Commissioner Siim Kallas has asked think tanks to sign up to the Register for Interest Representatives at a meeting organised by the European Policy Centre, the only such

Lobbyists working hard for their clients

Brussels institution on the register. The failure to get this key group to join in the transparency initiative is raising eyebrows throughout the EU.

Although many describe the list as being for lobbyists, in reality it has always been for anyone seeking to influence policy and Kellas points out “We explicitly and deliberately included think tanks in the target group”. The Friends of Europe are decidedly unfriendly to the idea and their Secretary-General Giles Merritt was quoted as saying “I personally object to being called a lobbyist. I have been in Brussels for thirty years and I have never once lobbied. I don’t even know what a lobbyist does.”

Come off it Mr Merritt! This response is completely disingenuous. For a start, nobody is calling them lobbyists and if he doesn’t know what a lobbyist does, he might try Google. Alternatively, he could look up the European Parliament’s Register of Lobbyists accredited to the EP. On that list, oh look, we find a Giles Merrit from Friends of Europe. Presumably he objects to the Commission wanting him to register, but not the Parliament. I’m sure he’s got a good explanation for this anomaly.

NGO’s are furious with the think tanks, one, who wished to be unnamed explained why they thought the think tanks didn’t sign up, “It’s intellectual arrogance, they think they’re so superior, that they’re so pure it just doesn’t affect them”. Another said that “it just took an afternoon to check everything and put it on the register, we wanted to put more than was required on as a message to others, to encourage transparency”.

The lack of response to the register should be a major source of embarrassment to the Commission and Parliament. After all, these outfits are often in receipt of very substantial funding from the EU and many provide a home for a host of retired EU officials or MEP’s. Christine Pohl from Friends of the Earth Europe,a member of ALTER-EU, insists that think tanks activities do amount to lobbying and says “It’s contradictory that think tanks lobby the institutions and have ex-commissioners and parliamentarians on their boards, yet don’t want to be transparent”.

Paper Tiger

The alternative approach to lobbying

The proposed common register for the Commission and the Parliament was criticised by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) who warned that the use of a voluntary register would fail in its objective. Erik Wesselius of Corporate Europe Observatory, a member of ALTER-EU said: “In May last year, the European Parliament resolution called for a mandatory register for lobbyists which requires disclosure of names of lobbyists and financial details.

Now they have agreed to endorse a voluntary register which only names the minority of lobbyists who hold Parliamentary access passes and which contains very weak and misleading financial disclosure requirements. Instead of finally allowing the public to get a clear picture about who is influencing decision-making in Brussels, Commissioner Kallas and MEPs seem to be settling for the lowest common denominator. The result is a compromise register which creates a false impression of transparency, while most of EU lobbying will continue outside of any public scrutiny.”

In a report just published by ALTER-EU, they say that, after a year of the register’s existence, the voluntary approach has failed. Their research shows that only 23% of Brussels lobby organisations have registered and that Think tanks and law firms are effectively boycotting the register. NGO’s are well represented, but this number includes a large number who do no, or little, lobbying. It has been said that many signed up in a gesture of transparancy and to encourage others to join.

One main problem with the register is that the information supplied is incomplete. Only names of institutions and not individuals are given and the financial data is described by ALTER-EU as “insufficent and misleading”. Catherine Stewart, Vice President of the Society of European Affairs Professionals (SEAP) has said that only 20% of a fee charged by her members should be counted as lobbying. What would the other 80% be for? Long lunches?

Sadly Commissioner Kallas has said the register will “never” be mandatory. However, campaigners wonder how credible the register will be if organisations funded by the EU and frequently employing ex officials are refusing to sign up. There are a couple of suggestions being made that could be implemented, should there be the political will; only funding organisations or providing passes for those organisations on the register.

An NGO insider described the situation off the record, “It comes down to does the Commission and Parliament have any authority over organisations they frequently fund? If they can’t persuade them to sign on, then they’re going to look pretty toothless and the lobbyists will be perceived as winning, which would be bad for Europe’s image, here and internationally”.