Over 100 civil society organisations warned MEPs in an open letter that the Commission’s proposal risks providing even less transparency to the public than the current one and that if they are serious about transparency in the big EU institutions then they must start with their own house.
A few weeks before Commission, Parliament and Council are expected to start negotiating a revision of the joint EU Transparency Register, the Alliance for Lobby Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU), Civil Society Europe and Transparency International EU have brought together a broad civil society coalition to make key demands that will ensure meaningful reform.
To guarantee reforms that deliver greater lobby transparency, rather than a weakened register, the signatories urge MEPs to champion the following points during the negotiations:
- a strong commitment by MEPs to only meet registered lobbyists
- a financial commitment to help the register secretariat ensure data quality
- maintaining the existing definition of lobbying, which includes direct and indirect lobbying
- a commitment to a legally-binding lobby register in the longer-term
The letter is supported by more than 100 organisations active in areas such as worker and consumer rights, environment and public health protection, education and development cooperation.