'European affairs professionals', however, reject the possibility that companies be held accountable for wrongdoing and refuse to disclose their lobbying budgets.
Background
The Commission, in November 2005, launched a European Transparency Initiative to strengthen ethics-rules for EU policymakers and the estimated 15,000 lobbyists, NGOs and other pressure groups who seek to influence them in Brussels.
In the Green Paper, the Commission rules out mandatory registration of lobbyists, saying "a tighter system of self-regulation would appear more appropriate". The 'soft' measures proposed include:
* A voluntary registration system , "run by the Commission, with clear incentives for lobbyists to register". Such incentives would include "automatic alerts of consultations on issues of known interest to the lobbyists";
* a common code of conduct for all lobbyists […] "developed by the lobbying profession itself, possibly consolidating and improving the existing codes", and;
* a system of monitoring and sanctions "in case of incorrect registration and/or breach of the code of conduct".
See full Article.
Posts
