18/05/2016 Legal Affairs and Human Rights
As the target of an estimated 25 000 to 30 000 lobbyists, the EU institutions need to do more to ensure transparency and openness, Natasa Vučković (Serbia, SOC) has said in a report adopted unanimously by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in Rome today.
"It's legislation has a huge impact on the everyday life of its citizens, but the resources of lobbyists hired by big multinational companies exceed those of other interest groups, such as consumers' associations or trade unions," she pointed out.
The committee notes with concern cases of secret and unbalanced lobbying, reports of conflicts of interest and instances of limiting access to official documents within some of the EU institutions.
Further advances in incorporating Council of Europe values and standards is necessary, including through EU participation in the Council's anti-corruption body GRECO (the Group of States against Corruption). The committee also recommends the publication of "legislative footprints" in order to track input aimed at influencing legislation, and to further improve the Joint Transparency Registry by extending it to all EU institutions.
The committee also calls on the EU and on those member States who have not yet done so, to sign and/or ratify the Convention on Access to Official Documents.
In a draft recommendation, it calls on the Committee of Ministers to finalise its legal instrument on the regulation of lobbying activities and to assess the need to take measures to regulate the activities of extra-institutional actors in the Council of Europe.