Recommended: "MEP-turned-lobbyist shuns voluntary register"

Brussels Sunshine, a very good lobby watch blog, has published an article on MEPs who changed from the European Parliament into lobby and consultancy firms and whose names do not figure in the lobby register:

"A few weeks ago, in our ‘Inside the Brussels Bubble’ blog, we wondered how many of the MEPs not standing for re-election would go through the revolving door into new jobs as industry lobbyists.

Some high-profile MEPs went through the revolving doors to join Brussels lobby consultancy firms after the 2004 elections [...]. None of these ex-MEPs feature in the Commission's lobby transparency register, because the Commission – astonishingly – does not ask for lobbyists’ names to be disclosed. One can only hope that the Commission remedies this blunder when the register is reviewed next month. [...]"

That is indeed a very interesting topic, one that I think I will keep an eye on after the elections, too.