European Commission's transparency drive "not going far enough":
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The European Commission's draft paper adopted as part of its "transparency" drive has met with a mixed reaction. The text proposes improved public access to Commission documents, including letters received by commissioners and lists of EU funding recipients through an enhanced database which would be connected with member state websites. Critics complain, however, that the document fails to address the issue of privileged access that is granted to corporate lobbyists, while some lobbyists initially reacted badly, saying that they would refuse a disclosure registry. The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) argues that disclosure must include information on clients, budgets and areas of work by lobbyists, and should be made available in a fully searchable online database.