On the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council stablishing harmonised requirements in the internal market on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937

Committee on Constitutional Affairs · Rapporteur: Sandro Gozi

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on Constitutional Affairs submits the following to the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, as the committee responsible:

Amendment 1

Proposal for a directive

Recital 11 a (new)

Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	(11a) The measures set out in this Directive should be proportionate and limited to what is necessary to ensure transparency of the activities covered by this Directive. They should provide for requirements related to those activities, and not impose requirements on entities merely because they receive funding from abroad. In particular, this Directive sets out obligations to ensure that the data made publicly available is presented in a factual and neutral way and to ensure that competent national authorities act in a non-discriminatory manner when carrying out the tasks assigned to them under this Directive, and act in such a way that no adverse consequences, such as stigmatisation, arise from the fact that an entity has registered in accordance with the rules provided for by this Directive. The measures set out in this Directive should fully comply with fundamental rights and respect the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’), including the freedom of expression and information, the freedom of assembly and association, the freedom of scientific research, including academic freedom, the right to the protection of personal data, the right to an effective remedy, and the freedom to conduct a business. By achieving a common level of transparency in relation to interest representation carried out on behalf of a third country, the measures set out in this Directive would strengthen the democratic rights of citizens enshrined in the Charter.

Amendment 2

Proposal for a directive

Recital 14 a (new)

Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	(14a) This Directive shall lay down harmonised requirements for interest representation in a clear and concise manner, in line with the requirements of legal certainty and legitimate expectations of the individuals and entities concerned. Supervisory authorities should ensure that national registries do not impose unforeseeable administrative burdens on the entities seeking to register.

Amendment 3

Recital 35

Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
(35) Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council6, information on the registration obligations and formalities established by this Directive is available via the Single Digital Gateway which, through the Your Europe web portal, sets up a one-stop shop that provides businesses and citizens with information about rules and procedures in the Single Market, at all levels of government and direct, centralised, and guided access to assistance and problem-solving services as well as to a wide range of fully digitised administrative procedures. In addition, the procedure for registration is fully online and organised in accordance with the ‘once only’ principle to facilitate the reuse of data.	(35) The use of digital tools developed within the internal market by the Commission and the Member States enhances transparency and trust in the cross-border provision of services and limits administrative burdens, by allowing coordination, cooperation and communication between the relevant national and Union authorities. Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council6, information on the registration obligations and formalities established by this Directive should be available via the Single Digital Gateway which, through the Your Europe web portal, sets up a one-stop shop that provides businesses and citizens with information about rules and procedures in the Single Market, at all levels of government and direct, centralised, and guided access to assistance and problem-solving services as well as to a wide range of fully digitised administrative procedures. In addition, the procedure for registration should be fully online and organised in accordance with the ‘once only’ principle to facilitate the reuse of data.
_______________	_______________
6 Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 October 2018 establishing a single digital gateway to provide access to information, to procedures and to assistance and problem-solving services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1724/oj)	6 Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 October 2018 establishing a single digital gateway to provide access to information, to procedures and to assistance and problem-solving services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1724/oj)

Amendment 4

Proposal for a directive

Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1

Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
(1) ‘interest representation activity’ means an activity conducted with the objective of influencing the development, formulation or implementation of policy or legislation, or public decision-making processes, in the Union, which could in particular be performed through organising or participating in meetings, conferences or events, contributing to or participating in consultations or parliamentary hearings, organising communication or advertising campaigns, organising networks and grassroots initiatives, preparation of policy and position papers, legislative amendments, opinion polls, surveys or open letters, or activities in the context of research and education, where they are specifically carried out with that objective;	(1) ‘interest representation activity’ means an activity consisting of providing information, knowledge or expertise conducted with the objective of influencing the development, formulation or implementation of policy or legislation, or public decision-making processes, in the Union, through:
	- organising or participating in meetings, conferences or events;
	- contributing to or participating in consultations or parliamentary hearings;
	- organising communication or advertising campaigns;
	- preparation of policy and position papers, legislative amendments, opinion polls, surveys or open letters;

Amendment 5

Proposal for a directive

Article 9 a (new)

Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	Article 9a
	Central public access portal
	1. The Commission shall establish a central public access portal as a decentralised system for the interconnection of national registers referred to in Article 9.
	2. The system referred to in paragraph 1 shall include a web portal that serves as a central public electronic access point to the information in the system. The web portal shall offer a search service in all official languages of the Union in order to facilitate the making available to the public of the information referred to in Article 12(1).
	3. For the processing of personal data, the Commission shall act as controller within the meaning of Article 4, point (7) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
	4. By [one year from the date of entry into force of this Directive], the Commission shall adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 23 to supplement this Directive by setting out:
	(a) the technical specifications determining the means and methods of communication for the system ensuring the interconnection and interoperability of the national registers;
	(b) the technical measures on which the minimum information technology security standards applicable to the communication and distribution of information within the system ensuring the interconnection of the national registers are based;
	(c) minimum criteria for the search service and for the presentation of the results of such searches which are to be provided by the European portal in accordance with Article 12(1); and
	(d) the means of and the technical conditions for making available the services provided by the system ensuring the interconnection of the national registers.
	5. The system referred to in paragraph 1 shall be connected to the to the Single Digital Gateway as established under Regulation EU (2018/17240).

Amendment 6

Proposal for a directive

Article 10 – paragraph 8 a (new)

Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	8a. Member States may maintain in their legal systems existing measures whereby pursuant to which the entities referred to in Article 3(1) are required to submit for the purpose of registration information in addition to the information referred to in Annex I, point 1, where those measures are necessary and justified by public interest objectives and are proportionate in that they are suitable for securing the attainment of the objectives pursued and do not go beyond what is necessary to attain those objectives.

Amendment 7

Proposal for a directive

Article 12 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part

Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Member States shall make the following information contained in the national register related to a registered entity publicly available:	Member States and where applicable, the Union authorities responsible for the implementation of the Union-wide register shall make the following information contained in the national register related to a registered entity publicly available:

ANNEX: DECLARATION OF INPUT

The rapporteur for opinion declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not include in his opinion input from interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies, to be listed in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.