EIRP Proceedings, Vol 6 (2011)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the concept of lobby activities and its regulatory methods in the European Union with a main focus on Belgium. Lobbying is a worldwide practice that can provide policy makers with invaluable insight and data for more informed decision making.  However, lobbying is often perceived negatively, as giving special advantages to vocal vested interests.  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. To maintain trust in government and in public decision making, many EU countries are considering developing or updating regulations to shed more public light on lobbying. Lobby activities represent a democratic mechanism for those actors who are involved and participate in the decision making process. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the reasons why civil society, institutions and companies have a special interest for developing lobby activities. The paper also presents the case of the largest lobbying association in Brussels which emphasize several reasons confirming the necessity and the efficiency of lobby activities. Based on lessons learned from EU lobby practices, the paper highlights the reasons why in Romania the legislative framework concerning lobby activities is absent.