Bundestag
Traffic light coalition wants to tighten lobby registers
The dome on the former Reichstag building, the seat of the German Bundestag. photo
© picture alliance / dpa
Lobbyists come and go in the Bundestag. Since 2022, they have had to register in a register – but what they state does not go far enough for many people. Now the traffic light is acting.
The lobby register has been kept on the German Bundestag website since the beginning of 2022. It is intended to make visible who influences political decisions and legislation. Professional stakeholders must register there and, for example, provide information about their clients.
Financing information becomes mandatory
According to the wishes of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, interest groups should in future indicate which specific legislative proposals they want to influence. They should also upload the key points of their demands to the lobby register. The previous option to refuse to provide information on financing will be deleted.
Anyone who switches to a lobbying organization as a representative or official should in future disclose that they are now working as a lobbyist. There should be relief for charities that fear for their donations if donor names are required to be provided. In the future, donations should only be stated if they exceed 10,000 euros per calendar year and donor and also account for more than ten percent of the total donations.
The change should make it clear who influences a law in the Bundestag, explained the parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, Johannes Fechner. Bruno Hönel from the Greens criticized that the Union had always blocked more transparency in lobbying – the traffic light, on the other hand, had now agreed on far-reaching improvements. Philipp Hartewig from the FDP spoke of a successful balance between partial tightening and important bureaucratic relief for stakeholders.