Lobbyists, governments and public trust. Volume 3, Implementing the OECD principles for transparency and integrity in lobbying.

This report takes stock of progress made in implementing the 2010 Recommendation on Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying - the only international instrument addressing major risks in the public decision-making process related to lobbying. The review process found that although there is an emerging consensus on the need for transparency to shed light on lobbying, new regulations are often scandal-driven instead of forward looking. In countries that have regulations in place, the degree of transparency in lobbying varies considerably across OECD members. Moving forward, it will be essential for countries to focus efforts on the implementation of the Recommendation, in order to strengthen confidence in the public decision-making process and restore trust in government. It will also be crucial to strengthen the implementation of the wider integrity framework, as it is the prime tool for safeguarding transparency and integrity in the decision-making process in general and lobbying practices in particular. Read more... Lobbying can improve policy making by providing valuable insights and data, but it can also result in unfair advantages for vested interests if the process is opaque and standards are lax. Lobbying is resource intensive. The financial services sector in the United States spent USD 3.4 billion lobbying the federal government between 1998 and 2008, principally promoting the deregulation of the financial sector. Legions of lobbyists provide "guns for hire" worldwide. In 2008, there were over 5,000 registered lobbyists in Canada at the national level, while the European Commission in Brussels had over 2,000 registered as of August 2009. This report reviews the experiences of Australia, Canada, Hungary, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States with government regulations designed to increase scrutiny for lobbying and lobbyists. Current approaches, models, trends and state-of-the-art solutions are examined to support a deeper understanding of the potential and limitations of existing norms. The report also presents building blocks for developing a framework for lobbying that meets public expectations for transparency, accountability and integrity.--Publisher's description Foreword and Acknowledgments -- Executive Summary -- Lobbying risks in the decision-making process -- Balancing scope and feasibility of lobbying rules and guidelines -- Transparency in lobbying activities -- Integrity in public decision making -- Compliance and enforcement: Making transparency and integrity in lobbying a reality -- Austria: The transparency act 2013 for lobbying and interest representation -- Brazil: Lobby regulation, transparency and democratic governance -- Canada: How the federal lobbying act has matured -- Chile: Regulation of lobbying -- The EU Transparency Register: Increasing the transparency of interest representation in Brussels -- Hungary: In quest of an appropriate legal framework for lobby regulation -- Ireland: Proposals for registering lobbying activities -- Italy: The regulation of lobbying and the evolution of a cultural taboo -- Mexico: The regulation of lobbying in the legislative branch -- Slovenia: The regulation of lobbying in place and the challenge of implementation -- United Kingdom: Developing lobbying regulation in an open government context -- Survey methodologies. Annotation This report takes stock of progress made in implementing the 2010 Recommendation on Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying - the only international instrument addressing major risks in the public decision-making process related to lobbying