(29 November 2013) – The latest annual report on the European Parliament and European Commission’s joint Transparency Register shows that 10% more interest representatives have registered.
Almost 6,000 organisations have now signed up – an increase of 10% on last year’s report. A recent academic study referenced in the report suggests it now covers 60-75% of all Brussels-based actors.
At the same time, well over 1,000 quality checks have been made, taking advantage of shorter procedures and new IT tools introduced this year to increase efficiency. Of these, 783 were followed-up to improve the quality of information in the Register.
As of 31/10/13, there were 5,952 registrants in the Transparency Register. Half (49.93%) have registered as Category II (In-house lobbyists and trade/professional associations) and about 26% in Category III (NGOs). At a conservative estimate, an average of five people are represented by each registrant, meaning around 30,000 interest representatives have committed to the Register’s Code of Conduct.
Recently, a petition was launched to make it compulsory for lobbyists to register on the Transparency Register.