The Association of Public Affairs agencies (APAA) was launched in May 2012. Individual companies participating in the association are convinced of the usefulness of this field and the necessity of high professionalism in these activities. In the Czech Republic there are quite a high number of companies dealing with activities of Public Affairs directly or within other activities.

The key objective of the association is to reach higher transparency and professionalism on the market.

Members

Source: Transparency International Latvia

Key recommendations

Austria: Both lobbying companies and companies that employ lobbyists must have a code of conduct. They have to inform about it on their website and provide it to everyone who asks.

Belgium: No code of conduct for lobbyists

Bulgaria: No code of conduct for lobbyists

Croatia: The members of the Croatian Society of Lobbyists sign the Code of Conduct upon registration. Registration requires an annual fee of 200 Euro.

Cyprus : No code of conduct for lobbyists

1. Member States with Statutory Rules on Lobbying (Mandatory Regulation)

• Austria
• Ireland
• Lithuania
• Poland
• Slovenia
• United Kingdom

2. Member States with Soft Regulation on Lobbying

• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Netherlands

3. Member States with Self-Regulation on Lobbying

There are four Member States with voluntary systems of registration for lobbyists (soft regulation): France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

FRANCE

Specific legislation on lobbying: Strengthening and update of Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly relative to interest representatives, implemented on 1 Jan 2014. The Senate adopted internal rules relative to interest representatives' activities on 7.10.2009

There are 10 Member States without Lobbying Rules: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia.

BELGIUM

Specific legislation on lobbying: No statutory rules

Code of conduct for lobbyists: No

A register for lobbyists: No

There are 8 Member States that have self-regulation mechanisms of lobbying: Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Romania, Spain and Sweden. These were set up by the public affairs communities to promote the transparency of lobbying.

CROATIA

Specific legislation on lobbying: No statutory rules

Code of conduct for lobbyists: The members of the Croatian Society of Lobbyists sign the Code of Conduct upon registration. Registration requires an annual fee of 200 Euro.

There are currently six Member States with statutory rules on lobbying (mandatory regulation): Austria, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom + Catalonia and Scotland.  

Mandatory Regulation

AUSTRIA

In the lobbying field, ethics includes values such as honesty, openness, loyalty, fair-mindedness, respect, integrity, and forthright communication. The current state of ethics in the lobbying practice depends heavily on codes of conduct held by the major professional associations. Membership in these groups is voluntary, meaning that one is not required to belong to such an association in order to practice lobbying. Members agree to abide by a code code of conduct that is written for the entire group.

Codes of conduct are common in many professions and occupations. Codes of conduct provide guidance to individuals on responsible and ethical professional practices. They define rules of behaviour based on core principles and ethical standards for members of the profession or occupation. They increase peer pressure on professionals to comply with certain generally accepted standards. They can also enhance the reputations of individuals by publicizing the principles for which they stand, and provide a means of evaluating the ethics of individuals who practise in the profession.