Transparency register

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The transparency register was created on the basis of an internal agreement between the European Parliament (EP) and the European Commission (Commission) and introduced on June 23, 2011.

This is intended to record and control the activities ( lobbying ) of interest groups at European level , with whom the executive or legislative branch could be influenced, and to provide information about this for the EU citizen ( civil society ). As a result, the dialogue between political decision-makers in Europe should also be open and transparent.

Legal basis

Agreements between the European Parliament and the European Commission on the establishment and operation of a transparency register for organizations and self-employed individuals involved in the design and implementation of EU policies. These agreements also cover the European Economic Area .

Accountability and Transparency Register Secretariat

"The General Secretaries of the European Parliament and the European Commission are responsible for monitoring the system and for all essential operational aspects and by mutual agreement they will take all measures necessary to implement this agreement."

Create the services of the European Parliament and the European Commission

"[...] a common administrative structure called 'the common Transparency Register Secretariat'. This consists of a group of officials from the European Parliament (DG Presidency - Transparency Unit) and the European Commission (General Secretariat of the European Commission - Transparency Unit) on the basis of an agreement between the relevant services. The joint Transparency Register Secretariat is coordinated by a Head of Unit in the General Secretariat of the European Commission (Head of the Transparency Unit of the General Secretariat of the European Commission). Its tasks also include the implementation of measures that contribute to the quality of the content of the register. "

The secretariat started its work on July 1, 2011.

Principles of the register

Historical bases

The existing relevant registration systems of the European Parliament (1996) and the European Commission (June 2008) formed the basis for the current transparency register.

In particular because of the ongoing strengthening of the European Parliament - for example and above all through the Treaty of Lisbon - more attention had to be paid to the EP , as it received this from an increasing number of stakeholders . s.

Primacy of Union primary law, proportionality and non-discrimination

The establishment and operation of the register will respect the general principles of Union law , including the principles of proportionality and non-discrimination or equal treatment .

All comparable activities of the practitioners will be treated in a comparable manner, and uniform conditions will be created for the registration of organizations and self-employed individuals who are involved in the design and implementation of EU policies.

Principle of free mandate and respect for political parties

The establishment and operation of the register will respect the rights of Members of the European Parliament to fully exercise their mandate and will not prevent access to the buildings of the European Parliament by citizens from Members' constituencies .

"The establishment and operation of the register do not adversely affect the responsibilities or prerogatives of the parties or their respective organizational powers."

Structure of the register

The transparency register includes:

  • Guidelines on:
    • the scope of the register, permitted activities and exemptions;
    • the categories available for registration;
    • the information required of registering organizations and individuals, including financial disclosure requirements;
  • a code of conduct;
  • a complaints procedure and measures to be followed in the event of non-compliance with the Code of Conduct, including the procedure for investigating and handling complaints.

Registration categories

The registration category is chosen by the registrants themselves when they register in the transparency database.

Category I. Consulting firms Law firms Independent consultant
Category II Companies and groups of companies Trade, business and professional associations Unions Other similar organizations
Category III Non-governmental organizations , platforms and networks, etc.
Category IV Think tanks and research institutions Higher education institutions
Category V Organizations that represent churches and religious communities
Category VI Local, regional and municipal authorities (sub-national level) Other public or mixed entities

Registration status (July 2020)

The official portal of the European Union relating to the Transparency Register shows a number of registered interest representatives amounting to 11,827 (July 29, 2020; 2011: 7058). The majority of these, with 6271 (2011: 3796) entries, are in-house lobbyists, trade and professional associations. With 3170 (2011: 1839) entries, non-governmental organizations follow ahead of think tanks, research and higher education institutions (2020: 904; 2011: 506) and consulting firms / law firms / self-employed consultants (2020: 847; 2011: 877) as well as “Organizations representing local, regional and municipal authorities, other public or mixed bodies” (2020: 576; 2011: 325).

Scope of the register

principle

In principle, the scope of the transparency register includes "all activities - unless they are excluded from the scope of application in Part IV - which are intended to directly or indirectly influence the policy making or implementation and the decision-making processes of the EU institutions, independently the communication channel or medium used, such as outsourcing, media, orders for professional intermediaries, think tanks, platforms, forums, campaigns or grassroots initiatives. These activities include contacting members, officials or other servants of the EU institutions, preparing, disseminating and transmitting letters, information material and discussion and position papers, organizing events, meetings or promotional activities and social events or conferences, for whom invitations were sent to members, officials or other servants of the EU institutions.

Voluntary donations and participation in formal consultations on planned legislative acts and other legal acts as well as other open consultations also fall within the scope ”.

All organizations and self-employed individuals, regardless of their legal status, whose field of activity falls within the scope of the register, are expected to register. “Networks, platforms and other forms of collective activities which have no legal status or personality but which are in fact a source of organized influence and whose scope of activity falls within the scope of the register are expected to register. In such cases, its members should designate one of them to act as the person responsible for their relations with the registry administration ”.

Excluded activities

  • "Activities in connection with legal advice or other professional advice, insofar as they are connected with the exercise of the client's fundamental right to a fair trial, including the right to defense in administrative proceedings, such as those carried out by lawyers or members of other relevant professional groups".
  • “Activities of the social partners as participants in the social dialogue (trade unions, employers' associations, etc.) if they fulfill the role assigned to them by the treaties; this applies mutatis mutandis to any organization that has an institutional role under the treaties ”;
  • "Activities based on direct and individual requests from EU institutions or members of the European Parliament, such as ad hoc or regular requests for factual information, data or expertise, and / or individual invitations to public hearings or to participate in advisory committees or similar forums" .

Exempt organizations

  • Member State governments, third country governments, international intergovernmental organizations and their diplomatic missions;
  • Churches and religious communities;
  • Political parties;
  • Local, regional and municipal authorities.

These can be registered, in some cases this is expressly requested.

Registered persons

Obligation of the registered

The persons and organizations entered in the transparency register must agree

  • that the information and documents submitted by them for inclusion in the register are made public;
  • act in accordance with the Code of Conduct;

also the

  • guarantee the correctness of the information provided for inclusion in the register;
  • Let the code of conduct apply in the event of a complaint against you and take the measures set out in it.

Anyone can, according to the procedure set out in Annex IV of the EP-Commission Memorandum (2011 and 2014), “submit a factual complaint about suspected non-compliance with the Code of Conduct”.

Reasons for registration

The Commission carried out a public consultation on the operation of the Transparency Register from 8 June to 31 August 2012. About 5% of the registered people (233) and 20 unregistered organizations took part. The following was found (Annual Report Transparency Register 2012, p. 16):

“A large majority of participants stated that they registered in the transparency register mainly for the sake of transparency (92%). They also want to approach the EU institutions in a transparent and ethically correct manner and believe that registration has a positive effect on their image (93%). Early references to public hearings by the Commission (76%) or to timing (69%) as well as the receipt of a badge to access the EP (66%) were given slightly less than important reasons. The transparency register is therefore an important instrument for safeguarding democratic principles, but also for improving one's own image. Several horizontal organizations referred to the guidelines that they have developed and provided to their members to help them with the registration process in the Transparency Register. This shows that one of the main objectives of the voluntary registry, to reach a meaningful number of organizations that act in good faith by providing information about themselves and promising to adhere to a common code of conduct, is likely to be achieved soon. In return, the decision-makers in the public and civic associations can make their own sense of organizations that are deliberately not represented in the transparency register. "

Possible sanctions for non-compliance with the code of conduct

activities

The following measures are provided in the event of non-compliance with the code of conduct:

  • Warnings
  • Suspension of registration
  • the deletion from the register
  • Confiscation of access cards from the person concerned and, if applicable, their organization to the European Parliament

criticism

The transparency register is still voluntary. The European Parliament has repeatedly called for mandatory registration and thus more effective control of lobbying activities to be introduced. Since September 2016 there has been a proposal for a joint, binding transparency register by the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the EU Commission. Negotiations are ongoing (as of July 2020).

The measures taken in the event of non-compliance with the Code of Conduct are relatively toothless in relation to the possibilities of influencing political decision-makers at European level.

It has also been criticized that the register does not include activities relating to the Council of the European Union. (see below ).

In addition, (as of 2013) the interest representatives lack seriousness in their entries in the register. Some prominent representatives do not even register; others make false and sometimes ironic statements. The LobbyControl association criticized this in 2014; the register is being abused in this way and the EP and Commission initiative is ridiculed.

Annual report and statistics

The General Secretaries of the European Parliament and the European Commission, the responsible Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament and the European Commission submit an annual report on the operation of the register.

Basic statistics from the register's database are regularly published on the Europa website and made available via a user-friendly search engine. “The publicly accessible content of this database will be made available in electronic, machine-readable formats upon request”.

The common register will be reviewed no later than two years after it has started operating.

Involvement of other institutions and bodies of the European Union and planned measures

Council and other European bodies

“The European Council and the Council of the European Union (Council of Ministers) are invited to join the register. Other institutions, bodies and agencies of the European Union are invited to use this system as a reference system for their own cooperation with organizations and self-employed individuals involved in the design and implementation of EU policies. "

The Council of the European Union is currently not showing any tendency to join the Transparency Register (the Council has been participating in the weekly meetings of the Secretariat of the Joint Transparency Register as an observer of the General Secretariat of the Council since June 7, 2012).

Binding transparency register

The European Parliament continues to advocate mandatory registration when lobbying. In its report, which was adopted by the plenary on April 15, 2014, on the amendment of the interinstitutional agreement on the transparency register, it calls on the EU Commission to present a legislative proposal for a binding transparency register by the end of 2016. The next step is for the Commission and Parliament to sign the revised interinstitutional agreement (see annex to report A7-0258 / 2014).

The European Commission under the new Commission President , Jean-Claude Juncker , is to adopt a new approach according to his political guidelines of July 15, 2014:

“I am also committed to greater transparency in contacts with stakeholders and lobbyists. Our citizens have the right to know with whom Commissioners and Commission officials, Members of the European Parliament or representatives of the Council meet in the context of the legislative process. I will therefore propose to Parliament and the Council an interinstitutional agreement to set up a mandatory lobby register for all three institutions. The Commission will lead by example. "

On 1 March 2016, the Commission launched a public consultation on a proposal for a mandatory transparency register open to all EU citizens. On September 28, 2016, the European Commission proposed, as planned, an interinstitutional agreement for a binding transparency register valid for the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission. Negotiations are ongoing (as of July 2020).

Legislative footprint

In a vote on amending the Rules of Procedure, a majority of the European Parliament voted in favor of adding a “legislative footprint” to reports on legal texts. This should list all lobbyists that a member of parliament has contacted while working on a law.

On January 31, 2019, the EU Parliament passed binding rules on the transparency of lobbying. In an amendment to its Rules of Procedure, Parliament stipulated that MEPs involved in drafting and negotiating laws must publish their meetings with lobbyists online.

See also

Web links

criticism

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Current: Agreement between the European Parliament and the European Commission on the transparency register for organizations and self-employed individuals who deal with the design and implementation of EU policies , ABl. L 277, 11 of September 19, 2014. "This agreement replaces the agreement between the European Parliament and the European Commission of June 23, 2011, which ceases to be valid at the time this agreement becomes applicable" (Point IX, Point 36 of the 2014 agreement).
  2. ↑ See Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union and 1st recital of the agreement between the European Parliament (EP) and the European Commission (Commission) from 2011.
  3. ↑ OJ. L 191 of July 22, 2011, pp. 29-38. This agreement was based on the Treaty on European Union, in particular its Article 11 paragraphs 1 and 2, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in particular its Article 295, and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.
  4. ↑ Pkt. VII, Zif. 20 of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or Point VIII, No. 35, the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  5. ↑ Pkt. VII, Zif. 21 of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or point V, no. 24, the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  6. ↑ Annual Report Transparency Register 2012, p. 7.
  7. ↑ Since 1996 the European Parliament has kept a list of the lobbyists accredited by Parliament.
  8. ↑ The Commission introduced the voluntary register of interest representatives as part of the European Transparency Initiative (EIT). This register of the Commission, replaced by the transparency register, was closed on June 21, 2012 after a one-year transition period (Annual Report Transparency Register 2012, p. 7).
  9. ^ Hellmann 2009. In: Vanessa Hellmann: The Lisbon Treaty. From the constitutional treaty to the amendment of the existing treaties - introduction with synopsis and overviews. Springer, 2009, p. 96f.
  10. ↑ Item II, No. 3 of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or Point I, No. 1, EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  11. ↑ Item II, No. 6 of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or point I, no. 5, EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  12. ↑ Item II, No. 4 of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or changed in Item I, No. 3, the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  13. ↑ Item II, No. 5 of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or Point I, No. 4, EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  14. ↑ Item III of the agreement between the EP and the Commission (2011) and Item II of the agreement between the EP and the Commission (2014).
  15. ↑ Annex I to the agreement between EP and Commission (2011 and 2014).
  16. ↑ Annex II to the agreement between EP and Commission (2011 and 2014).
  17. ↑ Annex III to the agreement between EP and Commission (2011 and 2014).
  18. ↑ Annex IV to the agreement between EP and Commission (2011 and 2014).
  19. ↑ European Union. Available online at: europa.eu: transparency register statistics
  20. ↑ Item IV, No. 8 of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or point III, no. 7, the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  21. ↑ Item IV, No. 9 of the agreement between the EP and the Commission (2011) or expanded in point III, no. 8 of the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  22. ↑ Item IV, No. 14 of the agreement between the EP and the Commission (2011) or point III, no. 18, the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  23. ↑ Item IV, No. 10 lit. a) of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or point III, no. 10, the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  24. ↑ Item IV, No. 10 lit. b) of the agreement between the EP and the Commission or point III, para. 10, the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  25. ↑ Item IV, No. 10 lit. c) of the agreement between EP and Commission or point III, point 10, the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  26. ↑ Footnote 3 of the agreement between the EP and the Commission (2011) or point III, no. 15 of the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  27. ↑ Item IV, No. 11 of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or point III, no. 13 of the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  28. ↑ Item IV, No. 12 of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or point III, no. 14 of the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  29. ↑ Item IV, No. 13 of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or point III, no. 16 ff of the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  30. ↑ Item V of the agreement between the EP and the Commission (2011) and Item IV of the agreement between the EP and the Commission (2014).
  31. ↑ See Regulation (EC) No. 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 on public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, OJ. L 145 of 31 May 2001, p. 43.
  32. ↑ Item VI, Item 19 of the EP and Commission Agreement (2011) or Item VII, Item 33 of the EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  33. ↑ Item VI, Item 18 of the Agreement between EP and Commission (2011) and Item VII of the Agreement between EP and Commission (2014).
  34. ↑ This means was introduced by the Secretariat of the Transparency Register on the basis of the practical experience of the first year for complaints regarding letter d of the Code of Conduct (indication of complete, current and not misleading information by the registered people).
  35. ↑ According to Item VII, Item 22 of the Agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or Item VI, Item 29 of the EP-Commission agreement (2014), the issuing and control of ID cards for long-term access to the buildings of the European Parliament remains the responsibility of this body. “Access badges for individuals who represent or work for organizations that fall within the scope of the transparency register will only be issued if these organizations or individuals are registered. However, registration does not automatically entitle you to issue such an access card ”. The European Parliament originally set an upper limit of ten individuals per organization. However, this limit has been removed. There is currently a restriction that no more than four accredited individuals from an organization can be admitted to the premises of the European Parliament at the same time (Annual Report Transparency Register 2012, p. 9).
  36. ↑ Vote in the plenary session of the European Parliament on May 11, 2011: "however calls again for all lobbyists to be registered in the transparency register and calls for the measures necessary to prepare for the transition to binding registration to be taken as part of the upcoming revision process" ( P7_TA (2011) 0222). Quotation according to the Annual Report Transparency Register 2012, p. 19
  37. ^ Proposal for an interinstitutional agreement on a binding transparency register. Retrieved July 29, 2020 .
  38. ↑ a b Mandatory Transparency Register: political meeting to restart negotiations | News | European Parliament. June 16, 2020, accessed on July 29, 2020 .
  39. ↑ Martin Ehrenhäuser (2013): EU lobby register reform: The four big problems are still unsolved.
  40. ↑ euractiv.de (2011): euractiv.de (2011): Transparency register: New rules for EU lobbyists.
  41. ↑ Ulla Kramar-Schmid / profil.at December 18, 2013: EU lobby register - The fairy tale book of corporations.
  42. ↑ Katzemich, Nina (2012) / lobbycontrol.de: Current study. New EU lobby register does not bring any improvement. 2012.
  43. ↑ welt.de September 30, 2014: These pullers influence Brussels.
  44. ↑ Point VII, Point 27 of the agreement between the EP and Commission (2011) and Point V, Point 28, EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  45. ↑ Item VII, Item 26 of the EP and Commission Agreement (2011) or Item V, Item 27, EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  46. ↑ Point VII, Point 30 of the agreement between the EP and the Commission (2011). No longer included in the 2014 agreement.
  47. ↑ Item VIII of the agreement between EP and Commission (2011) or Item VIII, No. 35, EP-Commission agreement (2014).
  48. ↑ Press release of the EU Commission, IP / 12/681 from 22/06/2012. See also the report of the General Secretariat of the Council on its observations [1] (PDF; 123 kB).
  49. ↑ Report of the European Parliament on the amendment to the Interinstitutional Agreement on the Transparency Register, 2014/2010 (ACI), Committee on Constitutional Affairs, rapporteur: Roberto Gualtieri A7-0258 / 2014
  50. ^ Jean Claude Juncker, Political Guidelines, p. 12.
  51. ↑ Public consultation on a proposal for a mandatory transparency register .
  52. ↑ Proposal for an Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory Transparency Register (only available in English).
  53. ↑ Parliament supports common register for lobbyists and other stakeholders - PLENARY SESSION Press release - Institutions - 11-05-2011 .
  54. ↑ EU Parliament to end secret lobby sessions
  55. ↑ Text adopted by the EU Parliament on the transparency of lobbying