Proactive lobbying transparency measures welcomed by civil society but loopholes remain
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:11:32+01:00Madrid – Access Info Europe has welcomed the 25 November decision by the European Commission to proactively publish information about meetings between high level officials and lobbyists, but has raised concerns that the measures do not go far enough and contain loopholes which could seriously undermine the transparency initiative. Of particular concern is the lack of independent criteria for ascertaining whether or not the name of a particular lobbyist should be withheld from the public, with this hinging solely on whether or not the lobbyists provide “unambiguous consent”. This loophole leaves transparency in the hands of the lobbyists, who are