Lobbyisten in Brüssel sollen stärkerer Kontrolle unterworfen werden

Siim Kallas, EU-Kommissar für Betrugsbekämpfung, hat Pläne verkündet, die den Mangel an bindenden Transparenzregeln für die politische Einflussnahme der tausenden von Lobbyisten, die sich in Brüssel befinden, beheben soll.

Commissioner Siim Kallas has announced the launch „in the course of spring“ of a far-reaching programme to improve the accountability of EU decision-makers and the transparency rules affecting the thousands of Brussels lobbyists seeking to influence them. 

Speaking on 3 March at the European Foundation for Management in Birmingham (UK), Kallas said „the issue of integrity should not be limited to public institutions“ and should also cover interest groups of all sorts including lawyers, professional lobbyists and NGOs. 

„People are allowed to know who they are, what they do and what they stand for,“ Kallas said, noting that there is currently „no mandatory regulation on reporting or registering lobby activities“.

In reference to the self-regulatory code of conduct developed by the Society of European Affairs Practitioners (SEAP), he said:  „Registers provided by lobbyists‘ organisations in the EU are voluntary and incomprehensive and do not provide much information on the specific interests represented or how it is financed. Self-imposed codes of conduct have few signatories and have so far lacked serious sanctions.“

Kallas was equally critical about the lack of transparency rules for NGOs. Pointing out that over 2 billion euros per year are channelled through them to help the developing world, he described the word ‚Non‘ in Non-Governmental Organisation as „quite fictitious“. 

He said the forthcoming Commission initiative will also seek to improve NGO transparency „by improving the current registry of NGOs“. „It should also contain financial information,“ he added.