The EU needs stricter rules when dealing with lobbying and the influence of authoritarian states, demands the non-profit association Lobbycontrol. “Qatargate, caviar diplomacy and parliamentarians who allegedly received money from Russia: the functionality of democracy is at risk,” said Imke Dierßen, managing director of Lobbycontrol, at the presentation of the EU lobby report 2024 on Thursday.
Ahead of the upcoming EU elections in June, citizens have lost trust in the European institutions. In many EU countries, over half of people think that politicians in Brussels are corrupt, Eurobarometer surveys show. “Katargate” in particular caused shock: Belgian investigators found several bags full of cash in the apartment of Vice President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, in December 2022. The socialist from Greece was taken into custody on suspicion of corruption. In addition, in January the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office brought charges against two former members of the Bundestag on allegations of bribery and corruption of elected officials. Eduard Lintner (CSU) and Axel Fischer (CDU) are said to have accepted money from Azerbaijan – keyword: caviar diplomacy. The Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office has initiated two preliminary investigations against EU parliamentarian Maximilian Krah (AfD). The question is whether he received money from Russia and China. The influence of authoritarian states on EU parliamentarians is growing. In February 2024, the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, wrote that Russia must “openly and covertly” support the “non-systemic” opposition in Germany in the European elections.
But the pressure from business lobbyists is also getting stronger. “At least 55 percent of the entries in the EU lobby register can be considered part of the lobby for companies. This includes their associations as well as law firms, agencies and think tanks, which are usually hired by the private sector,” says the lobby report. According to this, only 30 percent of the lobby groups would primarily support causes oriented towards the common good such as human and labor rights, climate, environmental and consumer protection.
If EU politicians meet in certain capacities with business lobbyists and interest representatives from third countries, they must disclose this. But that rarely happens. One reason: There are no sanctions. “The problem is parliament’s self-control; it is difficult for people who work together every day to suddenly decide on sanctions against someone,” says Nina Katzemich, co-author of the lobby report. “You need an independent authority that strictly punishes violations of the transparency obligation. But unfortunately there is a lack of political will to do so.”
“So far, the EU Parliament has never imposed a penalty for violations of the transparency obligation,” says lobby control expert Aurel Eschmann. “Not even EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is following the rules because she recently met with an unregistered lobby organization,” says Eschmann, who co-authored the report.
Conflicts of interest are also possible, as Lobbycontrol writes. The code of conduct prohibits EU representatives from paid lobbying activities in direct connection with the EU’s decision-making processes. “But almost a third of MEPs have paid jobs alongside their mandate and almost one in eight of them is for an organization that can be found in the EU lobby register,” the report says.