Negotiators from the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission reached an agreement on Monday 7 December on the principle of conditionality, which requires lobbies to register in the new Transparency Register. This mandatory register will be applicable to all three EU institutions (see EUROPE 12609/25).
This was the seventh political meeting between negotiators from Parliament, the EU Council and the Commission. They reached a compromise on how the Transparency Register will become mandatory. According to the conditionality principle adopted, registration of lobbyists will be a necessary precondition for interest representatives to be able to carry out certain activities.
MEPs Katarina Barley (S&D, Germany) and Danuta Hübner (EPP, Poland), Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, and German Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth confirmed that the provisional draft is fully aligned with the commitments made at previous meetings.
The provisions laid down cover conditionality and additional transparency measures for the institutions while taking into account their respective specificities.
The three institutions undertake to ensure that their respective measures will be consistent with the common objectives identified in the agreement and will produce an equivalent effect across the board.
The three institutions also reaffirmed their willingness to build a common culture of transparency.
Going forward, the annual report on the functioning of the Transparency Register will include a new chapter on the implementation of conditionality and additional transparency measures. A mechanism will also allow institutions to regularly assess implementation, with the possibility of making recommendations on improvements to the Register.
The provisional compromise on conditionality agreed between the negotiators will make it possible to finalise a comprehensive draft agreement. The negotiators commit to reach the final agreement before the end of the year. A conclusive meeting could be held next week.
Link to the joint press release: https://bit.ly/3gmicAy (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)