Lobbying scandal Inquiries into scandal of ‘influence-for-cash'

Andy Rowell from Alter-EU, an alliance for lobbying transparency, said: "This scandal was an accident waiting to happen." He added that it was "not surprising" that MEPs had found it so easy to act on behalf of fake lobbyists. "Rules on ethics and conflicts of interest are simply too weak," he said. The European Public Affairs Consultancies' Association said that offering any financial inducement to an MEP would be a "clear violation" of the association's code of conduct.