobbyists.

Introducing a legislative footprint, making the lobby register as mandatory as possible

1. European Commission, Parliament and Council should record and disclose all input received from lobbyists/interest representatives on draft policies, laws and amendments as a ‘legislative footprint’; this legislative footprint should consist of a form annexed to reports detailing all the lobbyists with whom those in charge of a particular file have met in the process of drawing up the report and a second element listing all written input received;

2. European Commission should expand and improve its existing initiative as laid out in its Decision of 25 November 2014 on the publication of information on meetings held between Members of the Commission and organisations or self-employed individuals. The recording of meeting data should be expanded to everyone involved in the EU’s policy-making process;

3. European Commission should make all information on lobby influence easily accessible for the public through one centralised online database;

4. Among the Members of the European Parliament those appointed rapporteur or Committee President have a special responsibility to be transparent on their contact with lobbyists due to their role in EU legislation;

5. Code of Conduct should be amended to make it mandatory for rapporteurs and Committee President to adopt the same practice of exclusively meeting registered lobbyists and publish these meetings online and rapporteurs to publish a legislative footprint;

6. An amendment should introduce mandatory monthly updates on lobby expenditures;

7. The EU Transparency Register should be backed up with a legal act to close all loopholes and achieve a fully mandatory register for all lobbyists. The proposal for this legal act could take into account the progress achieved by changes in the interinstitutional agreement and the Parliament's Code of Conduct;

8. The Council should join the Transparency Register as soon as possible;

Transparency, accountability and integrity in dealing with lobbyists

9. A key element for future EU legislation, should be to have monthly reporting by lobbyists about their meetings;

10. When interpreting ‘inappropriate behaviour’ within the meaning of point (b) of the Code of Conduct, this expression should include turning down formal invitations to hearings or committees with no sufficient reason;

 11. Registered law firms should declare in the lobby register all clients on whose behalf they perform covered activities;

12. The bureau should restrict access to European Parliament premises for non-registered organisations or individuals by making all visitors to its premises sign a declaration that they are not lobbyists falling into the scope of the register or otherwise declare their registration;

13. It is urgent to introduce a proper monitoring system for submitted information to ensure that the information that registrants provide is meaningful, accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive;

14. At least  5% of declarations should be checked each year;

15. Representations of national, regional and local governments should not fall under the EU Transparency Register if they have their own mandatory lobby register and do not offer workspace for private or corporate actors within their representations;