Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)
European section of United Cities and Local Governments


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Governance and citizenship

Transparency Register - 26.05.2016

CEMR calls upon towns and cities to contribute to the Commission’s consultation
The European Commission has started a public consultation to seek the views of all interested parties on its Transparency Register for organisations engaged in EU policy-making and implementation.

For several years, CEMR has shown its concern about the scope of the Transparency Register.

Governments of towns and cities are democratic bodies, and should not be confused with corporate lobbies: CEMR calls for the exemption of local governments and their associations from the Transparency register.

For this reason, we are inviting all of our members to respond to the Commission’s public consultation on this topic before 1 June. It is crucial for us all to state our position in large numbers and stress, together, that local governments and their associations are not corporate lobbies, and should not appear in the Transparency Register.

CEMR’s position has always been that we fully support the European Commission’s efforts to improve transparency and openness in EU decision-making. However, it is inappropriate and unacceptable for democratically elected local governments and their associations to be treated in the same way as lobbyists representing private sector interests and multinational corporations.

Moreover, the Transparency register in its current state is incoherent, as regional governments and their associations have a choice as to whether or not they appear on the Register, but local governments and their associations do not. The local and regional level should receive equal treatment and they should both be excluded from the Register.

CEMR will continue working towards the exemption of towns and cities and their representative associations from the scope of the Transparency Register.
 
The Transparency Register is aimed at all individuals and organisations engaged in EU policy-making and implementation.

In May 2015, CEMR had already sent an open letter to President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, and Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans in order to express its strong disapproval of the inclusion of local governments and their associations in the EU lobby register.
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