Start date:
Thu, 2015-04-23 09:30
Location:
Room ASP 3G2, European Parliament, Brussels
Making Brussels’ lobbying fully transparent:
A debate on the future of the EU lobby transparency register
Organised by Vice President Sylvie Guillaume MEP and the ALTER-EU coalition
Vice-President Frans Timmermans, Sylvie Guillaume MEP, Dennis de Jong MEP
Inga Reine from Permanent Representation of Latvia to the EU
Aidan O’Sullivan from European Ombudsman’s office
Carl Dolan + Vid Doria from Transparency International
Olivier Hoedeman + Pam Bartlett Quintanilla from ALTER-EU
Jennifer Baker from Vieuws.eu
Thursday 23 April, 9.30am – 12.30pm Room ASP 3G2, European Parliament, Brussels
As the European Commission prepares to launch its proposal for negotiations on a new agreement with the Parliament and Council to improve the EU lobby transparency register, this event focused on how we can make lobbying in Brussels fully transparent. The European Parliament, alongside transparency advocates such as ALTER-EU, has consistently demanded that the current EU lobby register be made legally-binding on all lobbyists. Now, since coming to office, Commission President Juncker and Vice President Timmermans have also made public commitments to improve the lobby register, including to make it ‘mandatory’ for all EU lobbyists. But big questions remain about whether their plans will deliver the step change in transparency that is really required.
- How can we ensure that the lobby register is a de facto requirement for all active EU lobbyists?
- Is it best to focus on deepening EU lobby transparency or broadening it to include new institutions like the Council?
- And how can we make sure that the register is a truly accurate reflection of the real lobbying that goes on?
These are just some of the issues discussed at this event which featured senior representatives from all three EU institutions. The debate also formed the launch of ALTER-EU’s brand new campaign to demand full lobby transparency in Brussels and across the member states.