EU LOBBYISTS PAID BY FOREIGNERS AND TRANSPARENCY

Should Lobbyists in the EU paid by foreigners be required to do so and to list their foreign clients as in the United States? Indeed, in the United States, foreign agents not only are required to list their clients, they also have to reveal their activities and their fees "to ensure that the Government and the people of the United States are informed of the identity of the persons engaging in political activities for or on behalf of foreign governments, foreign political parties and other foreign principals.

LOBBYING LANDSCAPE IN MONTENEGRO

There is a gap in Montenegro between the democratic values enshrined in the Constitution and political reality. This reality shows an unbalanced system with a clear supremacy of the executive branch directly/indirectly controlling the other two branches.

NEW VERSION OF EU TRANSPARENCY REGISTER

A new version of the EU Transparency Register is online since 27 January 2015..This 'second generation' of the Register implements the provisions of the revised Inter-institutional Agreement signed between the European Parliament and the European Commission in April 2014. As of 27 February 2015 there are 7917 registrants in the Register.

LOBBYING LANDSCAPE IN SERBIA

The fight against corruption has been a priority on the political agenda in Serbia since 2002 and an important pre-condition for accession to the European Union. In recent years, Serbia has strengthend the legislative and institutional framework for fighting corruption and, in the last two years, has launched an anti-corruption campaign resulting in an increasing number of corruption related prosecutions and highly publicised arrests of prominent political figures and former government officials.

LOBBYING LANDSCAPE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Lobbying is not regulated in the Czech Republic. There is no specific obligation for registration of lobbyists or reporting of contacts between public officials and lobbyists.

There is little understanding of who the lobbyists are and how does lobbying work and there is no history of transparent and fair public policy-making. Lobbying takes place mostly as a PR activity. There is also an unfairness in preferential access to politicians. In other words, those who can “purchase” their way to decision-makers are likely to find more decision being reached in their favor.

EU’S BIGGEST SPENDING LOBBYISTS

Based on EU Transparency Register on 26 January 2015.

Companies (Top 25)

FULL GREEK REFORMS LIST

At first glance it is broadly as expected -- lot of commitments to reform the tax base, fight corruption, and improve Greece’s public sector. There are also several clear concessions to its creditors. Athens is pledging not to reverse the state asset sales that are already underway. And it says it will aim to raise minimum wages in a manner that “safeguards competiveness and employment prospects”, and in consultation with its partners. The government is also promising help for families and businesses who simply cannot pay their debt, while clamping down hard on “strategic defaulters”.

RECOMMENDATIONS ON LOBBYING TRANSPARENCY FOR ORGANISATIONS AND PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCATES

In order to increase the transparency of their lobbying activities organisations and public policy advocates should take the following 10 steps regarding their efforts to influence public policy formation.

LOBBYING LANDSCAPE IN THE NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands is not only a country with a high population density, but also the population of organisations and groups for interest representation and advocacy is comparatively large. There are an estimated 2000 interest organisations of all kinds and sizes making their way to the centres of government and parliament in The Hague, where the interest traffic flow takes place. Existing structures and institutional rules on interest representation and decision-making in the Netherlands make it semi-open (but not truly open) to access for public and private stakeholders.

ACHIEVING ADEQUATE LOBBYING TRANSPARENCY

From at least a contemporary perspective, lobbying is absolutely essential to the success of representative government. Without information, perspectives and proposals flowing from those who are governed, elected and appointed officials can often only dimly guess at what policies will advance the interests of those whom they are duty-bound to serve. Protection and facilitation of lobbying is, therefore, a matter of vast significance, achieved in varying ways in different legal systems.

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