ASSESSMENT OF LOBBY RULES/FRANCE

France

• Mandatory
• Broad definition of lobbying
• Thresholds for mandatory registration: at least one lobbyist of the lobby had 10 lobby contacts with public officials in the past 12 months OR the lobby employs a lobbyist dedicating at least 50% of its working time to lobbying activities. Lobbying exchanges following a communication intiated by the public official must not be disclosed. Register covers lobbyists targeting local authorities.
• Register of lobbyists: Scope: Legislative and Executive branches
• Register categories: Identification, ID of persons involved, category, activity sector, lobbying expenses, turnover (if applicable), clients (for intermediaries), list of connected orgnaizations (incl. if registered or not)
• Key information available

Recommendation

Ensure that rules on lobbying activities are consistently applied to all relevant actors, including at top executive level.

Note 

The French Parliament adopted rules to regulate the ‘representation of interests’ in 2009, establishing that the Bureau of the National Assembly should draw up a list of public or private interest representatives who then shall be granted special rights of access in exchange for the provision of information on their activities and the interests they are defending, while further committing to adhere to the Bureau-approved code of conduct. Interest Representatives may request to be added on the list and then wait the approval of the Bureau. The French Senate also approved similar rules in 2009. If the code is not respected, representatives can be withdrawn or temporarily suspended from the list. A mandatory register was proposed in 2016 and finally became into force through ‘Loi Sapin II of 9 December 2016’. The registry is managed by the High Authority for Transparency of Public Life (HATVP) and penalties in case of default go up to one year of imprisonment and 15,000 € fines. The representatives of interests (but also, companies, NGOs, associations) must register in this digital directory to meet the ministers and their cabinet, parliamentarians and their collaborators, certain senior officials and local elected representatives. In the French landscape there are also a number of organizations that represent lobbying professionals who often also devise codes of conduct. First in 1985 the Association for Professionals of Public Affairs (APPA) was formed, then in 1991 the French Association of Lobbying Consultants (AFCL) was created, and later in 2011 the Association of Lawyer-lobbyists (AAL) initiated activity.