Lobbying and interest
representation
 EU institutions must operate in an OPEN fashion
(principle stated in article 1 of the Treaty on EU)
 Lobbying and interest representation are both legitimate
and necessary.
 Legitimate because in a democracy, any citizen has the right
to be heard by and to express its views to public office
holders.
 Necessary because public authorities need to receive inputs
from stakeholders, interested parties, citizens etc. in order to
prepare and deliver quality legislation and regulation.
Lobbying and interest
representation
Examples of acceptable forms
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Use of official channels and procedures
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Input in public consultations, green papers etc.
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Participation in public hearings, consultatives committees
Informal initiatives & opportunities
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Position papers sent spontanously (provision of
argumentaries or scientific studies ), Open letters
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Invitation sent to officials to participate in seminars
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Communication via the media
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Various forms of « grassroot lobbying »
Lobbying and interest
representation
 BUT: Lobbying and interest representation must be
conducted in
 TRANSPARENCY : Every citizen has a right to know
who is participating in the EU decision making process
or engaged in activities aiming at influencing it.
 The respect of the LAW and of ETHICAL principle.
(should not involve bribery, corruption, harassment,
undue pressure, etc.)
Commission’s policy main features
 Commission has a long tradition of openness and
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interaction with interest representation.
It is committed to an open and inclusive policy.
Members and officials are bound by strict rules and codes
of conduct to prevent corruption. (declaration of interest,
limits to presents received, etc.)
It has set up in 2008 a special instrument for transparency
« The register of interest representatives »
To become next June an insterinstitutional « The
transparency Register » shared by both the European
Parliament and the Commission
The Transparency Register
 An instrument for the registration and the monitoring
of organisations and self employed individuals engaged
in EU policy making and policy implementation.
 It is based on three components:

A volontary public Register available to the public on the Web.

A code of conduct to be signed and respected by the registrants

A system of complaint and sanctions in the event of breaches of the
code of conduct by the regsitrants.
The Transparency Register
 Who is concerned and expected to register:
 Professional consultancies and law firms
 Companies with in house lobbyists, trade & professional
associations
 NGOs
 Think tanks, academic & research institutions.
 Organisations representing churches and religious
communities.
 Local, regional & municipal authorities, other public or mixed
entities.
WHEN ENGAGED IN ACTIVITIES FALLING WITHIN THE
SCOPE OF THE REGISTER
The Transparency Register
On 4 April 2011, there were 3829 interest representatives
organisations in the Commission register.
 Professional consultancies / law firms involved in lobbying
EU institutions
246
 «in-house» lobbyists and trade associations active in
lobbying
 NGO / think-tank
 other organisations
1,812
1,223
548
The Transparency Register
ACTIVITIES FALLING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE
REGISTER:
 All activities carried out with the objective of directly
or indirectly influencing the policy formulation or
implementation and decision making processes of
European Institutions, irrespective of the
communication channel or medium used. It may
include inter alia: outsourcing, media, contract with
professional intermediaries, think tanks, platforms,
fora, campaign and grassroot initiatives
The Transparency Register
 Main information to provide (made public).
 Coordinates; person legally responsible.
 Number of people involved in representation activities.
 Goals, fields of interests, number of staff involved in
representation activities.
 Financial information (For trade associations: an
estimate of the cost of activities falling under the scope
of the register).
The Transparency Register
Registrants sign a code of conduct which includes a commitment to always:
 identify themselves by name and by the entity(ies) they work for or represent;
 not misrepresent themselves as to the effect of registration to mislead third
parties and/or EU staff;
 declare the interests, and where applicable the clients or the members, which
they represent;
 ensure that, to the best of their knowledge, information which they provide is
unbiased, complete, up-to-date and not misleading;
 not obtain or try to obtain information, or any decision, dishonestly;
 not induce EU staff to contravene rules and standards of behaviour applicable
to them;
 if employing former EU staff, respect their obligation to abide by the rules and
confidentiality requirements which apply to them.
The Transparency Register
Complaint and sanction mechanism
 Anyone can file a complaint (which supporting
material elements) against a registrant suspected of a
breach of the code
 Register secretariat investigates case. If violation is
established: Sanctions can be decided (impact on
reputation):
 Temporary suspension from Register.
 Deletion from the Register.
To know more
VISIT THE REGISTER WEBSITE
 http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regrin/