LOBBYING UNDER THE EU TRANSPARENCY REGISTER

Lobbying is defined broadly as all activities carried out with the objective of directly or indirectly influencing either the formulation or implementation of policy and the decision-making processes of the EU institutions.

1. Direct Influencing

Work that would fall under the definition of ‘directly influencing’ would be direct contact or direct communication with Commissioners, Commissioners’ cabinets, Directors-General, MEPs, MEP assistants, Commission and Parliament officials and other staff of the EU institutions. Examples of direct contact or direct communication include:

• Drafting and circulating a letter to several MEPs on behalf of a client in order to influence legislation
• Preparing and distributing position papers to Parliament or Commission officials on behalf of a client
• Arranging and attending a meeting with an MEP, Commission or Parliament officials on behalf of a client
• Accompanying a client to a meeting with an EU official

2. Indirect Influencing

Work aimed at 'indirect influencing' is defined as using channels, such as the media, public opinion, conferences, social events or capacity-building events targeting the EU institutions. When determining which of your or your firm's activities are lobbying, you may take into account what the intention of the activity is and what its intended audience is.

The definition in the IIA is very broad and therefore could include a wide range of activities:

• Writing blogs and/or articles, on behalf of the client, whose main audience will be EU officials and which are intended to influence the decision-making process
• Organising on behalf of a client an event to which officials of an EU institution are invited in order to discuss a public-policy issue which the officials are handling
• Responding to a public consultation on a piece of EU legislation or an EU initiative (on behalf of the client or pro bono)

The guidelines on the implementation of the Register also refer to:

• Providing education on or research on EU activities and policies, involving regular contact with the EU institutions and feeding into the EU policy-making process
• Organising initiatives or promotional or capacity building events dealing with EU policies/processes

The guidelines state that the abovementioned activities should only be declared if they are part of the wider public affairs package which ultimately leads to influencing the EU decision makers or the policy/legislative process.

Legal advice intended to influence the EU institutions or legislative process

Indirect influencing also includes legal advice when 'it is intended to influence the EU institutions, their members and their assistants or their officials or other staff', as stipulated in the second part of the Article 10 of the IIA . The article reads:

However, the following activities concerning the provision of legal and other professional advice are covered by the register where they are intended to influence the EU institutions, their Members and their assistants or their officials or other staff:

• The provision of support, via representation or mediation, or of advocacy material, including argumentation and drafting
• The provision of tactical or strategic advice, including the raising of issues the scope of which and the timing of communication of which are intended to influence the EU institutions, their members and their assistants or their officials or other staff

The important distinction between advisory work and lobbying for clients is the intention of the activity and the intended audience of the advice. If your client explicitly states that the information you gather to provide him or her with legal advice will be later used for lobbying purposes, then your activities will fall within the scope of the register. If, on the other hand, your client will explicitly state that the results of your work will not be used for lobbying purposes, then it falls outside the scope of the Register.

Advice to organisations engaged in lobbying

If a law firm acts as an intermediary providing legal or other professional advice to another organisation then the firm and the other organisation will be required to register (Article 8).