In June 2006, Friends of the Earth Europe hosted a press conference for the launch of their report “Transparency in EU decision making: reality or myth?”.

The new report analyses current consultation practices and codes of conduct for decision makers and lobbysts. Friends of the Earth research reveals that existing rules do not ensure transparent and ethical lobbying in Brussels. Also, these loopholes are not adequately addressed in the Commission’s recent Green Paper on the European Transparency Initiative.

Major defects highlighted by the new report include the following:
 Existing codes of conduct for lobbyists don’t require transparency about who is lobbying for whom and how much money is involved.
 Compliance mechanisms for existing codes are ineffective: the codes are essentially voluntary, there are no independent and external complaint panels and sanctions are weak.
 Rules regarding ’revolving doors’ - staff moving from the Commission directly into lobbying and vice versa - are inadequate. There is no cooling-off period upon leaving the Commission and rules on employment prior to working in the Commission are completely absent.
 The Commission’s standards for equal consultation of all stakeholders are non-binding and aren’t implemented properly.

Christine Pohl, researcher for Friends of the Earth Europe and author of the report, said: "A major flaw in the current EU lobby system is that even if lobbyists break the code of conduct and are expelled from their lobbying association, they can still continue to work in exactly the same way that they have before".

In light of the findings of the report, Friends of the Earth Europe have made several recommendations, to be addressed in proposals by the Commission:
 Mandatory registration for all lobbyists, with a requirement for information to be made public about the issues, clients and lobby budgets involved.
 A code of ethics extending to all registered lobbyists. This must contain specific examples of prohibited behavior, For example, it should be banned for lobbying companies to employ a former employee of the EU institutions who was handling the same dossier in the previous three years.
 An extended code of conduct for EU officials that prevents ’revolving doors’ issues.
 An independent public body to investigate alleged breaches of lobbying transparency.

For more information, visit the Friends of the Earth Europe website

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