Romania's Government and investors try to draft bill on lobby activities

The local Government and investors have started drafting the first bill in the Romanian legislation that regulates lobbying. They are trying to find the right terms, so that the lobby activity doesn’t get mistaken for influence peddling, reports local Profit.ro. The bill’s first draft regulates the Transparency Register, which will record the companies and individuals that try to influence public policies. Local investors consider that the current Register on lobby activities is insufficiently regulated and is not promoted at the central and local administration level. The only country in the European Union where the lobby law actually operates is Austria, according to the document. A group of Romanians MPs tried promoting a sort of lobby law this summer, but they were accused that they actually promoted influence buying. Due to the critics, the vote on that bill was delayed. editor@romania-insider.com