Lobbying in Romania and the EU

The professional lobbying is at the beginning in Romania, but, like everywhere else, the biggest volume of influencing activity is made by professional organizations, business associations, NGO’s, by the civil society, syndicates, employers unions, corporations, think tanks, lawyers, and others.

Therefore, the activity of representing and influencing occurs since 1990, when the democratic regime started, this right thus being granted by Constitution and later by the Law 52/2003 regarding decisional transparency.

In countries that have a tradition in this matter, the lobby is an important part of public authorities’ decisions. At Brussels, the consulting process with business operators and with the civil society is an important one, and the European Commission appreciates that “the representation of interest groups is a legit part of the democratic system”.

The decisional transparency and public debates that occur in regulatory projects in Romania aren’t always at the level wanted by the interest groups; Romania has a long way to go in the direction of opening and professionalizing the dialogue between authorities and interest groups.

At the European Commission level, the consultations in order to take important decisions on European politics can take months; these consultations are finalized through synthesis documents that consider the economical and social impact transmitted by those consulted. There is no doubt that the Romanian society needs more transparency from all the actors participating at the process of influencing and decision making that affects the society.