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Easter deadline given for lobbying regulations

Parliament, House of Representatives, House Budget, House Plenum, Plenary
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Lobbying regulations need to be passed before the Easter holidays, the House institutions committee said on Wednesday.

Following a meeting with the transparency commissioner and the head of the anti-corruption authority, Charis Poyiadjis, the committee spokesman Disy MP Demetris Demetriou said that they hope to pass the regulations by Easter.

At the meeting, Pyiadjis said that Cypriot society has understood how important it is to institutionalise rules on the specific issue of lobbying.

He stated that the regulations provide for the creation of a registry of lobbyists, however he clarified that the response to being placed on the registry is unknown.

In addition, he noted that the anti-corruption authority is also preparing a code of ethics, which should be followed by those who register.

Eleni Patera, a member of the independent anti-corruption authority, clarified that officials have the obligation to fill in a form, in which they will state any meeting with a lobbyist, the subject of the communication, and the intended purpose, no later than two months after the meeting took place.

This form will be cosigned by the official and the lobbyist.

Accordingly, registered lobbyists should in turn submit a six-monthly report of their meetings. The two forms will be cross-checked by the authority to check and identify any receipts.

She said that the work by the authority will be done with discretion, and that they will examine the information they receive and keep them on record, but not upload them to the web.

The register of lobbyists, however, will be online.

After the meeting, Demetriou said that Cyprus is one of the first countries that will vote on and pass a bill on lobbying, and that it was one of the recommendations made by the council of Europe’s anti-corruption body, Greco.

 

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