From Corporate Europe Observatory: please note that the quotes in this otherwise informative article are not necessarily exactly what was said and that we would not describe ourselves as a "anti-lobbying campaign group"

Responsible lobbying study launched

Poulomi Mrinal Saha

Ethical Corporation

14 Feb 05

The United Nations Global Compact and AccountAbility have launched a study into the possibilities for responsible lobbying by companies.

The study aims to establish best practice and thinking on how companies can approach the subject of lobbying in a manner that is “practical and credible”, while simultaneously “being effective”.

Both the Global Compact, the UN arm for promoting responsible corporate behaviour and UK-based institute, AccountAbility have initiated this study to better aid companies make a substantial contribution towards public policy formation.

It will include opinions from businesses, civil society, opinion leaders as well as public officials.

The information will be collected via interviews and workshops and aims to highlight three key areas within the subject of responsible lobbying.

For starters, the study will scan across sectors to identify potential areas for responsible lobbying that suffer from a ‘responsibility deficit’, while commending good practice cases that have yielded beneficial results.

Secondly, it will narrow down on some principles that companies can employ while lobbying policy-makers.

This will “cover helpful linkages to the UNGC’s ten principles”, that span issues like human rights, labour, the environment and corruption.

Lastly, the research will focus on the accountability of lobbying practices adopted by companies, assessing the process from its initial conception through to its final consequence.

These will then be tested against some widely-recognised benchmarking tools for the implementation of appropriate organisational standards like the International Organisation for Standardisation, the Global Reporting Initiative and the AA1000.

The accountability and credibility of lobbying measures implemented by companies to win favour in political circles have been perennially attacked by corporate ethics activists.

Last year, Amsterdam-based anti-lobbying campaign group, Corporate Europe Observatory, wrote an open letter to EU Commissioner, José Manuel Barroso, asking him to “curb the excessive influence of corporate lobby groups over EU policy-making”.

“Lobby groups succeed all too frequently in postponing, weakening or blocking sorely needed progress in EU social, environmental and consumer protections,” read the letter. It was signed by over 50 civil society groups from across the European Union.

The Commissioner’s office responded citing a voluntary code of conduct that lobbyists have to adhere to. “But since it is voluntary, there is enormous temptation to not play by the rules,” remarks Olivier Hoedeman, researcher and campaigner at the CEO.

He says lobbying occupies a fundamental part of the political process in Brussels and should be constantly scrutinised in order to maintain the integrity of the democratic process within the EU.

“Companies really have become political machines … they monitor and influence the political process,” notes Hoedeman.

Corporate Europe Observatory suggests that agencies that act as front groups for companies with a budget over a certain agreed limit, should be obliged to submit regular reports with details of issues that they are lobbying the EU for, who their clients are and what their individual budgets are.

“The European Commission must take action now to prevent Europe from drifting towards the levels of corporate control exercised over politics in the United States,” warned the letter to Mr Barroso.

Companies that are committed to 'sustainable development' and ethical working practices need to be careful that their lobbying does not undo any other good work, says Mr Hoedeman.

Responsible lobbying is a complex issue to define and resolve, he admits.

The Global Compact- AccountAbility report will be available by the end of May this year.