Lobby register fails transparency test, new report concludes

Earlier this week, the ALTER-EU coalition published the report “Commission lobby register fails transparency test”.

This first in-depth assessment of the Commission’s register concludes that the voluntary approach is failing: the compliance rate is alarmingly low and the overall quality of information disclosed is very poor.

Main findings:

• so far less than 20% of Brussels-based lobby entities have registered;
  
• registration levels are low for all categories of “interest representati­ves”, whether these are lobby firms, corporations, industry lobby groups, think tanks, law firms, NGOs or trade unions lobbying the EU institutions;
  
• most of the major lobby firms, corporations and industry lobby groups with offices in Brussels are still missing from the register;
  
• large law firms that provide lobbying services and major Brussels-based think tanks seem to be boycotting the register;
  
• lax reporting requirements allow lobby consultancies to avoid meaningful financial disclosure and hide the size of the lobbying work they undertake for their clients.
  
• the absence of a clear definition of what to include when calculating lobby expenses allows lobby firms, corporations and business lobby groups to register amounts that are almost certainly lower than their real spending, as shown by the registrations of BP, BusinessEurope and CEFIC.

To restore the credibility of its transparency agenda, the European Commission must:

• introduce a mandatory registration system;
  
• develop far more detailed requirements and guidance for financial disclosure;
  
• make data entries comparable;
  
• include an obligation to report the names of lobbyists.

Read the full report.