ALTER-EU verdict on the review of the EU Transparency Register: “hugely disappointing” Brussels, 27 January 2014 – Transparency campaigners cannot find a single area of “good progress” made by the review group to improve the EU’s lobby register, according to a scorecard published today by ALTER-EU. The scorecard assesses the outcome of the recent EU Transparency Register review process against ALTER-EU’s own recommendations for reform. The assessment has been made after receiving leaked copies of the final outcome of the review process. Out of the ten ALTER-EU recommendations for reform, five were assessed as “no progress made” and a further

Access Info Launches New ‘Pledge Campaign’ Initiative To Fight For Greater Lobby Transparency In The EU The campaign, focusing on European Parliament elections in May 2014, seeks commitments from MEP candidates to fight against corporate lobbies’ excessive influential power in the decision making process in Brussels. Madrid, 10 January 2014 – Access Info has launched a new project in Spain in the lead up to the 2014 European Parliamentary elections. The Pledge Campaign, in partnership with organisations from across Europe, aims to secure commitments from European Parliament election candidates to improve the transparency of lobbying activities in the EU, and

Time running out for lobby transparency: citizens call for action Madrid/Brussels, 13 November 2013 – More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition which was delivered today to Members of the European Parliament [1], calling on them to stand up for lobbying transparency in the European Union by supporting the transition to a mandatory lobby register for the EU institutions. [2] The petition was handed over by members of the ALTER-EU coalition including Access Info, just as the group on the revision of the EU Transparency Register prepares to meet to make crucial decisions on Wednesday

Access Info and ALTER EU launch a petition calling for full EU lobby transparency Brussels/Madrid, 29 October 2013 – Access Info as part of the ALTER-EU coalition of civil society organisations have launched a petition for citizens to call for a mandatory and detailed lobby register for the European Union. The petition is being sent to Rainer Wieland MEP, European Parliament Vice-President for Transparency and chair of the group to review the EU lobby register. Sign the petition here!

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.