Brussels/Cologne, 15 July 2024
The transparency organisations Corporate Europe Observatory, LobbyControl, Transparency International EU and The Good Lobby have demanded European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen finally recognise the threat to EU democracy, and properly implement and enforce the transparency rules needed to govern European policymaking, as one of her first official acts.
In their open letter to the President, they state:
“European democracy is in distress. From outside the EU, authoritarian states are aiming to destabilise the EU institutions. Far-right parties with an authoritarian agenda now hold a quarter of the seats in the European Parliament. At the same time, lobbyists with questionable intentions benefit from the poorly enforced EU lobbying rules.”
Scandals such as Qatargate have made it abundantly clear that Europe is not adequately armed against such undue influence. The EU Transparency Register not only continues to contain major loopholes, but lack of monitoring, resources and enforcement in fact render it unfit to identify undue influence on the political process. Ursula von der Leyen must finally deliver on this as soon as her cabinet is in place.
Only with stringent and enforced lobbying rules can the EU protect itself from dubious attempts to influence its decisions unduly. The Commission must finally step up to this task. Its newly-created ethics body, which is tasked with creating an ethics framework for nine EU institutions, must have the necessary resources and powers to monitor and enforce these rules.
Finally, there are alarming signs that, at a time of fierce geopolitical dispute and power struggles, corporate welfare is being prioritised over the common good. We therefore demand that the new Commission President ensure democratic policymaking in relation to the European Green Deal and other important policies of public interest is safeguarded. We must not jeopardise policies intended to ensure our long-term prosperity for short-sighted gains.
The organisations will also submit this open letter to Members of the European Parliament, to allow them to make these transparency demands a condition for Ms von der Leyen’s re-election.
Read the open letter