Lobbying regulation – endless discussion and questionable outcomes

Lithuania has some of the strictest lobbying regulations in the EU. First introduced in 2000, the Law on Lobbying Activities has been debated ever since.

The most recent amendments came into force on 1 January, 2021. For the first time, it introduces obligations not only for lobbyists, but also for the public sector. The adopted law has established the so-called cross-declaration that requires lobbyists, as well as politicians and public servants, who have contact with lobbyists, to report their activities. Therefore, the President, the Members of Parliament, the government cabinet, and a long list of other government and municipal officials and public servants now have to declare each lobbying attempt. This includes meetings, calls, emails, and official letters on any subject regulation-related.

On the surface it seems like a logical approach to establishing transparency in the legislative process. But the actual implementation seems almost impossible. A stream of correspondence is constantly flowing into the email boxes of MPs, and anyone else on the list. Most of this constant flow contains a regulatory proposal in some form or other. Following this legislation, each communication now have to be declared, even if repeatedly sent to multiple recipients. A failure to declare any of these communications will be regarded as a violation of the legislation.  

Another tricky aspect to be considered, is the interpretation of what is, and what is not lobbying.

Another tricky aspect to be considered, is the interpretation of what is, and what is not lobbying. For example; is a generic discussion on VAT rates with a politician lobbying? Is a casual chat with a Minister on the best ways to boost renewable energy lobbying? Should it be declared each time by both sides? Eventually, it all boils down to interpretation by the supervisory authority. 

Is there a better alternative?

Let’s introduce a transparency registry instead, where each lobbyist, be it an NGO, a business organization, or an individual, could register and declare their topics of interest. To get a better picture of their legislative footprint, each of them would have to register specific draft laws or other legislation that they are actively working on.

Let’s introduce a transparency registry instead, where each lobbyist, be it an NGO, a business organization, or an individual, could register and declare their topics of interest.

Being on the registry should have real-life benefits. It could ensure access to additional information on specific topics, admission to meetings and working groups. In tandem with a potential punishment for undeclared lobbying, this would motivate all concerned parties to register. 

The transparency registry would be an easy, low maintenance means of having all the interest groups, segmented by topics, in one central database. It would indicate which, if any, attempted to influence specific legislation, without time-consuming and overly complicated cross-declaration.