[OKFN-EN] [Sunlight International] Re: [open-government] The world needs better lobbyist registers - but the UK's proposed lobbying bill won't help
Tangui Morlier
tangui at tangui.eu.org
Wed Sep 18 18:34:05 UTC 2013
Hey Jonathan, Greg, Julia and all,
Regards Citoyens would gladly like to sign along OKFN's open letter on
lobbying regulation. We actually advocated for months for very similar
objectives here in France, proposing a global lobbying register
regarding both parliamentary and executive administrations, including
rules for expenses and actions disclosure and possible judiciary
sanctions when infringing these rules (here is the text in french of the
amendment we proposed and that was defended by a few MPs and only
briefly discussed in both parliament chambers:
<http://www.regardscitoyens.org/documents/notes/20130705-RegardsCitoyens-LoiTransparence-S%c3%a9nat-PJLO12-723-PJL12-724-Lobbying.pdf>).
We actually also wrote an open letter signed by many organisations, we
will be glad to have as well the support of OKFN in the future : a
coming bill on civil servants deontology might be the opportunity to
push for these regulations again :)
<http://www.regardscitoyens.org/il-est-temps-de-reglementer-le-lobbying-un-appel-de-la-societe-civile-sur-les-lois-transparence/>
An english version is readable down this pad:
<http://lite.framapad.org/p/ZQKB4Mmst8>
Best regards,
Tangui for Regards Citoyens
Le 05/09/2013 18:42, Jonathan Gray a écrit :
> Fantastic work guys! :-)
>
> This is a great start towards the kind of overview I was thinking could
> be useful. There's definitely scope for more guidance and succinct
> analysis around this - and imagine this is something you'll also be
> thinking about.
>
> Do keep us in the loop and let us know if you need any input!
>
> All the best,
>
> Jonathan
>
>
> On 5 September 2013 18:38, Greg Brown <gbrown at sunlightfoundation.com
> <mailto:gbrown at sunlightfoundation.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> *
> *
>
> As Julia has just mentioned, Sunlight is collecting information on
> how other countries regulate lobbying, determining which systems are
> most effective, and thinking through how we can assist efforts to
> regulate lobbyists around the world. While we have long been a
> leading voice on lobbying transparency in the US, we want to expand
> our reach to the international community.
>
> *
> *
>
> In pursuit of this goal, we’ve started a deep dive looking at
> countries around the world that regulate lobbying. To see some of
> our early findings, see this public spreadsheet
> <https://docs.google.com/a/sunlightfoundation.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Av_Sh9ghfOyHdDBQd1B4aHdFQmJsQUxpMHlKOXBQbFE#gid=0>.
> This spreadsheet will continue to be filled out as our research
> progresses. We also welcome updates from the community.
>
> *
> *
>
> All in all, lobbying regulations exist in shockingly few countries:
> US, Canada, Israel, Australia, Taiwan, a handful of European
> countries, and a few others. And even among these countries, a
> number of the regulatory schemes are entirely toothless, like the
> voluntary systems of France, Germany, and the EU or the weak laws of
> Georgia and Macedonia, which fail to properly define what
> constitutes lobbying activity.
>
> *
> *
>
> Once we have a better understanding of lobbying regulation around
> the world, we will explore developing a set of globally applicable
> guidelines, which will draw from both our domestic advocacy work
> <http://sunlightfoundation.com/policy/one-pagers/ldea/>and our
> international research
> <https://docs.google.com/a/sunlightfoundation.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Av_Sh9ghfOyHdDBQd1B4aHdFQmJsQUxpMHlKOXBQbFE#gid=0>.
> The goal is to empower advocates working towards greater
> transparency in lobbying and to push governments to adopt effective
> new measures to regulate the influence of lobbyists. Please keep an
> eye out for more on this in the coming months.
>
> *
> *
>
> In this effort, we hope to assist those who are working towards a
> more transparent democratic system that is beholden to all citizens,
> not just lobbyists and influence peddlers.
>
> *
> *
>
> Thanks,
>
> Greg
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Julia Keserű
> <jkeseru at sunlightfoundation.com
> <mailto:jkeseru at sunlightfoundation.com>> wrote:
>
> Jonathan, Sunlight has just started a deep dive in country level
> lobbying regulations. I'm on vacation right now but my
> colleagues, Greg and Lisa will fill you in with more details
> very soon.
>
> In the meanwhile though, here's a great resource on lobbying
> laws: http://www.regulatelobbying.com/
>
> Best, Julia
>
> ---------- Továbbított üzenet ----------
> Feladó: "Jonathan Gray" <jonathan.gray at okfn.org
> <mailto:jonathan.gray at okfn.org>>
> Dátum: 2013.09.05. 11 <tel:2013.09.05.%2011>:35
> Tárgy: [open-government] The world needs better lobbyist
> registers - but the UK's proposed lobbying bill won't help
> Címzett: "open-government at lists.okfn.org
> <mailto:open-government at lists.okfn.org>"
> <open-government at lists.okfn.org
> <mailto:open-government at lists.okfn.org>>,
> <okfn-en at lists.okfn.org <mailto:okfn-en at lists.okfn.org>>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I thought some of you might be interested in the following post
> on the Open Knowledge Foundation blog on the importance of
> lobbyist registers and how the UK's currently proposed lobbying
> bill won't result in a decent one without some important changes.
>
> I've been thinking that it might be useful to have a list of
> lobby registers and related legislation from different countries
> around the world - highlighting their strengths and weaknesses
> from a transparency perspective. Does anyone know of anything
> like this? If not, might anyone be interested in contributing to
> such a resource?
>
> As I allude to in the post, we'd like to see every country in
> the world with a decent register of lobbyists, and perhaps this
> kind of comparative roundup could be valuable for people working
> on policy or advocacy in this area.
>
> All the best,
>
> Jonathan
>
>
> THE WORLD NEEDS BETTER LOBBYIST REGISTERS – BUT THE UK’S
> PROPOSED LOBBYING BILL WON’T HELP
>
> September 4, 2013 in Featured
> <http://blog.okfn.org/category/featured/>, Open Data
> <http://blog.okfn.org/category/open-data/>, Open Government Data
> <http://blog.okfn.org/category/open-government-data/>, Policy
> <http://blog.okfn.org/category/policy/>
>
> Lobbyist registers are supposed to enable citizens to find out
> who is lobbying whom for what, and how much they are spending in
> the process.
>
> They are supposed to help to safeguard against big money having
> an unfair influence in politics – ultimately to ensure that
> political decisions are based on argument, evidence and
> democratic deliberation, and not bought with cash from the
> highest bidder.
>
> *We think lobbyist registers are an essential part of government
> transparency, and that every country in the world ought to have
> one.*
>
> Furthermore we think it is essential that lobbyist registers
> are published as open data <http://okfn.org/opendata> so that
> their contents can be easily analysed, queried, and connected
> with other information sources.
>
> As we’re increasingly seeing corporations and special interest
> groups lobbying across borders, we’d like to track how big money
> is shaping discussion and decisions about issues that matter –
> from energy and the environment to tax and trade – in countries
> around the world.
>
> We think that this kind of inquiry is essential for democracies
> to function.
>
> Map showing how much firms spend lobbying the EU
> <http://api.lobbyfacts.eu/map> created at Open Interests Europe
> Hackathon
> <http://okfnlabs.org/events/hackdays/lobbying.html> organised
> by OKFN Labs <http://okfnlabs.org/>
>
> While the UK is a world leader in opening up its public data,
> unfortunately *the proposedLobbying Bill
> <http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/transparencyoflobbyingnonpartycampaigningandtradeunionadministration.html> in
> its current form will not deliver the lobbyist register that the
> UK needs*.
>
> Aside from widespread concerns that it will have a “chilling
> effect on civil society and its freedom of expression”
> <http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/15918/charity_lawyer_warns_new_lobbying_bill_poses_existential_threat_to_charity_campaigning>,
> the bill contains major loopholes and omissions which means that
> it will not deliver real or meaningful transparency around
> lobbying in the UK.
>
> Firstly, *the bill would only apply to a fraction of the UK’s £2
> billion lobbying industry*. It would only require disclosures
> from those /whose main business is lobbying/. Hence it would not
> cover companies who have in-house lobbyists, big lobbying
> consultancies who offer a range of services, and other entities
> which offer lobbying services such as think tanks, law firms or
> management consultancies. And for those whose main business is
> lobbying it only covers those who lobby the highest echelons of
> government – not special advisers or mid-level civil servants.
>
> Secondly, *the bill would require lobbyists to disclose very
> little information about their activities*. Essentially it asks
> lobbyists for a list of their clients and nothing at all about
> which issues they lobby on, which departments they target, or
> how much they are paid.
>
> We at the Open Knowledge Foundation sincerely hope that the
> proposed bill will be revised to address these and other
> limitations.
>
> If the bill goes ahead as it is, then it will be a significant
> missed opportunity for government openness in the UK, and a
> major blow to the government’s aspiration to be – in the words
> of the Prime Minister – “the most open and transparent
> government in the world”.
>
> /If you’d like to read more you can take a look at SpinWatch’s
> analysis
> <http://www.lobbyingtransparency.org/images/spinwatchpcrcevidence.pdf>.
> While MPs voted for a second reading last night
> <http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130903/debtext/130903-0001.htm#13090336000002>,
> there’s still time to ask them to reconsider the bill. If you’re
> based in the UK you can write to your MP either via SpinWatch’s
> form
> <http://www.spinwatch.org/index.php/campaigns/lobbying-register> or
> with your own message atWriteToThem <http://www.writetothem.com/>./
>
>
> --
>
> Jonathan Gray
>
> Director of Policy and Ideas | **@jwyg <https://twitter.com/jwyg>**
>
> TheOpen Knowledge Foundation <http://okfn.org/>
>
> *
>
> Empowering through Open Knowledge
>
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>
> --
> *Greg Brown*
> Policy Fellow | Sunlight Foundation <http://sunlightfoundation.com/>
> (630) 379-3809 <tel:%28630%29%20379-3809> | @GregBrownm
> OpeningParliament.org <http://OpeningParliament.org>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Jonathan Gray
>
> Director of Policy and Ideas | **@jwyg <https://twitter.com/jwyg>**
>
> TheOpen Knowledge Foundation <http://okfn.org/>
>
> *
>
> Empowering through Open Knowledge
>
> okfn.org <http://okfn.org/> | @okfn <http://twitter.com/OKFN> | OKF on
> Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/OKFNetwork> | Blog
> <http://blog.okfn.org/> | Newsletter <http://okfn.org/about/newsletter>
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