The E.U. Takes a Tentative Look at Lobbying Disclosure

In light of Washington's perennial controversies over lobbying regulation and ethics, the Influence Blog is always interested in lobbying disclosure rules abroad. In the case of the European Union, it appears there isn't much in the way of transparency at all.

But over the weekend, Reuters took a look at a controversial change for lobbyists in Brussels: "The European Commission is finishing a voluntary register" for lobbyists, the article reports.

While a case could be made that, at least prior to last year's ethics reform law, the lack of enforcement in D.C. made U.S. federal lobbying disclosure all but voluntary, the E.U. Commission may be aiming far lower than that.

ALTER EU, a coalition of public interest groups and nonprofits like Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace are concerned the E.U. rules will undermine disclosure because they don't require the names of individual lobbyists to be reported or even how much is spent for amounts less than $73,500.

Ideally, the article suggests, the coalition wants the rules in Brussels to look a lot more like they do here.

"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," Reuters reports.