Mayors are not lobbyists, expresses EU Commission
3 October 2016
Good news for local governments – the Commission has issued a proposal on a mandatory EU lobby register from which local governments and their representative associations are excluded.
Following the proposal by the EU executive, Frédéric Vallier, Secretary general of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) which is hosting PLATFORMA’s secretariat, had the following reaction:
“The 90,000 mayors from the EU are not lobbyists, nor are their representative associations. We are therefore delighted that the European Commission recognises this as a fact by excluding them from the so-called EU lobby register.
The publication of today’s proposal for an Interinstitutional agreement covering this issue underlines CEMR’s long-standing position, and we are very satisfied that Vice President Timmermans followed our recommendations.
Local governments, their national representative associations and their European umbrella organisation (CEMR) represent the interest of citizens and bring democratic accountability to EU decision-making. They can therefore help the EU to design and deliver policies and programmes that reflect the needs and aspirations of our communities. For that reason they should not be treated in the same way as commercial lobbyists and multinational corporations.
Today’s decision brings us a step closer towards our aspirations for genuine governance in partnership in the EU. We urge the European Parliament and the Council to endorse the European Commission’s approach in their negotiations during the coming months.”
