Von der Leyen does not want to close backdoors for Huawei lobbying immediately

Although MEPs have raised serious concerns about ongoing influence campaigns by Chinese tech equipment manufacturer Huawei in Brussels, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) sees no acute need to reform the lobbying regulations for the EU's executive and legislative bodies. In particular, she does not believe that an accelerated review of the transparency register is necessary. According to Euractiv magazine, the head of the Brussels government institution has now informed the EU Parliament's informal anti-corruption forum of this. The latter had previously called on the Commission to take "urgent" action in this matter in March.

The background to this is the ongoing Belgian corruption investigation into Huawei lobbyists and EU parliamentarians and their staff. The public prosecutor's office counts one of the highest-ranking Huawei managers and former lobbyists in Europe among the suspects. Prosecutors accuse him of "active bribery of a public official", forming a criminal organization and money laundering. On the parliamentary side, for example, an ex-advisor to Forza Italia MP Fulvio Martusciello is said to have arranged payments by invoice in return for alleged consultancy services and election campaign costs in connection with an open letter in favor of Huawei.

According to Euractiv, von der Leyen has now stated that an inspection of the lobby register is planned for this year anyway. This would provide a good opportunity to assess whether the instrument is fulfilling its objectives. "The Commission is ready to engage in further discussions with the Parliament and the Council as part of this review process," the leading politician wrote in her response to the anti-corruption forum. MEPs previously urged urgency, as the transparency register does not include diplomats and unregistered lobbyists. This opens up back doors.

Lobby register: as full of holes as Swiss cheese

For von der Leyen, however, the lobby register is basically neither "designed nor suitable" for combating criminal acts such as bribery or fraud. She also clarifies that embassy staff from third countries do not fall within the scope of the register. However, all other institutions acting on behalf of foreign governments would have to register.

Following the revelations of the Huawei corruption scandal, the Commission said it had issued internal instructions to suspend all meetings and contacts with Huawei until further notice. However, public representatives continue to fear loopholes. According to reports, Huawei continues to lobby the EU on energy issues despite the growing pressure. Daniel Freund from the Greens, who heads the inter-party anti-corruption group, pointed out that lobbyists associated with Huawei could still enter the premises of EU institutions with visitor passes or through membership of registered umbrella organizations.

Freund described von der Leyen's response to Euractiv as inadequate: there must also be more transparency regarding lobbying from outside the EU. In May, the Parliament tightened its lobbying rules. It now requires all lobbyists to register their visits and activate ID cards. Last year, the European Court of Auditors complained that the transparency register was as full of holes as Swiss cheese. Citizens could use it to obtain basic information about potential lobby influences. However, lobbyists would only have to register for meetings with the highest-ranking employees of the EU institutions and only appointments planned in advance would be taken into account. Spontaneous meetings, telephone calls and emails would be excluded. There is also a risk that institutions financed by third parties could conceal their sources of funding.

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