Negotiations between the three institutions began in April 2018 with the aim of setting up a mandatory register that covers all three of them.

Since 2011, the Parliament and the Commission have been jointly operating a public register called the transparency register. Before that the two institutions each ran their own register with Parliament already launching one as early as 1995

Check our infographic on who is lobbying the EU.

“We produce laws for citizens, so of course they have the right to expect transparency from us,” said Parliament Vice-President Sylvie Guillaume, a French member of the S&D group who is in charge of the negotiations on behalf of Parliament together with Polish EPP member Danuta Hübner, the chair of the constitutional affairs committee.

Hübner add that the aim of the negotiations is to come up with revised rules that will make the decision-making process even more transparent, which should help build public trust. “When citizens know more about how Europe functions, they also develop this feeling of ownership, of responsibility for Europe."

Check out our video for more on the negotiations.