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Major European NGOs disappointed with the proposed voluntary lobby register

Major European NGOs disappointed with the proposed voluntary lobby register: it casts more shadows than it increases transparency

Brussels, 23 June 2008 -- Eight large European sectors of public interest organizations united in the EU Civil Society Contact Group (CSCG) are disappointed by the voluntary lobby register that the European Commission launched today. The CSCG considers the register weak and fundamentally flawed.

Fintan Farrell, president of the CSCG, comments: “Public interest organisations have supported the Commission's 'European Transparency Initiative' in the past because we hoped that it would lead to real transparency about EU lobbying. The Commission's lobby register was supposed to answer questions such as how many lobbyists are there in Brussels?, who do they work for?, and who is paying them? Unfortunately, the register developed by the Secretary General of the Commission will not provide clear answers to any of these questions.”

The Civil Society Contact Group criticises in particular that:

1. The register requests different types of financial information from different types of actors. For-profit lobbying organisations are asked to report approximate figures related to lobbying expenditure, while public interest organisations are asked to provide total budget figures. This means that the register will not provide comparable financial information to the public.

2. The register is limited to organisations and does not request the registration of individual lobbyists working for them. This means that the register will not make public any information about the number of lobbyists working at EU level, nor who they work for.

“This flawed register gives the impression that the Commission is unwilling to improve lobbying transparency at EU level” insists Fintan Farrell, president of the EU Civil Society Contact Group. “The European Commission expressed a commitment to “ensure that the Union is open to public scrutiny”. A meaningful public scrutiny can only occur if the provided information is relevant and comparable”, he continued. “How can the Commission expect that EU citizens trust Brussels if it fails to ensure basic transparency about EU lobbyists? What we need is a real transparency register that will require all lobbyists to disclose their names, budgets and lobbying expenditure.” Farrell concluded.

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About the Civil Society Contact Group

The EU Civil Society Contact Group brings together eight large European sectors of public interest organizations: CONCORD, Green 10, Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN), Culture Action Europe, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), the European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning (EUCIS-LLL), the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), the Social Platform. They bring together the voices of hundreds of thousands of associations across the Union, linking the national with the European level, representing a large range of organised interests.

Contact

Fintan Farrell, president of the Civil Society Contact Group

Tel: 00 32 2 226 5850

GSM: 00 32 474 797934

e-mail: fintan.farrell@eapn.skynet.be

Notes to the editors

1. Read the CSCG letter to President Barroso, 28 May 2008 “Public interest organisations call for equal treatment under new lobby register”

2. Read the CSCG call on the European Parliament, 06 May 2008 “Improving Transparency on lobbyists’ activities – Set the European Parliament as a champion!”

3. Read the CSCG letter to President Barroso, 31 March 2008 “NGOs concerned by U-turn on European Transparency Initiative”

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