On 15 December 2020, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the EU Commission reached a final political agreement to strengthen transparent and ethical interest representation. The agreement shall establish principles and rules for a coordinated approach to transparent and ethical interest representation at EU level, building a common culture of transparency while taking into account the signatory institutions’ respective specificities.

The agreement provides that activities aimed at influencing the decision-making processes or the formulation or implementation of policy or legislation at EU-level shall fall within the scope of this Transparency Register. The three institutions agreed on a non-exhaustive list that includes organising meetings or events, contributing to public consultations, communication campaigns, and preparing position papers or amendments. The same types of activities by third countries shall also be covered, when they are carried out by entities without diplomatic status or through intermediaries. Interest representatives will have to declare the interests and objectives they promote, as well as to specify the clients they represent. All registrants will need to provide information on the resources that they devote to interest representation activities, with a new focus on sources of funding.

More information: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_2425