Blog

Commission urged to tackle dominance of business in expert groups Brussels, 27 June 2013 – Today the European Ombudsman produced recommendations for the European Commission on how to tackle the dominance of business interests within its expert groups, following a three year investigation as a result of a complaint from the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation in Europe (ALTER-EU). The Ombudsman found numerous cases of maladministration after investigating all four allegations made by ALTER-EU regarding the Commission’s expert groups – which advise it on legislation and policy. In an attempt to pursue a ‘friendly solution’ to the complaint,

Brussels, 20 June 2013 — The European Commission and European Parliament’s joint lobby register turns two years old this week, and a new report by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) shows that the voluntary register is still failing to get a sufficient share of lobbyists to register and remains packed with unreliable and incomplete data. Access Info, as part of the steering committee of ALTER-EU, is calling on the Commission and Parliament to use the opportunity of the register’s review to make the Transparency Register mandatory. The report, “Rescue the Register! How to make EU lobby transparency

Brussels, 17 June 2013 – An independent legal analysis launched today in Brussels has revealed that the EU institutions have a legal basis on which to act to make the Transparency Register mandatory. The study, launched at the beginning of the Register’s review process, was commissioned by ALTER EU and the Austrian Arbeiterkammer to counter the Commission’s arguments that the EU has no competence to make the register binding on lobbyists.

Madrid/Paris, 17 June 2013 – Access Info has joined 10 civil society organisations from around the world in calls on the French parliament to adopt legislation which will introduce a mandatory register of lobbyists. The calls for greater regulation of lobbying come as the French parliament (Assemblée Nationale) considers a draft law on control of conflicts of interest in the wake of a series of corruption scandals.

  Madrid, 7 June 2013 – Access Info Europe notes with regret today’s ruling by the General Court of the European Court of Justice which upholds the European Commission’s refusal to make public documents about the EU-India Free Trade Agreement requested by the lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory. The central question in the case Corporate Europe Observatory v European Commission revolves around whether or not dissemination of minutes of meetings and email correspondence would harm the EU’s international relations. The Court’s ruling is particularly regrettable given that these documents had been shared with representatives of the European and Indian business

The Transparency Register’s code of conduct for lobbyists needs to be strengthened during upcoming review Madrid/Brussels, 5 June 2013 – When lobby groups sign up to the EU’s voluntary lobby register [1] they agree to a code of conduct for lobbyists. This code however is currently weak and vaguely-worded, according to ALTER EU, a coalition campaigning for greater lobby transparency in the EU, of which Access Info Europe is an active member. The lack of clarity in the code of conduct, particularly about what constitutes “undue pressure” or “inappropriate behaviour” for lobbyists – alongside the absence of