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

Below are some of  the professional frames that structure what journalists can see and how they can present what they see.

Debates are supposed to be established to help the people get to know the candidates, and get to know what’s behind them, and what their thinking process is, what their philosophy is. Debates should be policy-focused where candidates are able to lay out a plan for something, and then be questioned about it, and then go to the next one, have them lay theirs out and then be questioned about it. 

The European Commission is launching a public consultation on the Transparency Register to gather stakeholder views on a future mandatory system for all EU institutions. On 1 March, the Commission launched a 12-week public consultation to gather input on the current regime for registration of interest representatives who seek to influence the work of the EU institutions and on its development into a mandatory lobby register covering the European Parliament and Council of the European Union as well as the Commission.

The Union of the Electricity Industry - EURELECTRIC is the sector association that represents the common interests of the electricity industry at pan-European level, plus its affiliates and associates on several other continents. It currently counts over 30 full members which represent the electricity industry in 32 European countries.

Mission and Objectives

Eurogas is a non-profit organisation that represents the interests of the gas industry in one strong voice towards European and global stakeholders. Its 43 members currently comprise companies, national associations and international organisations all engaged in the wholesale, retail and distribution of gas in Europe. The association aims to strengthen the role of gas in the energy mix by establishing an ongoing dialogue with European industry players, global producers of gas and relevant institutions such as the European Commission.

Vision

The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) is the voice of Europe’s national energy regulators at EU and international level. It seeks to facilitate the creation of a single, competitive, efficient and sustainable EU internal energy market. CEER's work includes international cooperation, smart grids, sustainability, Demand Side Operators and customer issues.

Objectives and Functions

ENTSO-E, the European Network of Transmission System Operators, represents 41 electricity transmission system operators (TSOs) from 34 countries across Europe. ENTSO-E was established and given legal mandates by the EU’s Third Legislative Package for the Internal Energy Market in 2009, which aims at further liberalising the gas and electricity markets in the EU.

On the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton has repeatedly said she will stand up to big banks, drug companies and other special interests. But in fact Clinton campaign has been fueled by millions from a network of well-connected Washington lobbyists, Wall Street bundlers and billionaire donors. Out of all the presidential candidates, Republican or Democrat, Clinton has raised the most money from lobbyist bundlers. But at the same time she says that "lobbyists should be exposed and publicly called out..... that we’ve got to go after them and have tougher laws.

A lot of Americans are viscerally angry at their political system. They hate Washington, they don’t trust politicians. Over the past decades, the mood has turned from healthy skepticism to outright distrust. Confidence in the US Congress has fallen precipitously. But voters also put less trust in other branches of government, like the Supreme Court and the presidency. More broadly,  fewer than one in five Americans now believe that "you can trust government in Washington to do what is right."