photo: pirati.cz
Lobbying must be transparent so that a consistent distinction can be made between lobbying and clientelism. Therefore, it is important to introduce rules for lobbying, which Pirates have long advocated and which are standard in Western democracies. This and much more was said at a seminar organised on Tuesday by Jakub Michálek, chairman of the Pirates' parliamentary club, in cooperation with the non-profit organisation Reconstruction of the State.
The new draft law on lobbying defines who is a lobbyist and who is being lobbied, what obligations the new law brings for them, and what a lobbying trail should look like and contain. "When I talk to people, they are usually shocked that we still don't have a law that sets rules for political lobbyists. For 20 years, we have not been able to pass rules for lobbying here. The last government gave up on it even though it had a draft ready. I am trying to get these innovations off the ground; this is the eighth law against theft of public money. Lobbying often hides behind shenanigans and people who want to steal public money. However, lobbying, if it is transparent, based on facts and accessible to all stakeholders, can contribute to better decisions. But this really must not be the style of Rittig, Dalík, Janoušek, Pitr, Rédl and their minions. On the contrary, clear rules for lobbying will help to put the various scoundrels on the back burner and prevent them from making their mark on the government or the Chamber of Deputies." says Jakub Michálek, chair of the Pirate Club, who has long sought transparency in lobbying. "Thank you also for all the suggestions from the workshop, we will discuss them at the coalition and finalize the bill in the fall," He added.
Michal Šalomoun, Minister for Legislation and Chairman of the Legislative Council of the Government, also spoke at the event, and from his position, he thoroughly discussed the legislation on the regulation of lobbying: "Lobbying need not be a pejorative word and can be part of the standard legislative process. That is why it is good to set transparent rules for it, which the new draft law on lobbying brings. I believe it will be passed soon. After all, the drawing of money from the National Recovery Plan is linked to it," Minister Šalomoun added to his Pirate colleague.
Other guests included Jiří Kapras, Director of the Conflict of Interest and Anti-Corruption Department at the Ministry of Justice, Václav Nekvapil, Chairman of the Public Affairs Association, Petra Vrábliková from the Czech Bar Association and Lukáš Kraus from the non-profit organization Reconstruction of the State.
In order for the Czech Republic to be able to draw money from the European Union, it is necessary to ensure that the money and the laws according to which the money is distributed are negotiated transparently. And that the interests to be represented are actually represented. Experts from the Ministry of Justice, the Public Affairs Association, the Czech Bar Association and NGOs spoke about the basic rules for transparent lobbying under the draft law, or how they perceive the individual rules from their specific perspectives.
"Reconstruction of the State welcomes the setting of rules for transparent lobbying, but at the same time recommends correcting three basic points on which it has agreed with other NGOs. First, to include lobbyists under the definition of the law to include lobbyists of state-controlled companies, who currently have an exemption from the law on lobbying regulation. Second, to exclude members of government advisory bodies from the definition of a lobbyist, and third, to remove the obligation to include the date of individual phone calls in the lobbyist's statement." said Lukáš Kraus, head of the Reconstruction of the State analytical team. "In general, it should be stressed that making decision-making processes transparent at the national level must involve all relevant groups of people and must not create room for circumventing lobbying rules. Similarly, the new regulation should not create excessive and unnecessary administrative burdens for lobbyists and lobbying entities," Kraus concluded.
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