SignonSanDiego.com, Huw Jones, 15/2/2008

BRUSSELS – The European Union's executive dismissed criticism from campaigners on Friday who said it was backtracking on promises on a plan to register lobbyists to increase transparency in decision making.

The European Commission is finalising a voluntary register it wants all lobbyists – who often try to influence EU laws before they reach the statute book – to sign. 

'The register will not include the names of individual lobbyists and it will lack meaningful information on how much money is spent on lobbying,' ALTER EU said in a letter.

The Commission would not require specific information on cash spent on lobbying, but opt for other ways, such as broad ranges in multiples of 50,000 euros ($73,500), ALTER EU said.

'If the EU register will not answer simple questions like 'who are the lobbyists' or 'how much money is spent on lobbying by whom', it would be useless,' ALTER EU said.

Lobbyist groups include non-governmental organisations and law firms, but also companies and pressure groups vying to shape the rules proposed by the Commission that directly affect the lives of the EU's 490 million citizens.

A spokeswoman for EU Administrative Affairs Commissioner Siim Kallas dismissed the criticism and said the register would show who lobbyists were working for and how much was spent.

'The Commission never intended to ask for individual names of people working for lobbying groups,' Valerie Rampi told a regular news briefing. She said the Commission was concerned ALTER EU would want individual lobbyists' names for reasons other than transparency, Rampi added.

ALTER EU said without proper details it would be difficult to expose influence-peddling scandals such as that centred on former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who received a six-year prison sentence for his part in a bribery case.

The U.S. has a tougher compulsory register of lobbyists.

Three public affairs associations separately called this week for a single register of lobbyists who seek to influence the European Parliament, EU states, and the Commission.