Transparency and Integrity
in Lobbying
Ms. Terry Lamboo, sr. Policy Analyst
Public Sector Integrity Division, OECD
What is Lobbying?
• Lobbying is defined as “the oral or written communication with a public
official to influence legislation, policy or administrative decisions”.
• There is an increase in the number of lobbyists and in the amount of
money spent on lobbying:
• 5,000 registered lobbyists at the European Commission and Parliament
15,000 lobbyists in Brussels
• In the United States lobbying spending more than doubled between
1998 and 2012, increasing from USD 1.4 billion to USD 3.3 billion.
Worldwide Concern over Lobbying
• Lobbyists can influence government decisions and are a normal part
of the policy-making process in modern democracies.
• The main responsibility of safeguarding the public interest and
rejecting undue influence lies with those who are lobbied.
But countries are faced with:
• Declining trust
• “lobbying is perceived as an opaque activity of dubious integrity,
which may result in undue influence, unfair competition and
regulatory capture to the detriment of fair, impartial and
effective policy making” (OECD 2014).
Transparency and Trust
Areas of concern
•
•
•
•
Lack of transparency
Conflict of interests and revolving doors
Unbalanced advisory groups
Inappropriate influence-peddling
According to the OECD 2014 survey:
“inappropriate influence-peddling by lobbyists is a problem”
• According to legislators: frequently 36% (occasional 21.4%)
• According to lobbyist it has increased drastically between 2009
and 2013: from 9% to 24.8% (occasional 29.6% and 25.7%)
Regulation of Lobbying
The majority of OECD
Members have NOT regulated
lobbying, but countries
increasingly opt to introduce
rules on lobbying.
In the past five years, the
number of countries that have
regulated lobbying practices
have almost doubled.
The Way Forward
• Mainstreaming lobbying regulations in the wider
integrity framework remains central in effectively
addressing the risks related to lobbying.
• OECD member countries adopted in 2010 a
Recommendation on Principles for Transparency and
Integrity in Lobbying as guidance to decision-makers on
how to promote good governance in lobbying.
Transparency in Lobbying
How to define lobbyists? Levelling the playing field
Is included in current regulations (in order from most to some):
• Lobbyist from a lobbying firm or a self employed lobbyist
• Representative from a for-profit corporation
• Private sector representatives
• Representative from a non-profit organisation:
– Should be included according to 80% of lobbyist against 63% of legislators
• Representative from nongovernmental organisation
• Lawyers/ Communications and contacts related to legal advice and
consultations
– Should be included according to 59% of lobbyist against 68% of legislators
• Law firms
• Think tanks
•
Should be included according to 67% of lobbyist against 37% of legislators
• Media organisations
• Churches Charities
• Others
What to disclose: campaign contributions are an
emerging issue
•
Source: OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Lobbyists and OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Legislators
What to disclose?
Lobbyists focus on:
• names of lobbyists or lobby firms (89%), their employers (79%),
contact details (59%)
Legislators focus relatively more on:
• name of clients (68%), of the parent companies that benefit (68%),
• source and amounts of any government funding received by the
entity represented by a lobbyist (68%), lobbyists’ expenses (68%).
• A majority wants to include contributions to political
campaigns (legislators 84%, lobbyist 64%).
• To a lesser extent focus on the goal of the lobbying, although
legislators more so than lobbyists.
Varying Degree of Transparency
Countries have in recent years moved towards designing and
implementing lobbying rules and guidelines with registries as a key
component of their transparency scheme.
Information on identity:
all: names (of individuals or organisation)
most: contact details
half: name of clients / name of lobbyist employer
Information on subject:
most: specific subject matter
half: name of specific legislative proposal, bills, regulations
some: information on governmental agencies contacted
Information on expenses or turnover: some.
What measures are considered effective?
1: raising awareness
Most effective ways to learn about lobbying rules/guidelines according to legislators;
and integrity standards and transparency tools according to lobbyists
50%
55%
Briefing
Lecture
17%
22%
33%
Workshop
Online training
67%
24%
33%
37%
Conference or learning event
Direct communication
35%
Scenario-based training
33%
36%
Provision of training material
Information on the website of the office
responsible for lobbying
67%
26%
17%
Legislators
67%
Lobbyists
33%
36%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Source: OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Lobbyists and OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Legislators
Source: OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Lobbyists and OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Legislators
What measures are considered effective?
2: Incentives for compliance
There are generally no effective rewards for agreeing to comply with lobbyist
codes of conduct
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
51%
50%
40%
32%
30%
20%
13%
10%
4%
0%
No, there are no
Yes, there are effective Not really, there are
effective rewards for
some benefits for
rewards for agreeing to
comply with the code complying but they are agreeing to comply with
the code
not compelling
Don’t know
Source: OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Lobbyists and OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Legislators
Source: OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Lobbyists
What measures are considered effective?
3: Sanctions
Are there compelling sanctions for breaching the lobbyist code of conduct?
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
38% 40%
39%
Lobbyists (2009)
34%
30%
20%
18%
Lobbyists (2013)
12%
10%
0%
Yes, there are
Not really, there are No, there are no
effective penalties for some penalties but
penalties for
breaching the code
they are not
breaching the code
compelling
Source: OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Lobbyists and OECD 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Legislators
Source: OECD 2009 and 2013 Survey on Lobbying for Lobbyists
Revolving Door
Restrictions on lobbyists being hired to fill a
regulatory or advisory post in government in place in
OECD Member countries
• The revolving door phenomenon
continues to pose risks to the
integrity of public decision making.
• Less than a third of OECD
Members have restrictions in place
on lobbyists being hired to fill a
regulatory or advisory post in
government.
• Less than a third of OECD
Members have restrictions in place
on post-employment for (senior)
public officials in executive or
legislative office.
For Further Information
Website: www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/lobbying
Selected publications:
• Lobbying: Safeguarding the Public Interest in Public Decisionmaking (September 2014)
• Lobbyists, Government and Public Trust, Vol. 2: Promoting
Integrity by Self-regulation (2012)
• Public Governance Review of Brazil - Managing Risks for a
Cleaner Public Service (2012)
• Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying (2010)
• Lobbyists, Government and Public Trust, Vol. 1: Increasing
Transparency through Legislation (2009)
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