A new transparency register was inaugurated last Thursday. We look at how the updated list will help lift the veil on lobbying in Brussels.

New look lobbying

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/15659907/N001-110627-002-EN.srt

Every week lobby groups like BEUC meet  decision makers in order to shape laws.

They recently worked  to improve consumer rights law.

As one of Brussels' oldest lobby groups  they take transparency seriously.

to saying how much of that money  we actually dedicate to lobbying.

In our case it’s only 35%  of our yearly budget,

The EP and EC released a new-look  register for lobbyists last Thursday

It’s not mandatory, but MEPs have ways  to ensure they play by the rules.

if someone wants to come and see me,  that is, in the form of a lobby,

my office check whether or not  they’re on the register,

and if they're not, ask them politely  if there's a reason.

Loopholes remain  on financial declarations.

The bigger the lobby company  or the lobby campaign is,

the fewer financial details  they have to reveal,

which of course is the exact opposite  of how it should be.

We discovered that one lobby named and  shamed by the watchdog group Alter-EU

had entered an odd figure  for lobbying expenses.

They have apparently noticed  that they were highlighted in the report

In the new register, instead of  400 euros lobby expenditure per year,

evidence that the system remains  a work in progress.