SPD wants to tighten German lobby register law

Bundestag

It should become more transparent who influences the legislation.

(Photo: dpa)

Berlin As a consequence of the corruption scandal in the European Parliament, the co-chairman of the SPD Left Party, Sebastian Roloff, has called for the German lobby register law to be tightened. “I think it makes sense to tighten it up according to the Brussels model, this should also include third countries,” the member of the Bundestag told the Handelsblatt.

It must be “as transparent as possible” as to who has influenced or attempted to influence a legislative process. “Corruption is poison to democracy and trust in it,” said Roloff. Therefore, the German transparency rules would also have to be checked regularly for their effectiveness.

The background is one of the biggest corruption scandals in the history of the European Parliament. Vice President Eva Kaili is said to have received money from the Gulf state of Qatar so that she could influence political decisions for the World Cup host country.

The social democrat from Greece was arrested along with five other suspects. Four of them were taken into custody on Sunday by arrest warrant – including, according to media reports, the 44-year-old parliamentarian himself. Many other MEPs, including from Germany, are now worried about their reputation.

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MEP Katarina Barley (SPD), also Vice-President of Parliament, spoke of a “criminal isolated case” that could never be ruled out, despite the EU Parliament’s far-reaching transparency rules. At the same time, she suggested that the Bundestag should look at the European rules.

In Germany, a code of conduct applies to lobbyists

“The Bundestag could also consider obtaining information about who is lobbying in which areas of proposed legislation,” Barley told the Reuters news agency. The European transparency rules are “quite more progressive than is the case in Germany at the federal level,” she added.

>> Read also: Comment – The corruption allegations undermine the legitimacy of the EU Parliament – to the delight of Viktor Orban

In Germany, the lobby register of the Bundestag was launched at the beginning of the year. Since then, companies and associations have been able to register in the register that the Union and SPD had agreed on after years of dispute and scandals such as the mask affair last year. According to reports, more than 5,000 companies, associations, organisations, networks, individuals and others have registered so far.

The publicly accessible lobby register is intended to make visible who is influencing political decisions and legislation. Professional stakeholders had to register there by March 1 at the latest. Among other things, they must provide information about their clients and the personnel and financial costs of their lobbying activities in the Bundestag and the Federal Government.

The area of ​​interest and the activity must also be explained. Lobbyists are also obliged to adhere to a specified code of conduct. If you don’t follow the rules, you could face a fine of up to 50,000 euros. Lobby Control, which has been campaigning for more transparency in politics for years, is also among those already registered. The organization had also promoted a “legislative footprint” as an “important addition to the lobby register.”

The government is already working on stricter lobbyist rules

The traffic light coalition aims to tighten the lobby register in this direction. At least that’s what the SPD, Greens and FDP have stipulated in the coalition agreement. This includes including contacts to ministries from the departmental level – not just from sub-department heads – and expanding the circle of representatives who are subject to registration.

The so-called “legislative footprint” is also mentioned. This is intended to show which interest groups have influenced which laws.

According to the federal government, an amendment to the lobby register law is in the works. “The Federal Government is currently coordinating with regard to the constitutional requirements for an extension of the registration requirement and questions relating to the legislative process,” says a government response to a request from the left-wing faction published in September. This also applies to the question of introducing a “footprint”. An “internal decision-making process” is currently underway here.

The Bundestag passed the current lobby register law of the grand coalition on March 25, 2021. In the parliamentary debate at the time, the CDU MP Patrick Schnieder, today Parliamentary Secretary of the Union parliamentary group, referred to the “autonomy of procedure” of the federal government: “It can do everything that is is required as part of an executive footprint, but she has to do it herself, in the joint rules of procedure of the federal ministries.”

That would mean: For an executive footprint, there is no need to tighten the lobby register law. The government can easily take such a measure.

More: Corruption guards criticize the federal government – but see progress in lobbying rules

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