Lobbying in the EU - Misconceptions vs Reality

by Leonie Klüver, 6 minutes

Lobbying - what exactly does it mean and how does it tie into the political system? Why is it crucial for the legislative process and a valuable aspect of a democratic political system? Though stories on the origin of lobbying diverge, it is believed that the word derived from the lobbies outside the US Congress and the UK House of Parliament in which politicians and interest representatives would informally meet and discuss legislation. In 1817 the word first appeared in print referring to an elected US member as a lobby member. Within the last two centuries lobbying has become an essential part of politics. In Europe, Brussels is the major hub for lobbying with 11,800 registered entities.

What is lobbying?

Lobbying is defined in the current regulatory framework by the EU as:

“all activities (...) carried out with the objective of directly or indirectly influencing the formulation or implementation of policy and the decision-making processes of the EU institutions, irrespective of where they are undertaken and of the channel or medium of communication used, for example via outsourcing, media, contracts with professional intermediaries, think tanks, platforms, forums, campaigns and grassroots initiatives.” 

To put it more simply: lobbying is an activity by individuals having the objective to (in)directly influence the formulation or implementation of EU policy or legislation. A lobbyist is, therefore, a public affairs practitioner who advocates and engages in this legislative process. 

Why is lobbying essential in legislative procedures?

Lobbyists are often negatively perceived by the public as representing specific and profit-oriented interests of powerful firms which ultimately negatively affects legislation. While lobbyists are the channel through which ‘outside’ interests gain access to the legislation process, this is an essential part of the democratic system. 

The question of why to lobby is a valid one considering that in a democratic state, politicians are said to represent the voters’ interests. Essentially lobbyists provide crucial expertise and knowledge on specific and oftentimes complex subjects. Especially in the EU time constraints, understaffed politicians’ offices, and the vast amount of legislative details, lobbyists often provide the necessary expertise and information for the best results and effectiveness of legislation. Resulting in a higher quality of the legislation which ultimately also strengthens the accountability of the politician. 

Is lobbying legal?

Lobbying is legal though it has several regulations within the EU institutions and across the EU member states. Due to the growth of lobbying and EU institutions having a higher salience in the public eye, in 1996 the EU implemented the first regulation and ethical code of conduct on the access of interest groups to the EU buildings. This code requires each lobbyist to disclose information on the lobby intent. Ever since the EU has been actively working on increasing the transparency of the influence of lobby groups on EU legislation. For this, the EU launched the European Transparency Initiative (ETI) in 2005 and created a registry for lobby groups in 2008. With the same interests to enhance lobby transparency, meetings between EU officials and lobbyists must be publicly listed. Across the member states regulation on lobbying differs, differentiating between countries that have a code of conduct for lobbying (i.e. Germany), a register for lobbyists (i.e. Austria), and legislation for lobbying (i.e. France). Some EU member states do not regulate lobbying at all. Overall, the difference across the EU member states in lobby regulation does not affect lobbying at the EU level. That is because national lobbying does not affect the EU level and as outlined above the EU has its own lobbying regulations. 

How does lobbying work in the EU?

To understand the importance of lobbying it is essential to understand the EU legislative process. The process from initiating EU legislation to its implementation is a complicated and enduring one. The European Commission has the power of the pen meaning that it has the power to initiate legislation. After initiation, one or several Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) within the respective parliamentary committee create a proposal for the legislation. Afterwards, it is voted upon in the committee and is then presented in the plenary. Eventually, the legislation is amended by the European Parliament (EP). It is then presented to the Council of the European Union (the Council). As the EP and the Council share the power of amending the legislation in ordinary legislative procedures, revisions in the Council are essential. In up to three rounds of revision in the EP and the Council, both institutions agree on the legislation. Between these formally recognised rounds of revisions, there are informal rounds of revisions which are called trilogues. As the name suggests, these are dialogues between the EP, the Council, and the Commission intended to negotiate the legislation and eventually agree upon the formulation of legislation which is officially decided upon in the rounds of revision. The Commission plays a mediator role in these informal trialogues. 

To note, it would not be the EU if there were no exemptions to this legislative process. The most important is that in special legislative procedures (determined by the subject of the legislation e.g. taxation) the EP only has a consultative role and the Council has the sole power to amend legislation. 

Steps in the negotiation process

Source: European Parliament

Now you might wonder where does lobbying fit into this process?

Literature repeatedly refers to the metaphor of a political market to describe the influence and activities of lobbyists. Considering the simple interplay of supply and demand, in the political market politicians, EU officials, as well as lobbyists, provide and exchange information. The equilibrium is found if the information and interests reach a consensus. For this, there is not a specific meeting or process in play. Rather, informal meetings, networking, and events are used by lobbyists to receive on the one hand information on current legislation processes for their clients while also trying to gain influence on the legislative procedure based on the lobbyist's interest. While lobbying is often misperceived as secret closed-door meetings, the ETI and the legality of lobbying result in a well-known and accessible tight-knit network of political information sharing and interests representation. To put it simply, the key to successful lobbying is having access to EU decision-makers and the legislative process to provide information. The continued lack of transparency is, therefore, due to the complexity of this network rather than the secrecy of lobbyists. 

A democratic state system can only thrive by interest representation from various actors both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ the political apparatus to ensure a proper interest representation of the public. Lobbying presents the crosspoint for ‘outside’ actors to influence the legislative procedures and for ‘inside’ actors to receive valuable expertise and knowledge on certain legislation.