HOW EU MEMBER STATES VIEW LOBBYING REGULATIONS

The 2013 edition of 'A Guide to Effective Lobbying in Europe' -The View of Policymakers published by Burson-Marsteller reveals some interesting statistics on how EU member states view lobbying and relevant regulations.

Table 1 shows the percentage of respondents in the Member States who consider that lobbying is NOT sufficiently regulated.   The majority (56%) of respondents across Europe think that lobbying is not sufficiently regulated in their country. Half that number (28%) believe that there is enough regulation. In Norway (59%), Denmark (57%) and Poland (50%) at least one in every two policy-makers surveyed considered lobbying to be sufficiently regulated. At the opposite end of the spectrum, respondents in Portugal (100%), Spain (93%), the Czech Republic (88%) and Italy (87%) are those most strongly asserting that lobbying is not sufficiently regulated.

The lowest level of awareness about the level of regulation of lobbying is demonstrated in the Netherlands, with half of respondents not knowing whether lobbying is sufficiently regulated. At EU level, more respondents think that lobbying is sufficiently regulated (48%) than those who think it is not (34%).

Table 1. Lobbyists Not sufficiently regulated (% of respondents)

• Portugal: 100%
• Spain: 93%
• Czech Republic: 88%
• Italy: 87%
• Hungary: 75%
• Romania: 75%
• Greece: 71%
• France: 67%
• Latvia: 67%
• Estonia: 53%
• UK: 53%
• Finland: 50%
• Lithuania: 47%
• Poland: 37%
• Brussels(EU Institutions): 34%
• Denmark: 34%
• Germany: 30%
• Sweden: 25%
• Norway: 24%
• Netherlands: 22%

Table 2- Would consider a mandatory register useful in their country (% of respondents)

• Portugal: 88%
• Poland: 87%
• Italy: 83%
• Brussels (EU Institutions): 79%
• Romania: 70%
• Lithuania: 69%
• Czech Republic: 64%
• Hungary: 60%
• France: 57%
• UK: 56%
• Latvia: 53%
• Greece: 52%
• Estonia: 47%
• Germany: 45%
• Netherlands: 39%
• Denmark: 37%
• Spain: 34%
• Finland: 24%
• Sweden: 19%
• Norway: 13%