Lobby groups and transparency 

The Transparency Register is an online database listing the groups and organisations that try to influence the formulation or implementation of EU policy and legislation. It is designed to show what interests are being represented at EU level and on whose behalf, as well as the financial and human resources dedicated to these activities.

The EU institutions interact with a wide range of groups and organisations representing specific interests and undertaking lobbying activities. This is a legitimate and necessary part of the decision-making process to make sure that EU policies reflect people’s real needs.

All types of interest representatives can provide Parliament with knowledge and specific expertise in numerous economic, social, environmental and scientific areas. They can play a key role in the open, pluralist dialogue on which a democratic system is based.

The Treaty on European Union provides a framework for and seeks to foster transparent and ethical relations between the European institutions and European political leaders, on the one hand, and civil society and representative associations, on the other.

The European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission have a joint Transparency Register to demonstrate their commitment to being open and transparent.

The Transparency Register makes it easier for people to obtain information on interest representation activities taking place vis a vis the EU institutions, as well as statistical data on all registered parties.

All interest representatives are invited to register voluntarily if they pursue activities designed to influence policymaking, policy implementation and decision-making in the EU institutions. However, each institution has rules in place to strengthen the framework, by making registration a precondition for carrying out certain interest representation activities. In addition, all registrants must respect the Code of Conduct for registrants. You can check the relevant rules and other transparency measures of each institution on this page.

For instance, registration is mandatory in order to request an access badge to the European Parliament. Registered interest representatives can only request such access online.

In addition, only registered interest representatives may be invited as speakers to public hearings of committees and support and participate in the activities of MEPs’ intergroups and unofficial groupings. Complementary measures ensure that registrants can easily: sign up for information alerts about committee business, co-host events and seek patronage from the President.

The Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory Transparency Register, with its political statement, sets out what interest representation or lobbying activities are covered, the type of information registrants are expected to provide, a code of conduct for registrants and a procedure for complaints about registered organisations.

The Transparency Register is operated jointly by the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission. The three institutions’ Secretaries-General govern the implementation of the agreement through a Management Board and a joint Secretariat made up of officials from each of the three institutions manages the daily operations of the register. You can read the annual reports here:

You can read about the negotiations between the Parliament, the Council and the Commission that have led to this interinstitutional agreement on this dedicated page.

Publication of scheduled meetings

Rapporteurs, shadow rapporteurs and committee chairs are required for each report to publish online information on their scheduled meetings with interest representatives falling under the scope of the interinstitutional agreement on the transparency register.

This means any meeting with the purpose of influencing the policy or decision-making process of the European institutions, irrespective of the place.

All other members, including committee vice-chairs, delegation chairs or coordinators, have no legal obligation to publish details of their meetings, but may do so on a voluntary basis.

The information on meetings is published on members' profile pages.

More information: Rules of Procedure: Rule 11 - Members’ financial interests and Transparency Register.

Voluntary legislative footprint

MEPs drafting reports or opinions can choose to attach a legislative footprint to their reports.

Such a list can demonstrate the range of outside expertise and opinions the rapporteur has received. It is then published with the report after its adoption in committee and enables people to see whom the rapporteur has heard from ahead of the final vote by the whole Parliament.

It is independent of the publication of meetings with interest representatives, but rapporteurs can use it to complement their declarations of meetings with interest representatives.

Intergroups are unofficial groupings formed by individual members for the purpose of holding informal exchanges of views on specific issues and of promoting contacts between Members and civil society.

Only lobby groups who are registered in the Transparency Register may participate in activities organised by intergroups or other unofficial groupings on Parliament’s premises by offering support to them, or by co-hosting their events.

An annual declaration of any support received, whether in cash or in kind (e.g. secretarial assistance),has to be made by the chairs of intergroups and be updated every year. All these declarations and the list of members of each intergroup can be accessed at the link below (see “More information”).

Other unofficial groupings are also required to declare, by the end of the following month, any support, whether in cash or in kind, which members have not declared individually in accordance with their obligations under the Code of Conduct for Members.

More information: Rules of procedure: Rule 35 - Intergroups.

Parliament staff members, as indeed all EU civil servants, are required to preserve their professional and personal independence.

They must act in a manner consistent with the independence of their position and the principle of integrity, as laid down in the staff regulations.

To this end, there are some Practical recommendations for public officials’ interaction with interest representatives.