A fresh corruption investigation hit the European Parliament this week as arrests were made by the Belgian authorities and the offices of Chinese telco Huawei were searched. But what are the rules lobbying in the European Parliament?
Institutional lobbying pushed too far – that seems to be at the heart of the corruption scandal shaking the European Parliament. Yet, lobbying activities are supposed to be regulated by rules designed to prevent such excesses.
What constitutes lobbying and is it legal?
The EU does not use the word “lobbyist” but rather “interest representative”, and defines this as “any natural or legal person, or formal or informal group, association or network, that engages in […] activities with the objective of influencing the formulation or implementation of policy or legislation, or the decision-making processes”, in interinstitutional agreements drafted in 2021.
In other words, any person who is organising events addressing legislation, participating in consultations with the Commission or writing open letters about current topics can be considered as a lobbyist.
Most high-profile lobbying campaigns involve tech, pharmaceutical or agrifood companies, but all sectors are affected: from protection of the environment, the cinema industry or even coffee makers.
This activity is legal – it is even mentioned in the treaty of the EU – but the potential for corruption arises where persuasion is in exchange for money. The Code of Conduct of lawmakers specifies that it is forbidden for MEPs to “solicit, accept or receive any direct or indirect benefit or other reward, including in cash or in kind, in exchange for specific behaviour in the scope of the Member’s parliamentary work,” and they “shall consciously seek to avoid any situation which might imply bribery, corruption, or undue influence.”
Members also have to declare gifts that they receive as a result of being an MEP and valuing €150 or more, for which a public register is maintained.
Currently, 13,762 organisations and more than 50,000 people are officially recognised as interest representatives by the EU, and the number grows by the day. But it’s unclear how many of these are actively engaged in lobbying rather than one-time accreditation to the European Parliament.
To enter the European Parliament, interest representatives must be listed on a transparency register – the catalogue indexing lobbyists and which displays information such as the goals of the organisation, its budget and meetings held with lawmakers and European Commission officials.
Those registered agree to respect a Code of Conduct which includes a ban on trying to obtain information or decisions dishonestly or by using undue pressure or improper behaviour.
If the Code is not respected, companies can face a ban from entering the European Parliament.
How are the rules enforced?
While registration is mandatory to access the European Parliament, it cannot be enforced for all lobbyists operating beyond the physical premises. Conferences organised by think tanks, political groups, or media outlets, for instance, might offer lobbying opportunities that remain unregulated.
There are also questions about how the register is updated, since the Parliament cannot force companies to make updates.
The fact that enforcement of the lobbying rules is in the hands of the European Parliament and other European institutions means that there is a self-policing system, Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law at HEC in Paris said in an interview with Euronews.
“By design, the system is not working and is designed not to work, because there are no political incentives for the president in the European Parliament, who is also a political party member to enforce those rules, because if those are enforced, one, they could also be enforced against their political party. And I think this is really what explains why the current European ethics system is not fit for the job,” he said.
According to Alemanno, sitting and former MEPs are still able to peddle influence in the current environment.
“The members of the European Parliament today are still allowed to have side jobs so they can be members of the European Parliament, but also lawyers, lobbyists and advocate for different kind of causes in society that put them in a situation of conflict of interest,” he said.
