08/05/2025
Parliament’s leadership adopted new transparency rules for staff managers on Monday, 5 May 2025.
According to a note spotted by Politico, from 1 September 2025, the European Parliament will implement new transparency rules requiring all staff managers from Directors General to junior team leaders to register their meetings with third-country representatives.
Who’s affected and what needs to be disclosed?
According to the draft first revealed by Politico last January, staff must disclose the function, organisation and interests of third-party representatives, as well as the date, place and subject of the meeting. Although individual identities do not have to be revealed, the information will be accessible to the public. In addition, only interest representatives registered in the EU transparency register will be allowed to participate in these meetings.
What About Political Group Staff?
Political groups will have the discretion to decide whether these rules will apply to their own staff, and this decision is expected to vary across groups.
A long road to greater transparency in the EU institutions
These measures are part of a comprehensive 14-point reform to strengthen accountability and prevent undue foreign influence, following the Qatargate and, more recently, Huawei scandals.
Last December, the European Commission improved its transparency by including a new measure requiring 1,500 European Commission officials to publish their lobbying meetings, including the main arguments put forward and the conclusions of the meetings in the form of minutes, thus meeting one of our long-standing demands.
The Good Lobby advocates greater transparency and democracy in policy-making and will continue to support and monitor these critical developments.