In the months before and during the presidency of the EU Council, approximately 50 meetings were held at the Croatian representation in Brussels, or – during the coronavirus crisis, phone calls – with lobbyists representing the interests of various companies, sectors, and associations. The most meetings were requested by advocates for the interests of tech giants, such as Microsoft, Huawei, and Facebook, for which even CEO Mark Zuckerberg lobbied, reports Večernji list.
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They have increased their lobbying budget by more than 500 percent in the last five years. Another large pool of lobbyists comes from the energy industry – such as the Nord Stream 2 project or the oil and gas industry. From Croatia, only representatives of one lobbying firm – Vlahović Group – have lobbied. Details of the discussions can only be speculated upon as they are not disclosed.
Brussels has been a target for lobbyists and pressure groups since the beginning of European integration. In the transparency register, a voluntary database of lobbyists in Brussels, there are as many as 11,645 members who spend 1.8 billion euros annually on lobbying within EU institutions.
Regulation of lobbying at EU institutions is lacking – the commission of former president Jean-Claude Juncker initiated an initiative for the transparency register to become mandatory for all institutions, but Parliament was divided on that idea, while member states, or the EU Council, wanted to dilute the proposal, stating that they are bound by national laws since some countries have, while others, like Croatia, do not have legally regulated lobbying.
Thus, it is up to the member states to individually decide how to treat the transparency of lobbying, which is constant in larger countries, while it flares up in smaller ones when they hold the presidency of the Union, reports Večernji list.
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