All member states should fully disclose who gets what from the EU budget and all Brussels lobbyists should sign up to a voluntary register and code of conduct, the European Commission proposed in a new discussion paper on Wednesday (3 May).
The "European Transparency Initiative" is part of Brussels' drive to boost public sympathy after the 2005 EU constitution failure and to prevent a US-type Abramoff lobbying scandal.
The budget proposals in the initiative could see a legal amen...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.