On March 21st, 2007, the Administrative Affairs, Audit and Antifraud Commissioner, Siim Kallas, has announced further steps in the European Transparency Initiative (ETI): the European Commission (EC) decided to set up a public register for all interest representatives working to influence decisions taken in EU institutions. While registration will be voluntary, there are clear rules on what information registrants would have to supply (such as funding, interests represented…).

This register will start functioning in spring 2008 (CONNECS will by then be wounded down). It will be based on voluntary registration; after one year of monitoring, the Commission will decide if binding legislation is necessary. The main incentive is the following: if the lobby doesn’t register, its responses to public consultation won’t be considered as representative of the sector, rather as individual responses. Moreover, registration will offer the possibility to be sent all public consultations where the lobby is considered as defending stakeholders’ interests.

Registered organisations will also have to comply with a code of conduct set up by the EC; an open consultation on this theme should be launched before summer 2007.