The regulatory environment for influencing and funding political players in Germany has been changing rapidly in recent months. On 1 March 2024, the revised Federal Lobbying Register Act (Lobbyregistergesetz; LobbyRG), providing for numerous material amendments, entered into force. Lobbyists must ensure that their current entries have been amended to meet the new disclosure requirements by the end of this month in order that they can lawfully continue contacting members of the Federal Government and the Bundestag. Also in March 2024, a revised version of the Political Parties Act (Parteiengesetz; PartG) specifying tightened transparency rules and subjecting sponsorship activities to disclosure requirements came into effect. Just a few days ago, the so-called executive footprint, requiring the Federal Government to disclose any significant influence on the content of legal regulations, took effect. The EU is also maintaining its efforts to adopt registration and transparency requirements specifically designed to regulate lobbying activities carried out on behalf of third countries. This alert aims to provide a brief overview of the key issues relevant to stakeholders who interact with political players.
ON THIS PAGE
- The clock’s ticking – deadlines for updating entries in the lobbying register imminent
- The executive footprint
- Tightened rules for financing political parties
- Outlook – EU efforts to restrict lobbying on behalf of third countries
The clock’s ticking – deadlines for updating entries in the lobbying register imminent
Under the revised LobbyRG, which has been in force since 1 March 20241, lobbyists face numerous additional disclosure requirements. In particular, they must provide detailed information on the activities performed in the context of lobbying. This includes the obligation to specify all current, planned and envisaged regulatory initiatives, both at federal and EU level, in which context lobbying activities vis-à-vis relevant officials are (to be) performed. To this end, lobbyists must generally also upload all essential comments and expert opinions (grundlegende Stellungnahmen und Gutachten) that they have submitted to a relevant official.
Moreover, the register entry must also include information on individuals engaged in lobbying activities who have held certain offices or functions in the Bundestag or the Federal Government, including the broader federal administration, in the past five years (“revolving door policy”).
Particularly far-reaching disclosure obligations apply to lobbyists who represent interests on behalf of a client. They must not only provide their client’s identity and a specific description of the policy areas, the specific lobbying activities, and all regulatory initiatives to which the lobbying activities relate, but also specify separately for each contract and client all individuals and even sub-contractors performing lobbying activities.
The Administration of the Bundestag has published several guidance documents that help lobbyists to ensure compliance with the new disclosure requirements. This guidance includes an updated version of the manual for lobbyists (Handbuch für Interessenvertreter)2 , a to-do list providing information on how to prepare for the new disclosure requirements3, and a guide to the migration of existing lobbying register entries4. Additional webinar sessions have also been held to explain the new regulatory framework in more detail.
Given that lobbying register entries that have not been amended to meet the new disclosure requirements by 30 June 2024 will automatically be transferred to the list of former lobbyists, meaning that lobbyists will no longer be entitled to contact relevant officials after 30 June 2024, lobbyists should use the remaining weeks to update their entries.
The executive footprint
On 6 March 2024, the Federal Cabinet adopted the so-called “executive footprint” by amending the Joint Rules of Procedure for the Federal Ministries5. Since 1 June 2024, the federal ministries have been required to disclose any significant influence exerted on the content of legal regulations they have drafted. According to the explanatory memorandum, such significant influence shall be deemed to apply in cases where (i) a new provision is to be included in the regulation, (ii) an initially intended provision is to be omitted, or (iii) a not insignificant change to the intended provision is to be adopted. The decision as to whether the influence was significant lies within the discretion of the competent ministry.
In view of the goals pursued by this amendment, it would appear likely that the lobbyists who significantly influenced any draft legislation are to be specified by the competent ministry, although the explanatory memorandum does not contain a clear statement in this regard. Personal data and contact details, however, will not be disclosed.
Lobbyists wishing to influence regulations drafted by the Federal Government should be aware that such influence, if successful, will likely be publicly disclosed. Against this background, it is vital to ensure that all essential comments and expert opinions submitted to the Federal Government are published on time in the lobbying register in order to avoid any discrepancy between the lobbyist’s register entry and a ministry’s statement in the executive footprint.
The Bundestag has not yet adopted equivalent rules.
Tightened rules for financing political parties
The revised PartG, which has been in force since 5 March 2024, contains stricter transparency rules aiming to protect the integrity of political competition and decision-making process. In particular, the topic of sponsorship is explicitly addressed for the first time. Parties must disclose all income from sponsorship in a separate sponsorship report containing details of the sponsor and the type of sponsorship. Further, the threshold for ad hoc disclosure and publication of donations has been significantly lowered – all donations of EUR 35,000 or more are to be published immediately, together with the identity of the donor. By introducing rules on so-called “parallel campaigns”, the law also introduces enforceable obligations for unauthorized third parties directly advertising a political party.
For the first time, the PartG specifically addresses sponsorship, i.e. contributions for the promotion of a party with which the donor in return promotes their own advertising or public relations objectives. Political parties are required to list income from sponsorship in a sponsorship report in a separate section of their statement of accounts if the gross amount received in an individual case exceeds EUR 750, or EUR 6,000 in the case of multiple donations by the same person or legal entity to the same regional organization of a party in a single financial year. The information on income from sponsorship must include the name and address of the donor, a description of the type of sponsorship and other details. The rules on sponsorship will apply as of 1 January 2025.
The threshold for donations that must be reported ad hoc to, and immediately published by, the President of the Bundestag has been lowered from EUR 50,000 to EUR 35,000. Donations reaching or exceeding this threshold will be disclosed to the media and the public shortly after the donation was made.
Stakeholders who intend to carry out advertising measures for the benefit of a political party must notify the party of the planned measure in good time, stating its value, content, and extent, so that the party concerned can decide whether to accept such measure as a donation. At the party’s request, third parties must refrain from any planned advertising measure. In cases where the party does not veto an advertisement, it will be deemed accepted as a donation. If such donation does not comply with the provisions of the PartG (i.e. if it breaches restrictions on donations from foreigners, for instance), the party must immediately cancel the measure. These rules on “parallel campaigns” are accompanied by provisions on administrative sanctions. Non-authorized third parties promoting a party may be subject to strict administrative fines.
Outlook – EU efforts to restrict lobbying on behalf of third countries
The proposal for a directive on transparency of interest representation on behalf of third countries, a key component of the Defence of Democracy package adopted by the EU Commission on 12 December 2023, is still pending.
End of April 2024, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted an opinion on the Defence of Democracy package, including the proposed directive. Whilst the EESC fully supports the transparency objectives of the proposed directive, it disagrees with the proposed means. The EESC therefore called upon the European Commission to draft a new legislative proposal setting out a comprehensive EU-level approach that prevents regulatory fragmentation and eliminates distortions in the internal market, while at the same time avoiding stigmatization and additional costs and risks for interest representation service providers operating in different EU Member States.
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