(21/03/07) Aanpak transparante lobbyingpraktijken te soft

• 2007-03-21

Commissaris Kallas' aanpak voor meer transparantie mbt. lobbying is te zwak. Hij vergeet enkele kernpunten. Sommigen hebben met hun particuliere belangen een gepriviligeerde toegang tot de instellingen, bv. via adviesraden en zgn. 'high level'-groepen.

Hoewel een oplijsting van de lobbyisten - mét hun financiële achtergrond - een goed initiatief is, zal het vrijwillige karakter ervan leren dat niet iedereen het achterste van zijn tong zal laten zien. Dit zou verplicht moeten zijn, met bijhorende sancties, naar het voorbeeld van de VS.

De Groenen vinden het goed dat de Commissie voorstelt om het transparantieoverleg te voeren samen met het EP. Ze vragen dat er in het Parlement een rapport over wordt gemaakt.

Transparency and lobbying
Softly, softly approach will fail to provide necessary transparency for EU lobbying

Commenting on the announcement by the European Commission today of the creation of a public register for lobbyists as part of its 'transparency initiative', Luxembourg Green MEP Claude Turmes said:
"Shedding some light on the murky lobbying process in the EU is long overdue and would go some way to generating confidence in the EU institutions. Unfortunately, the softly, softly approach proposed by Commissioner Kallas fails to address some of the key areas concerning transparency of lobbying in the EU.

"The Commission has made no attempt to address the problem of privileged access of some private interests vis-a-vis the institutions, for example through setting guidelines for policy advisory bodies and so-called 'high-level groups'. The failure to mention the obvious problem of revolving doors is also a massive oversight, particularly in the light of recently publicised cases, such as the issue of Commission officials working on the REACH regulation who had previously worked for the chemicals industry.

"It is certainly a positive development that lobbyists will have to provide information about their financial background but the voluntary nature of the lobbyists' register will clearly limit the effectiveness of this initiative. Those who have an interest in not disclosing such information will do so. Such a system can only work if clear and strong sanctions are included and unfortunately these are completely lacking. The approach being proposed lacks teeth, particularly when compared with other systems (e.g. in the US).

"We welcome the invitation by the Commission to the European Parliament to have inter-institutional cooperation in the framework of a common code of conduct and register. In order to assure that the EP will be fully involved in the construction of these mechanisms, the Greens will call for an initiative report of the EP to this end."

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