[EU-lobby-data] Decision to be made> Lobbying costs

[Natacha Cingotti]

Hey there, good morning,

Tricky question that keeps on coming back. In FoEE, we have always used 
average figures in that case in the past, exactly for the neutrality 
question you mentioned. I see how interesting for what we're trying to 
do it could be to use the highest figures, but the neutrality issue 
should probably be considered.

What do others think?

Best

Natacha
On 30/11/2012 14:51, ceo.ester wrote:
>
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> I'm back :)
>
> I was working today with Friedrich on the data I need (to write the 
> blog stories), and we realized there's an issue we should take a 
> decision on. When registrants in their declarations of lobbying costs 
> give a range (instead of an absolute number), what should we do? Which 
> figure should we use for statistics and comparisons?
>
> In the report we made in June, we decided to use an average, because 
> we thought it seemed more honest, but actually there are also some 
> arguments to use the maximum figure they provide. In any case, we 
> really don't know which figure is more close to reality, and of 
> course, it changes from case to case, but we need to decide on a 
> criteria to apply to everyone.
>
> To sum up, I would say
>
> Arguments to use an average:
> - It looks as a less biased approach
> - It's more difficult to attack our methodology
>
>
> Arguments to use the max. figure:
> - We have reasons and proof to say lobbying costs are in general 
> underestimated
> - We will probably get more interesting figures, and considering under 
> reporting, probably also closer to reality
> - It's a way of pushing for a more clear reporting
>
> What do you think?
>
>
> Ester
>
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-- 
Natacha Cingotti
Lobby transparency and corporate power
Friends of the Earth Europe
Tel: +32 2 893 10 23
Fax: +32 2 893 10 35
Skype: c_natacha
natacha.cingotti at foeeurope.org

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