Analysis and regulation of the lobby in the European Union

Abstract

There are currently thousands of lobby groups registered in Brussels. The registration of lobbies in the EU is voluntary, it does not establish penalties for those groups that decide not to do so. Determinant factor in the policy of transparency and ethics in the decision-making process. The lobby is an opaque activity by its very nature, which although necessary for the exercise of democracy, is mediated by the handling of information -sometimes in a privileged way- that reduces the democratic maneuverability of actors who in themselves have not been elected for the position they occupy and are more susceptible to pressure. The general objective of this study is to analyze the regulation of the lobby in the EU. The specific objectives are to describe the main characteristics of lobbies in community institutions, identify the community regulatory framework for the exercise of lobbies in these institutions. Lobby regulation has been more a political response to citizen disaffection than a measure of institutional coercion. There is no homogeneous framework for evaluation or restraint that is not susceptible to violation by the permanent lobbyist army in Brussels, nor is there a single framework in each State. These are, in general, novel mechanisms to regulate a trade that until it did not emerge as part of the 2008 crisis was not a problem; On the contrary, it is still seen as a fundamental part.