EU moves towards mandatory lobbyists register

Commission and parliament have formed a joint working group on Tuesday (16 December) aimed at drawing up a proposal for a common register for the over 15,000 EU lobbyists by mid-2009, amidst criticism from NGOs regarding the influence of big business on the EU executive when drafting legislation.

A "de facto mandatory" register for EU lobbyists, merging the existing mandatory list from the European Parliament with the voluntary financial interests register set up by the EU commission mi...