Lifting the Lid on Lobbying in Bulgaria

Commission President Juncker made more transparency one of his priorities. In order to outline what the European Parliament stands for, the Constitutional Affairs committee had appointed MEP Sven Giegold to draft an initiative report on “transparency, accountability and integrity in the EU-institutions”. Public consultation on the first draft of the report took place in the autumn of 2015. The final version of the document is now soon to be adopted. Voting in the Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) is postponed to 30 May instead of 20 April.

15.000 lobbyists have significant influence on decision makers in Brussels, more than in Washington D.C.. Citizens’ trust in EU-institutions is near the historical low. The EU has to visibly separate economic from political power to win back citizens’ trust. The 48 proposals in the report report aim to refresh the promise of the treaties that all citizens are equal before the EU institutions. It proposes to make the EU lobby register mandatory, to protect the integrity of MEPs, Commissioners and staff against conflicts of interest by independent oversight and to fully realise transparency and access to information.

More on the report and its adoption process – here.