BRUSSELS -- The European institutions' attempts to boost lobbying transparency are being slammed as “half-hearted” and “seriously flawed” in a fresh volley of criticism from transparency campaigners.  

The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) launched its criticism after the European Parliament and Commission on April 22 unveiled a joint statement on the progress they had made toward a common register and code of conduct for lobbyists. ALTER-EU - a coalition of more than 160 different organizations - says the EP-EC joint-register of lobbyists "will fail to shed more light" on lobbying.   

The EP currently has a register listing accredited individuals and organiaations, while the commission's voluntary register - launched last June - only lists organizations. A Web page launched April 22 on the Europa website has information about and links to both institutions' registers. The institutions' goal is a single register.  

An EP-EC working group on lobbying - which comprises three MEPs and Commissioner Siim Kallas - has met four times between December 2008 and April 2009. The MEPs are Diana Wallis, Jo Leinen and Ingo Friedrich.   

As PAN went to press, 1,422 organizations had entered their details on the commission's register. ALTER-EU believes that it currently captures just 20 percent of all Brussels-based lobby organizations.    

ALTER-EU said: "The half-hearted attempt to bolt together two weak and very contrasting existing registers makes no attempt to address the fact that the commission's voluntary register has been shunned by a high proportion of lobby organizations and firms, nor the loopholes of the Parliament scheme which allows thousands of lobbyists to enter on day-passes without registering."   

Erik Wesselius of Corporate Europe Observatory, an ALTER-EU member, said: "Commissioner Siim Kallas and MEPs seem to be settling for the lowest common denominator. The result is a compromise register that creates a false impression of transparency."  

Meanwhile, the co-president of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, Monica Frassoni, has weighed in with heavy criticism. She said: "The Parliament's representatives from the big groups shout 'hooray, great step for transparency' and hope to bury the issue without anyone noticing before the elections."  

VP of the Green Group, MEP Claude Turmes, said: "I am disappointed that Commissioner Kallas is trying bullying tactics to reinforce the voluntary nature of the register, despite the very questionable results one year after it was set up.   

"It is absurd that the colleagues supposedly representing the Parliament are congratulating themselves on better transparency when they have not even consulted their own colleagues. They have been complicit with the commission in producing a poorly-disguised PR exercise."  

Responding to the criticisms to PAN, Kallas insisted that the “transparency initiative” is proving successful, citing three reasons.

He said: "First, overall, the lobby profession in Brussels has embraced the register. Every day more are signing up, and I see no signs of this slowing. There are problems with law firms and think-tanks, but the commission will keep insisting that these groups join.  

"Second, we have agreed with the Parliament to make a common register. This is a great opportunity to improve on the commission's current register, based on the experience gathered during the first year, and adapting to the Parliament's requirements.   

"Thirdly, the current register already offers a wealth of new information about lobbying of EU institutions.   

"The EU had nothing like this before the transparency initiative and, so far, the register is the only one of its kind in Europe. All in all, not so bad after one year."   

Wallis told PAN that she thought the criticisms were "unfair" and joined Leinen in pointing out that the ultimate goal was a mandatory register.

But she said: "The boring practical obstacle to this is that there is no legal basis in the treaty to set up a mandatory register." 

Source: Public Affairs News www.publicaffairsnews.com