A coalition of public interest groups is calling for tougher disclosure requirements for lobbyists, but not in Washington. These groups are pushing for tougher rules in Brussels.
Reform advocates say new rules the European Commission (EC) intends to impose on June 23 do not go far enough. They argue the requirements are toothless because they are voluntary, and present several loopholes for lobbyists to step through and avoid public disclosure.
"It simply does not deliver in terms of what the commission has stated it wants its lobbying disclosure system to do: inform EU citizens about who lobbies, on whose behalf and with which budgets," Olivier Hoedeman of the Corporate Europe Observatory, a watchdog group based in Amsterdam, wrote in an e-mail to The Hill.
The new regulations could impact a number of prominent American firms that are already lobbying the EC, the executive branch of the European Union. The EC drafts proposals for laws that must be approved by the European Council and Parliament, and also runs the EU's day-to-day operations.
The European Parliament already has a set of rules for lobbyists, but watchdog groups say it is even weaker than the proposed rules for the EC.
U.S. firms actively lobbying in Brussels include Dutko Worldwide, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and public relations giants APCO Worldwide and Burson-Marsteller.
The new EC regulations are the product of three years of preparation, and include an online, voluntary registry where lobbyists are expected to sign up and disclose their clients. European officials said the registry was in response to what has become a booming industry in the Belgian capital.
"The lobby sector is a relatively new phenomenon for us," said Anthony Smallwood, a spokesman for the European Union's Washington delegation. "We never had such a concentration of a highly skilled lobbying industry anywhere else in Europe. It has happened rather suddenly here in Brussels."
Criticism of the registry has grown over the last month. The disclosure requirements were described as falling "far short of the objective" of transparency in a letter in late May to EC President Jose Manuel Barroso by Craig Holman, campaign finance lobbyist for Public Citizen.
Commission officials have rejected the criticism, insisting they are serious about shedding more light on the activities of lobbyists in Brussels.
"Our register will definitely produce added value compared to the current situation," said Kristian Schmidt, an EC aide to Siim Kallas, the EC vice president who led the initiative.
The influence profession is different in Brussels, lobbyists and European officials said. While lobbying firms generally raise funds for members of Congress, commissioners do not need to fundraise in order to be in office, which EU officials said lowers the chance of pay-to-play corruption.
"There are no EU scandals comparable to the Abramoff incident," said Schmidt. "The U.S. experience is an inspiration, but not a model. Washington and Brussels are not comparable political systems, even if the lobby intensity is high in both cities."
"There is no such thing as party or political contributions," said Thomas Tindemans, head of
White & Case's Brussels office. "Unfortunately, you have to win by argument. If we could pay, that would just be easier," he joked.
Information is the currency for lobbyists in Brussels, these sources said, as European lawmakers do not have access to institutions similar to the Congressional Research Service or the Government Accountability Office, which research and publish reports on issues at the request of members of Congress.
As the Commission's upcoming voluntary lobbyists register occupies the mind of every lobbyist in Brussels, some have started to question exactly how many of them there are, casting doubt over the 15,000 figure originally put forward by the Commission.
Among those to question the figure is Tom Antonissen of Logos Public Affairs, a Brussels consultancy. "I estimate that the European Public Affairs Consultancies Association (EPACA), with its 35 members, represents some 500-700 lobbyists, so together with the Society of European Affairs Professionals (SEAP), with 300 individual members, we are talking about a maximum of 1,000 lobbyists," said Antonissen.
Adding another 500 who are not members of EPACA or SEAP would still account for just 10% of the 15,000 figure, Antonissen explained, wondering "where the other 13,500 lobbyists come from".
According to Antonissen, the remainder could come from "trade associations, NGOs and think tanks," most of which should be covered by the Commission's upcoming register, set to be made public on 23 June 2008.
Antonissen also suggests that there may be "national governments and regional, local and cities' representatives". He also cites "churches and religious organisations". But "all of these are exempt from the Commission's register" so they should not be included in the statistics, he argues.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament states on its website that there are 4,570 accredited lobbyists in possession of an access badge to the institution.
Tom Spencer of the European Centre for Public Affairs argues that "because the Commission is saying it is up to you whether to register, we won't be any clearer on the figure of how many, nor where from". The EU executive "should not have been drawn in to quasi-legislation without tight definitions" of what is required, he adds.
Spencer also believes that the issue needs to be widened to include lobbyists based outside of Brussels who nevertheless seek to influence EU policymaking. "We talk about 15,000 lobbyists in Brussels, but why?," he asks, stating that focusing the debate on Brussels "fails to define what we are really talking about here".
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