Lobby register

{{short description|Public database}} A '''Lobby Registry''', also named '''Lobbyist Registry''', '''Register for Lobby Transparency''' or '''Registry of Lobbyists''' is a public database, in which information about lobbying actors and key data about their actions can be accessed.

Its aim is to gain transparency about possible influences of interest groups on Parliamentarians and their staff. Several studies indicate that lobby transparency leads to a decrease of corruption.<ref name="CompAnalysisHolmana" /> Registers exist for political committees of several countries. Their effectiveness is rated differently, strongly depending on their exact regulations. Many non-mandatory registers do not include powerful lobbyists.<ref Name="CompAnalysisHolmana" /><ref Name="ComparativeAnalysis" /><ref Name="RescueEURegister" />

== Positions and considerations == Register opponents mainly argued in a survey that there would be no need for regulations, since it would be self-regulating and that they would fear a barrier of free exchange of views.<ref name="OpinionsOfActors" /> Different from the US, West European countries had only weak lobby regulations for a long time. Authors of a study interpreted that the early West-European politic was not focusing the concept of lobby transparency to gain public confidence into political processes, but rather on promoting economic development by enabling undisturbed communication between politics and economy. This setting of priorities is currently changing due to scandals and public pressure.<ref Name="CompAnalysisHolmana" />

== Regulation details == Many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) see means of controlling and sanction to handle missing or wrong entries as a central prerequisite for a working register.<ref name="RescueEURegister" /><ref Name="OECDlobbying" /> In many cases there are complains that this has not been put into practice.

Making an entry only mandatory if a certain threshold of money or time is spent on lobbying should prevent an inappropriately high bureaucratic burden for small actors (for example) in the US. Similar mechanisms are popular among supporters of a register.<ref name="RescueEURegister" />

Implementation as a database is favored over a list format since it allows not only searches but also enables data analysis and graphical representations.<ref Name="opensecrets">[http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php Lobby data], OpenSecrets {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728092547/http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php |date=2011-07-28 }}</ref>

=== Contained data === Most registers contain at least the following data: *Identity of the lobbyist *contracting entity *motivations/goals *financial means A survey among lobbyists conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed, that a majority of them would support a mandatory register and publication of the data above (excluding financial information).<ref Name="OECDlobbying" /> Some registers, for example the Canadian, require much more data.

== Lobby registers in different countries ==

=== United States === A mandatory, publicly accessible and processable<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php Analyzed and graphically processed data about lobbyism] provided by OpenSecrets {{Cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php |title=Lobbying Database | OpenSecrets |access-date=2013-08-30 |archive-date=2011-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728092547/http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> lobby register with enforced financial disclosure and theoretical high punishments exists on federal level,<ref>[http://lobbyingdisclosure.house.gov/ Official Register US - Lobbying disclosure House of Representatives]</ref> as well as in every state besides Pennsylvania.<ref Name="OpinionsOfActors" /> A register was introduced in the US in 1946 with the ''Lobbying Act''. Loopholes in the regulation lead to the fact that only 4 000 of 13 000 lobbyists were registered, before the rules of disclosure were substituted by the stricter Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. In 2007 this was extended by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act with more precise definitions and more powerful means of sanction.<ref Name="ComparativeAnalysis" /> The data published by this register is relatively informative. But it has been criticized that complaints lead to no action.<ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33065.pdf Report for Congress - Lobbying Reform: Background and Legislative Proposals; RE Petersen; Congressional Research Service (2006)]</ref> {{See also|Lobbying in the United States#The regulatory environment}}

=== Canada === Canada was putting a ''Lobbyist Registration Act'' into operation in 1989. This was extended regularly to comply with higher demands about data given, to extend the applying field of scope and to enable more powerful means of sanction. Maximum punishments are two years in prison and 200,000 Canadian $ (ca. 190,000 US $ or 140,000 EUR).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ocl-cal.gc.ca/eic/site/012.nsf/eng/h_00008.html |title=The Lobbying Act; The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying, independent Agent of Parliament Canada |access-date=2013-08-31 |archive-date=2013-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012163527/http://ocl-cal.gc.ca/eic/site/012.nsf/eng/h_00008.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The strong regulations about lobby transparency demand lobbyists to report about their activity on a monthly basis. This includes the information, with which members of parliament or their staff they interacted and about which topics they spoke. The conduct has a law status, is equipped with sanctional power and is controlled by an independent office.

{{Blockquote|Lobbyists shall not place public office holders in a conflict of interest by proposing or undertaking any action that would constitute an improper influence on a public office holder.|The Lobbyists' Code of Conduct - Rule 8<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ocl-cal.gc.ca/eic/site/012.nsf/eng/h_00014.html |title=The Lobbyists' Code of Conduct - Rule 8; The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying, Independent Agent of Parliament Canada |access-date=2013-08-31 |archive-date=2013-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012164106/http://www.ocl-cal.gc.ca/eic/site/012.nsf/eng/h_00014.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

Complaints are pursued publicly, violations have been prosecuted legally in practice.<ref>[http://dwatch.ca/camp/Ethics_Court_Cases.html Court Cases and Complaints About the Canadian Federal Government Ethics Rules and Enforcement System; Democracy Watch NGO]</ref> In the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario similar regulations were introduced.<ref Name=ComparativeAnalysis />

=== European Union === The '''Transparency Register''' is a voluntary lobbyist register operated jointly by the European Parliament and the EU Commission since June 2011.<ref name=EC2011PR/> Its coverage extends beyond lobbyists to law firms, NGOs, and think tanks, and it includes information on staff numbers, the legislative proposals they have attempted to influence, and the amount of EU funding they have received.<ref name=EC2011PR>{{cite web|title=Commission and European Parliament launch Joint Transparency Register to shed light on all those seeking to influence European policy|url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-11-773_en.htm?locale=en|publisher=European Commission|accessdate=14 March 2015|date=23 June 2011}}</ref> It should be appealing that only registered lobbyists are granted passes that ease access to the parliament. As maximum means of sanction a commented deletion of the entry out of the registry and a withdrawal of the access pass is possible. The transparency gained by this register is seen as minor, since entries are voluntary, were drawn back arbitrarily by lobbyist in the past and incorrect information (which the co-signed code of conduct<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/info/about-register/codeOfConduct.do?locale=en Codex of the EU transparency register]</ref> does not officially allow) is not sanctioned in practice. The register is however in an evaluation phase and there is the prospect of further improvement.<ref Name="RescueEURegister" /> The European Parliament is still working to transform it into a mandatory register,<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0222+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN resolution of the EU Parliament; 11. May 2011; Point 5]</ref> while the EU Commission is reluctant. First the reason given for this was that there would be no legal base. After a legal study disproved this,<ref>[http://www.alter-eu.org/documents/2013/06/legal-study legal study: a mandatory EU Lobby register is possible; Prof. Dr. Markus Krajewski, 2013]</ref> the EU Commission agreed that it was juristically possible, but stated that the current voluntary approach was sufficient.<ref>[http://www.foeeurope.org/legal_framework_mandatory_lobby_register180613 ALTER-EU: Legal framework for a mandatory EU lobby register; Friends Of The Earth Europe NGO; 2013]</ref> The need for a mandatory EU transparency register has also been highlighted by the anti-corruption organisation, Transparency International<ref>Transparency International's assessment of the proposal for a mandatory EU Transparency Register. At http://transparency.eu/resource/transparency-internationals-assessment-of-the-proposal-for-a-mandatory-eu-transparency-register/.</ref> which has argued for the need to create a robust and credible mandatory register which would serve to increase the public trust in the EU institutions. {{See also|European Union lobbying}}

==== Legislative footprint ==== It has been planned by the EU Parliament in 2011 to publish a '''legislative footprint''' in the appendices of legislative reports. This should list all lobbyists that were in contact with the members of parliament or influenced them during the creation of the law text.<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdfs/news/expert/infopress/20110510IPR19128/20110510IPR19128_en.pdf press release; European parliament; Reference No.: 20110510IPR19128]</ref><ref name="RescueEUregister">[http://corporateeurope.org/sites/default/files/rescue_the_register_report_20june2013_0.pdf Rescue the EU Lobby Register; ALTER-EU initiative 2013]</ref>

Eventually on 31 January 2019 the EU Parliament adopted binding rules on lobby transparency. Amending its Rules of Procedure, the Parliament stipulated that MEPs involved in drafting and negotiating legislation must publish online their meetings with lobbyists.<ref>[https://transparency.eu/press-release-european-parliament-to-end-secret-lobby-meetings EU Parliament to end secret lobby meetings]</ref> The amendment says that “rapporteurs, shadow rapporteurs or committee chairs shall, for each report, publish online all scheduled meetings with interest representatives falling under the scope of the Transparency Register”-database of the EU.<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-8-2018-0462_EN.pdf Text adopted by EU Parliament on lobbying transparency]</ref>

=== United Kingdom === There is a voluntary register in the United Kingdom since 2011, but some NGOs criticize it as ineffective.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spinwatch.org/index.php/issues/lobbying/item/5517-spinwatch-statement-on-lobbying-register |title=Statement on the Register of Lobbyists Bill; 2013 |date=17 July 2013 |author=Spinwatch}}</ref> {{See also|Lobbying in the United Kingdom#Proposed regulation of lobbying}}

=== Germany === A mandatory lobby register came into force in Germany on 1 January 2022, along with a code of conduct.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/lobbyisten-kabinett-beschliesst-verhaltenskodex-a-24da84c9-ac47-46f5-92f2-6780806f5589 |title=Neue Ethikregeln: Kabinett beschließt Verhaltenskodex für Lobbyisten |work=spiegel.de |date=2021-06-16 |access-date=2021-06-18 |language=de |trans-title=New Ethics Rules: Cabinet Passes Code of Conduct for Lobbyists }}</ref> These were implemented by the Fourth Merkel cabinet. The scope of the register and code of conduct were widely criticized as insufficient, both by the opposition parties and the Council of Europe's anti-corruption monitoring body.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2021-05/europarat-lobbyismus-korruption-deutschland-kritik |title=Europarat bemängelt Deutschlands Kampf gegen Korruption |date=10 May 2021 |newspaper=Die Zeit |access-date=1 February 2022 }}</ref>

Since 1972 associations can voluntarily be included in a list reciting their contact data, head and representatives, general interests of the association and the number of their members.<ref>[http://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/lobbyliste/index.html public list of registered trade associations, German Bundestag]</ref> The list is limited to associations and there is no data about self-employed lobbyists, lawyers, think tanks and NGOs. There is no financial information and the registration is voluntary. A regulation making a registry in the list mandatory for trade associations to be heard in the Parliament was put out of force later.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} Many NGOs do not see this list as a means to further promote lobby transparency in Germany.<ref>[http://www.transparency.de/fileadmin/pdfs/Wissen/NIS-report_Germany_short-version.PDF national integrity system report Germany (short version); 2012; Point 10; Transparency International - Germany NGO]</ref> Several initiatives of members of parliament in the opposition (social, left wing and green party) were denied by government (consisting of the conservatives and liberals 2009-2013).<ref Name="BundestagStreit">[http://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2011/34043817_kw14_de_lobbyregister/ Discussion about the introduction of a new lobby register; German parliament; (available only in German)2011]</ref>

In June 2016 the proposal of the opposition was turned down in the Bundestag. In the debate preceding the voting Hans-Peter Uhl, CSU, judiciary of the conservative coalition, warned about the "discrimination and stigmatization" of interest groups. Presenting and discussing individual interests should not be criminalized.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nach Bundestagsentscheidung - "Einfluss von Lobbyisten ist nach wie vor sehr groß"|trans-title=|periodical=Deutschlandfunk|publisher=|url=http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/nach-bundestagsentscheidung-einfluss-von-lobbyisten-ist.694.de.html?dram:article_id=356876|format=|accessdate=2016-06-14|last=|date=11 June 2016|language=de-DE|pages=|quote=}}</ref>

The German states Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinate have de facto voluntary lists for associations that are comparable to the list on federal level.<ref>[http://www.pnn.de/brandenburg-berlin/748329/ The new lobby register of Brandenburg; 2013; Newspaper ''Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten'' (available in German only)]</ref> <ref>[https://www.lobbycontrol.de/2013/04/bundeslander-lobby-transparenz-ungenugend/ Bundesländer: Lobby-Transparenz ungenügend; 2013; LobbyControl]</ref>

=== Austria === In Austria a mandatory lobby register<ref>[http://www.lobbyreg.justiz.gv.at/ Lobbyingregister; Federal Ministry of Justice Austria; (available in German only)]</ref> with duty of disclosure including financial information and means of sanction was put into force.<ref>[http://www.viennareview.net/news/austria/lobbying-an-austrian-solution Lobbying: An Austrian Solution - A new law seeks to curb political corruption, but critics view it as another half-hearted attempt; The Vienna Review; 2012]</ref> The register is still in the early phase, some deadlines to register end 2014, many lawyers wait for clarification by a court's decision and did not register.<ref name="OECDComparisonPage" /><ref>[http://derstandard.at/1363706574781/Lobbying-Register-mit-93-Eintragungen-gestartet Lobbying-Register started; 2013; Newspaper ''Der Standard'' (available in German only)]</ref>

=== Further countries === Further registers have been set up in Australia<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lobbyists.pmc.gov.au/who_register.cfm |title=Australian Lobby Register |access-date=2013-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201093418/https://lobbyists.pmc.gov.au/who_register.cfm |archive-date=2018-12-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> (in the year 2011), Denmark, France (2010), Ireland, Israel (2008), Lithuania (2001), Macedonia (2008), Netherlands<ref>[http://www.tweedekamer.nl/over_de_tweede_kamer/lobbyistenregister/index.jsp Lobbyist Registry Netherland]</ref> (2012), Poland (2005), Slovenia<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kpk-rs.si/en/lobbying/register-of-lobbyists |title=Lobby Register Slovenia |access-date=2013-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329161723/https://www.kpk-rs.si/en/lobbying/register-of-lobbyists |archive-date=2016-03-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> (2010), Taiwan, Hungary (2006-2011).<ref>[http://www.regulatelobbying.com/ world map with facts about lobby registers]</ref> In some cases long-term-experiences do not yet exist, in some cases the need for improvement is already seen today.<ref Name="CompAnalysisHolmana" /><ref name="OECDComparisonPage" /> {{See also|Lobbyism#Lobbying by country}}

== References == <references> <ref name="CompAnalysisHolmana">[http://www.palgrave-journals.com/iga/journal/v1/n1/full/iga20124a.html Lobbying and transparency: A comparative analysis of regulatory reform; C Holmana and W Luneburg; Interest Groups & Advocacy (2012) 1, 75–104.] {{open access}} {{doi|10.1057/iga.2012.4}}</ref> <ref name="ComparativeAnalysis">[http://arrow.dit.ie/buschmarart Regulating Lobbyists: A Comparative Analysis of the USA, Canada, Germany and the European Union]; R Chari, G Murphy, J Hogan; (2007) The Political Quarterly, {{open access}} creative commons-article; Vol. 78, No. 3, pp. 422-438</ref> <ref name="OECDlobbying">[http://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/oecdprinciplesfortransparencyandintegrityinlobbying.htm Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying (2012); OECD - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development]</ref> <ref name="OpinionsOfActors">[http://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/viewArticle/43 Hogan, J.: "Next door they have regulation, but not here …”: Assessing the opinions of actors in the opaque world of unregulated lobbying (2008)]; Canadian Political Science Review. Vol 2, No 3; {{open access}} creative commons article.</ref> <ref name="RescueEURegister">[http://www.alter-eu.org/documents/2013/06/rescue-the-register “Rescue the Register! How to make EU lobby transparency credible and reliable” - The ALTER-EU report; 2013]</ref> <ref name="OECDComparisonPage">[http://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/lobbying.htm Lobbying: Regulations and codes of conduct in selected countries; OECD]</ref> </references>

== Further reading== * Lobbying and transparency: A comparative analysis of regulatory reform; C Holmana and W Luneburg; Interest Groups & Advocacy (2012) 1, 75–104.{{open access}} {{doi|10.1057/iga.2012.4}} * Lobbyists, Governments and Public Trust, Volume 1; Increasing Transparency through Legislation; OECD {{open access}} {{doi|10.1787/9789264073371-en}} Experiences of Australia, Canada, Hungary, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States with regulations designed to increase scrutiny for lobbying.

== External links ==

=== NGOs and initiatives for lobby transparency === * [http://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/lobbying.htm Lobbying: Regulations and codes of conduct in selected countries] OECD – Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development * [http://www.transparency.org transparency.org] Transparency International * [http://corporateeurope.org corporateeurope.org] Corporate Europe Observatory * [http://www.lobbyingtransparency.org lobbyingtransparency.org] Focus on England and Europe * [http://www.spinwatch.org spinwatch.org] Focus on England * [http://www.lobbycontrol.de LobbyControl e.V.] Focus on Germany and Europe

=== Wikis === * [http://www.sourcewatch.org sourcewatch.org] SourceWatch operated by the Center for Media and Democracy – focus on USA

Category:Lobbying Category:Public records