Negotiators from the EU Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission reached agreement on Tuesday 24 November on the creation of a Mandatory Transparency Register (registration of lobbies) applicable to all three institutions (see EUROPE 12576/28, 12508/26).
This was the sixth political meeting between negotiators from Parliament, the EU Council and the Commission. They confirmed that further progress has been made.
MEPs Katarina Barley (S&D, Germany) and Danuta Hübner (EPP, Poland), Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, and German State Secretary for European Affairs Michael Roth noted the progress made on several points. They relate to the structure and resources of the new Transparency Register as well as to eligibility requirements for interest representatives In particular, the provisional agreement clarifies that observance of the code of conduct by applicants becomes part of the eligibility criteria. Provisions on monitoring and investigation procedures include the possibility to apply measures in case of non-observance of the code of conduct, and take into consideration also the rights of registrants, by establishing an effective decision-making and review process.
The Secretariat will be a joint operational structure with an adequate number of staff to address the new challenges relating to the functioning of the Register. The three institutions will be on an equal footing, as oversight and governance will be performed by the three institutions’ Secretaries-Generals, who will form the Register’s Management Board. The institutions will share the cost of maintenance and development of the Register proportionally (based on their respective administrative size), through a consensus-driven process.
The representatives of the three EU institutions remain hopeful that a final agreement can be reached before the end of the year. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)