TRANSPARENCY : LOBBYIST REGISTER PROGRESSES SLOWLY.

• Position: Brief article

After a somewhat difficult start, the voluntary system of registration for lobbyists based in Brussels now has more than 700 organisations registered, with more being added every day. The European Commission announced the latest figure, on 22 December, in an interim assessment of the register(1), launched on 23 June as part of its transparency initiative. The register gives European citizens direct access to information on the existence, diversity and multitude of interests represented.

The Commission intends to assess the project after one year of operation. If there are too few registrations on 23 June 2009, the system could be made binding. There are an estimated 15,000 individual lobbyists and some 2,500 pressure groups active in Brussels.

The Commission notes "regular and constant" additions to the register, around 30 a week. Nearly 400...