The Code of Conduct in Annex III of the 2014 Interinstitutional Agreement on the EU Transparency Register sets out the rules for all those who register and establishes the underlying principles for standards of behaviour in all relations with the EU institutions.

The parties (EC/EP) consider that all interest representatives interacting with them whether on a single occasion or more frequently, registered or not should behave in conformity with this code of conduct.

1. Great responsibility
   Professionals deal in matters of vital importance to their clients and are therefore entrusted with grave responsibilities and obligations. Given these inherent obligations, professional work typically involves circumstances where carelessness, inadequate skill, or breach of ethics would be significantly damaging to the client and/or his fortunes.
2. Accountability
   

There is an increase of publications, conversations, and presentations surrounding the topic of GR as a profession. None fully explores or offers a consensus on whether or not GR is a profession or if GR specialists should work toward professionalizing the field in the future. GR still has some distance to travel before it is recognized a field of study, a discipline, or a profession. GR must establish more credentials before it can be considered a true discipline.

Source: The World Justice Project (WJP) Open Government Index 2015

1. PUBLICIZED LAWS AND GOVERNMENT DATA

A GR Practitioner must possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities and be able to explain and demonstrate that he or she can perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation, using some other combination of skills and abilities.

Political advocacy, or lobbying is of paramount importance to ensuring that political decision-makers understand the implications of the legislation they adopt. The EU’s political system is a very open one where most decision-makers, be it civil servants in the European Commission or politicians in the European Parliament, appreciate input from external stakeholders and are open to facts and arguments. This input makes for better legislation.

But advocacy must be transparent and ethical to have the required effect. The EU Transparency Register is one step in the right direction.

The establishment of a mandatory lobby register at the EU level would require the adoption of a regulation through the ordinary legislative procedure or the special procedure provided in Article 352 TFEU. In both cases, the European Commission would need to propose such a regulation and the Council would have to approve of it (unanimously) and only with the consent of Parliament in Article 352 TFEU and acting on the basis of a qualified majority vote as co-legislator with Parliament in the ordinary legislative procedure.

The European Commission seeks the views of all interested parties on the performance of the current Transparency Register for organisations and self-employed individuals engaged in EU policy-making and policy implementation and on its future evolution towards a mandatory scheme covering the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission.

PART A

1. Transparency and the EU

GR Practitioners just like lawyers, doctors, teachers and other professions are bound by professional codes of conduct or by contracts that contain standards of conduct. A GR professional who fails the duties required of the profession may be judged incompetent and subject to a disciplinary board or an employer may terminate employment. 

Lack of preparation is one aspect of incompetence

AALEP believes that GR Practitioners should demonstrate their professional skills by meeting high minimum standards of competency in the field of Government Relations prior to being registered in either a voluntary or mandatory lobby register. It is up to our profession to set out minimum professional standards for persons providing GR  services in order to ensure that consumers of GR services obtain a minimum acceptable level of competence from individuals acting for and on behalf of firms in the provision of advice and associated GR activities.