One day before Kallas' announcement, the European Parliament voted for a mandatory register with all information on financial means and names of lobbyists and clients. At various stages in the run up to the Commission's decision and the European Parliament’s vote on the lobby register, TI has called for an enforceable code of conduct with a mechanism for expelling lobbyists who infringe its rules. Another element suggested by TI is the legislative footprint to show which lobbyists were consulted on and contributed to individual sections of legislation.

“This is a long overdue step,” said Jana Mittermaier, Head of TI's Brussels Office, “it will make more transparent the interests and capabilities of the more than 15,000 EU lobbyists and 2,500 lobby organisations that try to influence EU legislation and policy.”

The next step will be to set-up a common register for the three major EU institutions (Commission, Council and Parliament). The aim is to have a "one-stop-shop" register by the beginning of 2009, whereby lobbyists would need to register only once to have access to all three institutions.

The register is a decisive step towards more transparency, particularly the legislative process in the European Commission. Currently, there are more than 3,000 expert groups - EU officials and lobbyists - in the Commission that have influence over EU legislation without any transparency concerning individual names and interests.

TI will now monitor how the register is implemented in practice to ensure that the register is robust enough to contribute to more transparency in the EU's legislative process.