Ireland ranks sixth best in lobbying standards survey

Ireland has been ranked sixth best out of 19 EU member states in a survey of measures in place to guard against "undue influence" in the political system published by lobbying watchdog Transparency International.

The report - the first of its kind to assess lobbying practices across EU member states and European institutions - found that Ireland scored 39 per cent in terms of international lobbying standards.

The watchdog defines lobbying as “any direct or indirect communication with public officials, political decision-makers or representatives for the purposes of influencing public decision-making, and carried out by or on behalf of any organised group”.

Ireland was ranked behind the UK, Austria and Lithuania, among others, but scored above the average of 31 per cent. Hungary and Cyprus ranked lowest in the survey.

The study examined the systems in place in a number of areas, including the existence of a lobbying register, transparency standards in the public sector and the definitions used to categorise lobbyists and target sectors.

The Government introduced a Regulation of Lobbying Bill last year which aims to increase transparency around the lobbying of government and civil service officials. The new regulation came into effect last month, with the web-based register launching on May 1st.

Launching the report in Brussels, Transparency International's Daniel Freund said lobbying was "part of a healthy democracy". However, Mr Freund also said that "when certain interests with more money and inside contacts come to dominate political decision-making for their own benefit, the democracy cannot work the way it's supposed to".

According to Transparency International, Brussels has the second highest density of lobbyists in the world, after Washington DC, with some estimates putting the number of lobbyists in the Belgian capital at about 30,000.

‘Key corruption risk’

Speaking yesterday in Brussels, Anne Koch, Transparency International's director for Europe and Central Asia, said that lobbying was a "key corruption risk" in Europe.

“Lobbying doesn’t mean corruption, but unregulated lobbying leads to high risks of corruption . . . This is not an abstract issue. Lobbying affects what we eat, what we drink, the mobile phone bills we pay, the medicines we take.”

Ms Koch said that the profile and practices of lobbyists were changing. “Many new players are coming into the field, many new techniques are being developed to influence policy. We know from our findings that there is no level playing-field - the better-resourced and better-connected have much more ability to influence policy.”

Ms Koch said that while the establishment of a lobbying register was a key tool in guarding against undue influence in the political system, it was not the sole solution.

“[Lobbying reform] cannot be a simple case of establishing a lobbying register. It’s often seen as a quick-fix tool, a panacea,” she said, noting that the lobbying register in the UK was found to cover just 1 per cent of all lobbyists.

The report noted “the presence in Brussels of large European and US-based law firms and their lobbying of the EU institutions on behalf of corporate clients” in recent years, though added that lawyers have been “particularly reluctant to identify themselves as lobbyists”, often citing confidentiality concerns.

The lack of legislation on the “revolving door” concept in most countries, the phenomenon whereby law-makers take up positions with companies after their tenure was also highlighted.

European Commission

Of the three EU institutions surveyed for the report, the European Commission was ranked highest in terms of its commitment to transparency.

Since 2011, the European Commission and European Parliament have operated a voluntary register of lobbyists. In addition, last December the European Commission introduced new rules obliging commissioners, members of their cabinets and director-generals to publish information about meetings held with lobbyists.

This includes information on the dates, locations, and the names of the organisations and individuals that they met, as well as the topics of discussion, a development that was welcomed by Transparency International.

The European Council, which represents member states, was found to have the weakest safeguards in place of the three institutions, with Transparency International noting that much of the lobbying ahead of European Council meetings took place in national capitals.

Citing the example of a recent EU law on car emissions, Mr Freund said that the German car industry had concentrated its lobbying efforts in Berlin.

“When the European Commission put forward the regulation on the CO2 emissions of cars, the German car industry basically made the German government their chief lobbyists,” he said, noting that the legislation was then changed at a Council level.

“If you want to get your way you have to find the best entry-point.”