CORRUPTION: EU Fails to Bring Transparency
Stefania Bianchi
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33094

BRUSSELS, May 3 (IPS) - A proposed new EU watchdog on lobbying will fail to deliver transparency in decision-making, civil society groups say.

In an effort to clarify the relationship between lobbying firms and European Union (EU) institutions, the European Commission, the executive arm of the bloc, published a set of proposals Wednesday (May 3) for a European Transparency Initiative (ETI).

The proposals cover issues such as access to EU policy documents and how EU governments account for the money they spend.

With 'the public has a right to know' as its declared message, the ETI proposes to strengthen sanctions in case of wrongdoing. Lobbyists would be encouraged to register with the Commission. In a move aimed at transparency, they would be given "automatic alerts of consultations on issues of known interest to the lobbyists."

Siim Kallas, European commissioner for administrative issues and combating fraud, said in a statement Wednesday that the measures would increase openness and accessibility of EU institutions, raise awareness over use of the EU budget and make the Union's institutions more accountable to the public.

"With the cooperation of the member states, we can do much better to show how EU funds are spent. Likewise, lobbying is perfectly legitimate. But as the phenomenon grows, we must ensure there is clarity about who the lobbyists represent, what their mission is and how they are funded," he said.

The proposals fall short of proposing mandatory disclosure rules that would require lobbyists to register in a database and reveal who they represent and what they are being paid.

Such rules, the Commission says, would take too long to agree and would stumble into legal difficulties, especially in the case of regulated professions such as law firms.

But the Commission's approach is "totally insufficient", says the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation at the EU (ALTER-EU), which was launched last July by Greenpeace and the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) to campaign for a mandatory system of registration and reporting for all EU lobbyists.

"The ETI Green Paper lays out an inadequate voluntary approach. An email list announcing upcoming Commission consultations is no credible incentive to ensure comprehensive registration and reporting by EU lobbyists," Erik Wesselius from CEO, an Amsterdam-based campaign group which monitors the political influence of corporations and their lobby groups told IPS. "Those lobbyists who want to stay in the shadow and not reveal their lobbying to the general public will continue to do so under this proposal."

"Lobbyism is a thriving and unregulated business," said Jorgo Riss, director of the Greenpeace European unit. "Without rules, big money lobbying undermines democracy. Large corporations invest a lot of money to get access to EU decision-makers, and the public interest loses out."

ALTER-EU says corporate lobby groups, which include industrial associations, political consultants and cross-industry groups, are gaining "far too much political influence" in the EU decision-making process. It says such lobbying is often detrimental to the democratic process and undermines the legitimacy of the EU among citizens.

The debate over lobbying transparency and access to EU documents has grown fierce over the past year, with commercial lobbyists continuing to argue against new rules. Civil society groups, on the other hand, have made a strong case for improving ethics regulations for EU Commission staff, and to introduce mandatory registration and financial reporting for all lobbyists.

They are particularly concerned about the so-called "revolving doors" whereby former high-ranking EU employees end up on the payroll of industry lobbyists.

Brussels, which is home to most EU institutions, has attracted the world's second-largest lobbying community after Washington. But the lobbying industry in Brussels has developed in a less regulated environment than in the United States.

The European Parliament website lists 5,039 accredited lobbyists working for a range of familiar names such as McDonald's and Visa. But the CEO puts the total number of lobbyists at somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000. About 60 to 90 million euros (72 to 108 million dollars) a year are believed to be spent on lobbying.

In a report 'Lobbying in the European Union: Current Rules and Practices' published in 2003 the European Parliament said more than 70 percent of EU lobbyists work for corporate interests, and only 20 percent represent NGOs such as trade unions, public health organisations and environmental groups.

The remaining 10 percent are sectoral lobby groups promoting the interests of regions, cities and international institutions.

ALTER-EU says it will continue to push for a "meaningful transparency system," and is urging the Commission to make more effective proposals soon.

"For ALTER-EU, the publication of the ETI Green Paper means the start of a pan-European campaign to prevent the EU Commission from side-stepping the issues and to ensure credible and effective EU lobbying transparency and ethics rules," Ulrich Mueller from the German group LobbyControl told IPS. (END/2006)