Debates about the transparency of relations between parliamentarians and lobbyists are revived.
Two years after the publication of the decree on lobbyists, public affairs professionals are once again discussing their regulation at a symposium in the National Assembly.
Fabrice Alexandre, Senior Partner at Communication & Institutions, was interviewed by Contexte.
Extracts :
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First assessment of regulation
Since April the 1st, for the second year in a row. annual activity reports are progressively published on the website of the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP). First assessments are already made by public affairs professionals.
Vice-President Sylvain Waserman, who is responsible for interest representatives in the National Assembly, took the initiative to “make [his] own contribution to the debate on lobbying“. He organized and animated a symposium entitled “48 hours on the dot – different points of view on lobbying ” on May 15 and 16. Content of the reports on different round tables will be included in a report which will be released in the fall. (…)
Redefining lobbies
(…) The definition of a lobby, therefore, is not precise from a stakeholders’ perspective. For the HATVP, represented by its Communication Director, Élodie Cuercq, “we must simplify this definition, which had to be developed over forty-five pages in our guidelines to answer questions”. The main option is to remove the criterion of the main or regular activity, too complex, to manage to make a declaration already from the first action.
Fabrice Alexandre, president of the Association of Lobbying Consultants (AFCL) wants lawyers and business bankers to also take this definition into account in order to examine their own situation and register themselves, when appropriate. Today, almost all of them are absent. (…)
The open agenda, a rising topic
This consultation also placed great emphasis on the publication of public officials’ agendas, a theme that has regularly come back since the beginning of this term. Several deputies, including Matthieu Orphelin and Sylvain Waserman regularly publish the list of their meetings with stakeholders already.
“We are entirely in favor of the publication of the agendas, if the parliamentarians do so with accuracy,” agrees Fabrice Alexandre, though he underlines the risk of creating access difficulties for actors who do not have as good reputation as others, but who are nonetheless legitimate. (…)