Researching corporate lobbying in the EU

Sources on EU lobbying and EU policy-making

• LobbyFacts is run by Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl and it takes data from the official (Commission/Parliament) register and allows it to be filtered, ranked, sorted, and analysed. Lobby register data dating back to 2012 is also available
• Integritywatch is run by Transparency International’s EU office and it takes data from MEPs' declarations of interest, from the official EU lobby register, and from the published lists of lobby meetings held by commissioners, cabinet members, and directors-general
• RevolvingDoorWatch is run by Corporate Europe Observatory and provides analysis on about 100 EU revolving door cases
• Lobbypedia is run by LobbyControl (in German) to highlight the influence of lobbyism on politics and the public
• AsktheEU was built by the organisation Access Info Europe to help members of the public get information about the EU. You can submit access to documents requests and view those made by others
• Powerbase is published by Public Interest Investigations and is a guide to networks of power, lobbying, and deceptive PR
• Green MEPs' database (in real time) of their lobby meetings
• UK Conservative MEPs' lists (six monthly) of their lobby meetings
• VoteWatch.eu Tracks European Parliament voting per issue, per MEP
• SEMDOC is published by Statewatch and provides monitoring of EU Justice and Home Affairs policy
• Farmsubsidy.org provides information on how EU farming subsidies are spent
• LobbyCloud.eu is supported by the Green group of MEPs and is a “library of influences on public policy”

Official EU sources

• EU lobby transparency register is run by the Commission and Parliament. As registration is voluntary, its data is imperfect
• Register of Commission's expert groups
• Commission’s SINAPSE platform which promotes expertise in EU policy making and governance
• Register of Comitology procedures when the Commission implements EU legislation with committees of representatives from EU member states
• All Commission press releases
• Register of Commission documents
• Register of weekly College minutes
• Who is Who database which can help you to track down an individual working in the EU institutions
• Register of European Union law including the treaties, legislation, case-law and legislative proposals, plus extensive search facilities
• Documents and other information concerning ongoing and closed public consultations by the Commission
• The budgets of the EU institutions
• Information on public contracts and funding programmes managed by the Commission
• Register of European Court of Justice cases
• The Legislative Observatory which tracks the progress of legislation
• In the European Parliament, you can monitor parliamentary questions and check the Parliament’s calendar

Data on US lobbying

• OpenSecrets.org is run by the Center for Responsive Politics and presents analysis of news, parties, elected members, candidates, as well as disclosing how much campaign money has been raised and where it comes from. It also analyses the lobby spending of registered lobby organisations
• SourceWatch is published by the Center for Media and Democracy and it provides analysis of US corporate public relations (PR) campaigns, including corporate front groups
• Semi-Annual Reports – FARA the Foreign Agents Registration Act, published by the Department of Justice