Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-08-Speech-4-032"
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"en.20080508.3.4-032"2
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"Mr President, the longer our esteemed colleague Mrs Lulling spoke for, the more points she offered for attack. The committee would like to have a common system in place in Brussels, because citizens do not make a distinction between Parliament, the Commission and the Council. To them, it is just Brussels; it is the EU! I think that a common system would be good, and, Mr Kallas, we appeal to you to allow the working group to convene swiftly after today's debate and to draw up common rules which would still leave the individual institution the requisite autonomy to make its own decisions.
I would also like the Council to be involved. The Council is a legislative body, just as we are, and of course lobbying plays a part in its ranks too. For that reason, the call to participate in this initiative goes out to the Council as well.
Overall, we want a new system of transparency – a new culture of transparency – in Brussels, so that we can thus demonstrate openness and build confidence. Lobbying is good, and representation of interests must of course take place, but the rules must be clear. It must be a fair and honest process. We must ensure, above all, that it is not about selling opinions.
With today's decision, we are taking a major step forward; that is beyond question. However, there is still a great deal of work to be done, because the devil is in the detail, for example on questions such as: who is a lobbyist? The definition which we have provided in the report is very broad. In essence, we are saying that a lobbyist is anyone who wants to influence us. Nonetheless, there are exceptions. The municipalities, the regions, the social partners, the political parties: all of these are institutions which are enshrined in the Treaties. They are involved in lobbying as well, but they are not defined as lobbyists in our system. We will have to define the boundaries for lawyers and the churches as well. These are questions which have yet to be resolved.
In my view, financial disclosure is important, Mrs Lulling. This is the new step forward which has been lacking until now. Money is not everything, but money is used to achieve a great deal. It is time to start work, and I would like to thank Mr Stubb and Mr Friedrich and, indeed, everyone else who has made a contribution to this process so far."@en1
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