Pablo Zalba Bidegain is the fourth MEP to be named in the "cash-for-laws" affair that has been front-page news across European Union following the disclosures in The Sunday Times. ALTER-EU urges stict new regulation including a ban on lobbying jobs or second jobs that could lead to conflict of interests for MEPs.
ALTER-EU furthermore said the scandal underlines the need for the Parliament to curb the power of corporate lobbyists, who frequently succeed in blocking or weakening urgently needed progress on social, environmental and consumer-protection laws. As a first step the Parliament must ensure that all those who lobby to influence EU decision-making are obliged to register and reveal full details about who they are lobbying for, what they are lobbying for, and with what budget, as well as names of all lobbyists. The current voluntary register does not provide this and the new joint register planned for later this year will not force lobbyists to reveal this information.