RECOMMENDATIONS
to national decision-makers
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GOAL 1: TRANSPARENCY
Guarantee the public has sufficient information on contact between lobbyists and public officials to understand how decisions are made and to hold their representatives to account. Review immediately all laws, policies and practices on access to information in countries where acute problems were found. Access to information laws should adhere to fundamental principles127 and all information must be considered “public by default”, including data on lobbying. Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain Require public institutions and representatives to capture and proactively publish information on their interactions with lobbyists including meeting summaries, calendars, agendas and documentation received. All countries Ensure a “legislative footprint” is created for every legislative proposal to ensure full transparency of decision-making processes. All countries Disclose publicly the membership of government and parliamentary expert and advisory groups, as well their agendas, minutes and participants’ submissions. All countries Establish and strengthen existing registers of lobbyists by making them mandatory and requiring timely registration and periodic reporting on activities by all professional lobbyists and organised interest groups. STRENGTHEN: Austria, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, the United Kingdom ESTABLISH: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain Ensure that the registers apply to both direct and indirect lobbying efforts targeting the full range of institutions and individuals performing public decision-making functions. All countries Ensure that the registers capture a minimum set of lobbying-related information including lobbyist details; client identity (if applicable); target institutions and officials; the intent of lobbying activities; summary expenditure incurred; and any political donations and in-kind contributions provided. All countries Ensure that the information complies with open data principles,128 including being available online, free of charge, in an easily accessible machine-readable format. Linking the various data sets, including through a single portal, and allowing for bulk download is highly recommended. All countries
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Transparency International