Mandatory Transparency Register: provisional agreement on substantial points

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC) i, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 24 november 2020.

On Tuesday, the Commission's Vice-President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová, European Parliament negotiators Vice-President Katarina Barley and Member of the Constitutional Affairs Committee Danuta Hübner, and Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office Michael Roth for the German Presidency of the Council took note of several points of progress on further elements, during their tripartite meeting to negotiate the Transparency Register. The provisionally agreed elements are fully in line with the commitments expressed at the previous political meetings of 16 June and 6 October, and take into account the differing natures of the signatory institutions.

These elements relate to the structure and resources of the new Transparency Register, as well as to eligibility requirements for interest representatives. In particular, the provisional agreement clarifies that observance of the code of conduct by applicants becomes part of the eligibility criteria. Provisions on monitoring and investigation procedures include the possibility to apply measures in case of non-observance of the code of conduct, and take into consideration also the rights of registrants, by establishing an effective decision and review process.

The Secretariat will be a joint operational structure with an adequate number of staff to address the new challenges relating to the functioning of the Register. The three institutions will be on an equal footing, as oversight and governance will be performed by the three institutions' Secretaries-General, who will form the Register's Management Board. The institutions will share the cost of maintenance and development of the Register proportionally (based on their respective administrative size), through a consensus-driven process.

In this manner, the Transparency Register will be effective in its mission and prepared to tackle future challenges.

Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová i said: “More transparency is essential to ensure that Union citizens fully trust the EU institutions. We have come a long way, but we need to seize momentum and ensure an agreement between the three institutions on a meaningful Transparency Register”

Next steps

Following a discussion on the cornerstone of the new agreement, i.e. the principle whereby inclusion in the Transparency Register is a necessary precondition for interest representatives to carry out certain activities within the scope of the agreement, the negotiators agreed that talks at technical level should continue. The representatives of the three EU institutions remain hopeful that a final agreement can be reached before the end of the year, jointly aiming to establish a common culture of transparent and ethical interest representation, delivering the transparency expected by EU citizens.

Background

The European Commission presented its proposal for a new inter-institutional agreement on a mandatory Transparency Register for interest representatives covering the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission in 2016. Since 2011, the Parliament and the Commission have jointly operated a public register for interest representatives aiming to make the EU decision-making process more transparent and accountable. The Council has been an observer to the current scheme since 2014.

For More Information

More information on the Transparency Register negotiations can be found on the dedicated EP webpage

Transparency Register - website