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Lobbyists, Governments and Public trust: Building a legislative framework for enhancing transparency and accountability in lobbying
August 2008
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Lobbying is a worldwide practice that can provide policy makers with invaluable insight and data for more informed decision making. Concerns that negotiations carried out behind closed doors could override the interests of the whole community push lobbying to the political agenda in many societies. OECD survey findings show that only five member countries have established rules on lobbying, for example by requiring reporting on lobbying contacts. To maintain trust in government and in public decision making, many countries are considering developing or updating regulations to shed more public light on lobbying.
Setting standards and rules for enhancing transparency in lobbying, however, has proved very difficult because it can also be a politically sensitive issue. When lobbying reaches the political agenda, policy makers and legislators rapidly face the challenge of determining whether and how to develop enforceable policies or regulatory framework for enhancing transparency in lobbying that are balanced, fair to all parties, and adequately addresses concerns within their own socio-political and administrative context.
This report reviews experience of OECD countries to shed light through legislation on the „mystery‟ of lobbying. It provides a comparative overview of approaches, models and examples of existing legislations and government regulations. As rules on lobbying have developed incrementally as part of a political learning process, three chapters offer insight on the evolution of lobby legislations in their particular socio-political and administrative contexts. The report also presents building blocks, based on acknowledged good practice, for developing a framework for enhancing transparency and accountability in lobbying.
This report is a contribution by the Public Governance Committee to supporting policy debate when governments consider legislation or government regulation as an option for enhancing transparency and accountability in lobbying at the national level. It can also provide general guidance for efforts to enhance transparency in lobbying at the sub-national level. There is room for future work to examine alternative options to legislation and government regulation.
The report was developed on the basis of an OECD survey and discussed with officials in charge of designing and implementing legislations and regulations on lobbying at the Special Session on Lobbying in June 2007 in Paris. In order to obtain the views of stakeholders, representatives of business, lobby associations, trade unions, professional associations, civil society organisations, academics, international organisations and multi-lateral development banks, as well as governments in non-OECD countries with legislation on lobbying were also involved in the preparation of this report through a consultation process in the period of January-March 2008.
The report was prepared by János Bertók, Innovation and Integrity Division of the Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate under the leadership of Christian Vergez, Head of Division. Special thanks are given to Michael Nelson, Registrar of Lobbyists, Canada and Catherine Macquarie, Vice-President for Public Service Values and Ethics in Canada Public Service Agency for co-chairing the Special Session on Lobbying and their substantive advice. Special thanks are also due to Marie Murphy and Karena Garnier for their assistance in the preparation of the publication.
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