Mandatory Transparency Register: Compromise on draft conditionality package

Met dank overgenomen van Duits voorzitterschap Europese Unie 2e helft 2020 (Duits Voorzitterschap) i, gepubliceerd op maandag 7 december 2020.

On 7 December, negotiators of the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission reached a compromise on how the Transparency Register will become de facto mandatory.

They provisionally approved a compromise package on the conditionality principle. This key remaining issue will make registration a necessary precondition for interest representatives to carry out certain activities. The negotiators, European Parliament’s Vice-President Katarina Barley and Member of the Constitutional Affairs Committee Danuta Hübner, German Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth for the Presidency of the Council, and Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová, confirmed that the provisional draft is fully aligned with the commitments expressed at their previous meetings.

The agreed terms introduce conditionality and complementary transparency measures for the signatory institutions, while taking into account their respective specificities. The three institutions are committed to ensuring that their respective measures will be consistent with the common objectives identified in the agreement and will deliver an equivalent effect across the board. The three institutions also reaffirmed their willingness to build a common culture of transparency.

Moving forward, the annual report on the functioning of the Transparency Register will include a new chapter, addressing the implementation of conditionality and complementary transparency measures. An efficient review mechanism will then allow the institutions to assess implementation regularly, with the possibility of making appropriate recommendations on further improvement.

On behalf of Germany's Presidency of the Council of the EU, Michael Roth, Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office, welcomed the progress made:

More transparency is key to the functioning of the European Union. The German Council Presidency is fully committed in strengthening transparency by introducing a new Transparency Register at EU level. The tentatively agreed compromise texts on the key matter of conditionality are a substantive step forward, of course still subject to final confirmation by Member States. We hope that a spirit of mutual understanding and compromise will pave the way for a formal finalization and adoption of the whole package before the end of the year.

The provisional compromise package on conditionality agreed between the negotiators will allow for the finalisation of an overall draft agreement, subject to adoption in accordance with each institution's internal procedures. The negotiators are committed to reach the final agreement before the end of the year.

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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.

This was the seventh political meeting on the subject and the fourth since they resumed in the 9th parliamentary term (on 16 June, 6 October and 24 November 2020) with a renewed team of negotiators, reflecting the current setup of the institutions. More information on the Transparency Register negotiations can be found on the dedicated webpage of the European Parliament.

On this topic

Mandatory Transparency Register: Provisional agreement on substantial pointsInternal link

At their sixth political meeting on 24 November, Parliament, Council and Commission negotiators confirmed that additional progress has been made.

Mandatory Transparency Register: Promising progress in the negotiationsInternal link

The negotiators of the European Parliament, Council and European Commission acknowledge positive steps and look forward to achieving further progress together.