Ethics alliance calls for mandatory register for EU lobbyists

An anti-lobbying group has called on the European Commission to create a mandatory register for lobby groups following the departure of health commissioner John Dalli over a lobbying scandal.

The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (Alter-EU), a group of trade unions, academics and public affairs firms, says the Commission should replace its voluntary transparency register with a non-optional system in 2013. In a letter to the Commission, Alter-EU, which includes trade unions and civil society groups, states that members of the Commission should refuse to meet with unregistered lobbyists until such a mandatory system is in place.