SHINING A LIGHT ON EUROPEAN LOBBIES
TOWARDS A GREATER TRANSPARENY, INTEGRITY AND PARTICIPATION IN LOBBING
Legal basis identified for mandatory EU lobby register
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
French Transparency Law: it’s time to regulate lobbying
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
European Court of Justice ruling entrenches EU secrecy in international relations
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
The Transparency Register’s code of conduct for lobbyists needs to be strengthened during upcoming review
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
Regulation of Lobbying in Spain – Statement by Access Info Europe
Madrid, 2 June 2013 - Today the Spanish daily El País published an article revealing the government's plans for future lobby regulation in Spain. The main highlights include the creation of an obligatory register of interest representatives, applicable to all those who undertake lobbying activities via-a-vis the upper and lower houses of Parliament. The article also outlines a series of
The lobby battle around data privacy
Brussels, 15 May 2013 – The European Commission has proposed new regulation on data protection, which is currently being debated in the European Parliament. However, it threatens the commercial interests of big corporations who are currently making millions from collecting and selling our private data. Big corporation are trying to do everything in their power to water down the new
Cover photo: European Council via Flick (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)