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Sign the petition for trilogue transparency
One of the most important steps in EU decision-making takes place behind closed doors. We call on the EU to end this secrecy. We have the right to be informed about the negotiations between the Commission, the Parliament and the member states.
This petition was initiated by LobbyControl and can be found here.
EU legislation affects us all and often has particularly far-reaching consequences. For example, it is about limiting the power of digital corporations, regulating the use of artificial intelligence or ensuring compliance with human rights and environmental protection in supply chains. However, the decisive negotiations between the EU Commission, the EU Parliament and the member states in the so-called trilogue take place in secret. This opaque nature of the trilogue process is especially beneficial to well-connected and well-funded lobbyists.
Despite a ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2018 that the public has a right to this information, the EU has so far refused to release documents on these negotiations.
We call on the EU institutions to publish up-to-date documents of the trilogue negotiations. Sign our call to the Presidents of the EU Parliament, the EU Commission and the European Council.
Dear Roberta Metsola (President of the European Parliament),
Dear Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission),
Dear Charles Michel (President of the European Council),
The EU passes laws that have far-reaching consequences, yet some of its legislative processes are largely opaque. In particular, the critical negotiations between Parliament, Council and Commission, known as “trilogues”, take place behind closed doors.
Lobbyists use this final legislative phase to push for last-minute changes in their favour, with well-funded lobbies who can exert influence on all three EU institutions at the same time being best placed to take advantage.
We as citizens, on the other hand, mostly lack the information needed to follow the development of new legislation. And yet we, more than anyone, have a right to be able to understand and debate such developments. After all, it’s our lives that are impacted by the resulting rules and regulations.
We therefore call for an end to the practice of holding “trilogue” meetings between the three institutions in secret, and for key negotiating documents to be made public.
This simple step towards greater transparency is an opportunity to strengthen European democracy and enhance civic participation in the European project. Act now to ensure newly drawn up “four-column” documents are swiftly and proactively published so that anyone can scrutinise ongoing legislative processes.
Yours sincerely,
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