New EU Lobbying Register Rules Slammed as 'Timid Cosmetic Changes'

Proposed changes to the EU lobbying register have been slammed as "timid" and "cosmetic" because they only apply to high-level officials rather than the huge number of lower-level civil servants who are exposed to the most corporate lobbying.

The extent of corporate lobbying in the European Union has been the subject of growing concern, brought to a head recently by the appointment of former Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso as as non-executive chairman of US investment bank Goldman Sachs — a senior lobbying role. 

Analysis of the 4,318 lobby meetings declared by the top tier of European Commission officials between December 2014 and June 2015 shows that more than 75 percent were with corporate lobbyists. This compares to 18 percent with NGOs, 4 percent with think tanks and 2 percent with local authorities. Google, General Electric and Airbus are some of the most active lobbyists at this level.

New @EU_Commission plan for 'mandatory' lobby register leaves "majority of lobby meetings off the radar", says CEO: https://t.co/gP10bDFkAP pic.twitter.com/oroXirRmvB

— CEO (@corporateeurope) 28 September 2016

​In an effort to make public the amount of time EU officials spend with lobbyists, the European Commission opened a voluntary transparency register, which applied only to the Commission and the Parliament, but not the Council.

The latest changes to the rules make it mandatory for lobbyists dealing with all three institutions — now including the Council — to register, but contains a number of exemptions which critics claim mean that most lobbying will still go unregistered. Campaign group Transparency International described the changes as "timid and cosmetic."

What happened during #teamJunckerEU meeting today: mandatory #TransparencyEU Register & progress on #migrationEU https://t.co/ihP8LFXOHP pic.twitter.com/ddfkhKy2Rm

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) September 28, 2016​

"After years of running an extremely weak scheme, the Commission's revamp of the lobby transparency register had huge potential. But the new measures announced today are a disappointment. They will do little to help journalists, civil society and citizens scrutinize the corporate lobbies trying to manipulate EU policies in their favor," Corporate Europe Observatory's campaigner Margarida da Silva said.

"The proposal still limits the ban on meeting unregistered lobbyists to the top levels of the Commission, which means the vast majority of lobby meetings will still be off the radar and unregistered lobbyists can go about their business unchecked. What the Commission puts forward is still a long way from a genuinely mandatory register that really boosts transparency."

Wide Exemptions

Lobbyists are not required to register meetings about the provision of "legal and other professional advice" or where "it relates to representing clients and safeguarding their fundamental or procedural rights," which critics say leaves wide scope for not registering corporate lobbying. The European Central Banks, the Court of Justice and 40 other EU agencies are also not included.

the @EU_Commission is just pathetic… #lobbying https://t.co/p0bv4PZqux

— Glyn Moody (@glynmoody) 28 September 2016

​Also exempt are political parties, religious organizations, public authorities and "intergovernmental organizations, including agencies and bodies emanating from them."

"They have missed a golden opportunity to make these channels of access by lobbyists completely transparent. Even if these proposals were adopted by the Council, it's still 'business as usual' towards the powerful lobbyists so whatever triumphs the Commission may present today are somewhat hollow," said German MEP Helmut Scholz, who sits on the Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs.