Campaigners claim too many active EU lobbyists are not listed in EU register

Campaigners say that too many major lobby organizations are not listed in the European Union´s lobby transparency register despite being "active" in EU lobbying.

 It is claimed these include financial lobbyists the City of London Corporation and Credit Suisse; major corporations such as Electrabel, Anglo American and General Motors; law firms such as Covington & Burling and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; and lobby consultancies.

This is according to a new report by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (Alter-EU), a coalition of over 200 civil society groups and trade unions.

It was published on the same day as the re-launch of the Commission-Parliament joint lobby transparency register.

Alter-EU says the current voluntary approach to lobby regulation "does not give an accurate picture" of lobbying in Brussels, and the Commission's proposal for an inter-institutional agreement "will not be the solution" as it will not be binding on lobbyists.

For Alter-EU the changes being introduced are minimal and "will not solve its fundamental problems."

Alter-EU says that too many entries within the register are based on "unreliable or even misleading" data.

For example, it is alleged that Goldman Sachs declares less than €50,000 lobby expenditure in 2013 whilst spending "significantly more" than that paying others to lobby on its behalf during the same period. This has now been the subject of a complaint by NGOs.

Around 150 lobby consultancies, law firms or consultants fail to disclose their clients' names despite this being a clear breach of the rules, it is also claimed.

The campaigners go on to allege that Google and Novartis list more European Parliament accredited pass-holders than their total number of bybyists "which cannot be correct according to the register rules."

The groups say that more than 200 lobby consultancies, law firms or consultants "mask" their clients' identities by naming them only as acronyms, which Alter-EU says is another breach of the rules.

Paul de Clerck of Alter-EU steering committee member Friends of the Earth Europe says: “The Commission's proposed inter-institutional agreement to introduce a so-called mandatory lobby register is misleading, as it will not be binding on lobbyists and thus not be mandatory.

"What is needed is a legislative proposal, to ensure that lobbyists are legally obliged to be fully open and honest about all their lobbying activities and to ensure that strong sanctions can be applied in case of breaches of the register.”

Nina Katzemich of steering committee member LobbyControl added: “Even with the relaunched register, lobbyists can still choose if they want to be be transparent, and they can still appear in the register with totally misleading data.

"Despite the fact that registering is now a condition for meeting with Commissioners, without fundamental changes to the quality of the register, lobbyists can give a totally wrong impression of their lobbying activities and still get access to high level decision-makers."

She added, "This is what happened for example in the case of Goldman Sachs. Their registration is subject to a complaint by LobbyControl, Corporate Europe Observatory and Friends of the Earth Europe, filed today.”

Share this article: