In Brussels, the political heart of the European Union, extreme corporate influence often distorts the political process, either blocking progress where it is sorely needed or leading to policies t
Survey on the registration of EU lobbying consultancies in the European Commission’s Register of Interest Representatives highlights failure of voluntary approach. Almost two years after the European Commission launched the register, sixty per cent of EU lobbying consultancies are still not registered.
The vast majority of financial ‘experts’ advising the European Commission represent the banks and investors responsible for the global economic crisis, according to a new report published today by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER EU).
The changes to the lobby register announced by Commission will fix some of the weaknesses in the initial design of the register, but fundamental flaws remain. This means that EU citizens are largely left in the dark about the activities of the more than 15,000 Brussels lobbyists, according to the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation.
