The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favor of tightening rules regulating the 15,000 lobbyists that gravitate around the EU institutions.
By an overwhelming majority, EU lawmakers adopted a report recommending a mandatory public register for lobbyists that seek to influence decisions at the European Union's institutions.
The decision on Thursday ratifies the proposal made by the European Parliament's constitutional affairs committee on Tuesday, April 1, in favor of the compulsory register for the lobbyists working to influence EU policies via the EU assembly, states and the bloc's executive European Commission.
The report, drafted by Finnish conservative MEP Alexander Stubb before he became Finland's foreign minister, also calls for a code of conduct and sanctions for those who flaunt it.
Critics say the lobbyists have held far too much sway in the drafting of EU laws and measures concerning everything from blacklisting bad chemicals to deciding how to set carbon dioxide emission caps. The EU assembly and member-states adopt laws that directly affect the daily lives of 490 million people.
The outcome of those laws can have a major impact on companies doing business in the 27-nation bloc.
Register aims to end era of impunity
Many feel that the lobbyists have worked with impunity in the European capital, without having to provide any information on the dealings, financial status or partners in business and politics.
The new register aims to change this. Under the new rules, professional lobbyists would have to disclose in the register the importance of their major clients and the costs associated with lobbying, while NGOs and think-tanks would be required to state their overall budgets and main funding sources.
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