LOBBYING REGULATION.

This page is under construction on the occasion of the adoption of the Lobby Register Act (LobbyRG) by the German Bundestag on 25 March 2021.

Below you can find information on the basis of a consolidated text version, as the official English version of the law is not yet available.

Act on the Introduction of a Lobby Register for the Representation of Interests vis-à-vis the German Bundestag and vis-à-vis the Federal Government (Lobby Register Act LobbyRG)

§ 1 Scope of application

(1) This Act applies to the representation of interests vis-à-vis the organs, members, parliamentary groups or groups of the German Bundestag and to the representation of interests vis-à-vis the Federal Government.

(2) The provisions for the Federal Government shall also apply to the Parliamentary State Secretaries, the State Secretaries, the Heads of Department and the Heads of Sub-Departments.

(3) Representation of interests is any contact for the purpose of directly or indirectly influencing the decision-making process of the organs, members, parliamentary groups or groups of the German Bundestag or for the purpose of directly or indirectly influencing the decision-making process of the Federal Government.

(4) Interest representatives are all natural or legal persons, partnerships or other organisations, also in the form of networks, platforms or other forms of collective activities, which themselves carry out or commission interest representation in accordance with paragraph 3.

§ Section 2 Obligation to register

(1) Interest representatives pursuant to section 1 subsection (4) must enter the information pursuant to section 3 subsection (1) in a public register (lobby register) pursuant to sentence 2 if

1. the representation of interests is carried out on a regular basis,

2. the representation of interests is of a permanent nature,

3. the representation of interests is carried out on a business basis for third parties, or

4. more than 50 different interest representation contacts have been made within the last three months.

The registration shall be made without delay as soon as one of the conditions mentioned in sentence 1 is fulfilled.

(2) Representatives of interests in accordance with subsection 1 do not have to register when representing interests vis-à-vis the organs, members, parliamentary groups or groups of the German Bundestag if they are

1. are natural persons who formulate exclusively personal interests with their submission, irrespective of whether these are at the same time business or other interests

2. assert concerns of an exclusively local character, insofar as no more than two constituencies are directly affected,

3. submit a petition in accordance with Article 17 of the Basic Law,

4. participate in public hearings of the committees, public congresses or other public events of the organs, members, parliamentary groups or groups of the German Bundestag,

5. comply with direct and individual requests from the organs, members, parliamentary groups or groups of the German Bundestag for factual information, data or expertise,

6. hold a public office or mandate,

7. act as an employers' or employees' association (Article 9(3) of the Basic Law),

8. provide legal advice to a third party or to themselves, including the provision of scientific opinions or the presentation and discussion of legal issues addressed to the general public, as well as activities which are not directed at the enactment, amendment or omission of a legal regulation by the German Bundestag or the Federal Government,

9. operate as political parties under the Political Parties Act,

10. act as institutions for socio-political and democratic education (political foundations), provided that the respective budgetary legislator grants global subsidies for the fulfilment of their statutory tasks,

11. act as intermediary organisations for foreign cultural and educational policy, provided they are institutionally supported with funds from the federal budget,

12. act as a church, other religious community or ideological community,

13. engage in a press activity protected under the second sentence of Article 5(1) of the Basic Law

14. are active as a municipal umbrella organisation at federal or Land level

15. are active as a national minority recognised in Germany, as a Low German speaking group, as a German minority in Denmark or as an organisation or institution of the aforementioned groups, or

16. have no permanent representation in Germany and work for human rights, democracy, the rule of law, humanitarian concerns or issues of sustainability and their activities are primarily directed towards other countries or world regions.

(3) Interest representatives do not have to register with the Federal Government when representing their interests if they

1. assert a claim to legally regulated access to information,

2. submit a citizen's request

3. participate in visiting programmes, lectures, conferences and other public events of the Federal Government,

4. work for expert councils and other expert bodies established by the Federal Government,

5. carry out diplomatic or consular activities,

6. comply with direct and individual requests of the Federal Government for factual information, data or expertise, or

7. engage in one of the activities specified in section 2, paragraph 2, numbers 1 or 6 to 15.

(4) Nor shall anyone acting on behalf of the interest representatives referred to in subsection 2, nos. 7, 11, 12, 14 or 15 be subject to the obligation to register.

(5) Interest representatives who are exempt from the obligation to register may register voluntarily. In the case of voluntary registration pursuant to sentence 1, the interest representatives must enter the information pursuant to section 3(1) in the lobby register.

§ 3 Contents of the register

(1) Interest representatives shall provide the following information in the lobby register:

1. if they are natural persons

a) Family name, maiden name, first names, academic degree (optional),

b) date and place of birth

c) address,

d) electronic contact details,

2. if they are legal persons, partnerships or other organisations

a) Company name, name or designation of the organisation, its website, e-mail address and address,

(b) the legal form or nature of the organisation

c) surname, first names, academic degree (optional) and electronic contact details of all legal representatives or other persons authorised to represent the organisation,

(d) surname, maiden name, first names, academic degree (optional) of employees directly exercising the representation of interests, unless covered under point (c),

e) number of members and memberships,

3. interests and project area as well as description of the activity,

4. information on the identity of principals for whom interest representation is carried out, if the interest representation concerns third-party interests; paragraph 1(1) and paragraph 1(2)(a) to (c) shall apply mutatis mutandis,

5. the number of employees in increments of ten employees in the field of interest representation,

6. information on the annual financial expenditure in the area of interest representation in increments of 10,000 euros each,

7. information on individual donations and grants from the public sector as well as on individual gifts from third parties in increments of 10,000 euros each, provided that an amount of 20,000 euros or the total value of 20,000 euros in relation to one donor is exceeded in one calendar year, namely

a) Name, company or designation of the donor,

b) the place of residence or registered office of the donor,

(c) a brief description of the benefit.

8. annual financial statements or statements of accounts of legal persons, if there are no disclosure obligations under commercial law,

(2) The information pursuant to paragraph 1 numbers 6 to 8 may be refused. The refusal shall be noted in the lobby register. In addition, the interest representatives refusing to provide information shall be identified in a separate public list in the lobby register.

(3) The interest representatives shall update the information pursuant to paragraph 1 at least once a year. Changes to information pursuant to paragraph 1 number 1 letters a, c and d and number 2 letters a to d shall be entered at the latest by the end of the quarter following the occurrence of the change. Changes pursuant to paragraph 1 number 4 shall be entered without delay. Insofar as the information according to paragraph 1 number 6 to 8 is not refused, it shall be updated at the latest six months after the end of the business year for the past business year. This shall also apply to the information pursuant to paragraph 1 number 2 letter e.

(4) A list of former interest representatives shall be kept in the lobby register in the most recently updated scope of data and published accordingly. Interest representatives who notify the German Bundestag that they no longer engage in interest representation shall be entered in this list. Removal from the list shall take place after 18 months have elapsed, and the data shall be stored for a further 18 months by the body keeping the register.

§ 4 Establishment and maintenance of the register

(1) The Lobby Register shall be established and maintained electronically at the German Bundestag. The German Bundestag and the Federal Government shall conclude an administrative agreement on the details of the maintenance of the Lobby Register.

(2) The lobbyists shall make their entries electronically at the German Bundestag using the access provided on the Internet. The entries shall be published in machine-readable form and with a search function, with the exception of the information pursuant to section 3(1)(1)(b) to (d) and (7)(b) and the name at birth and other first names if the person is a natural person.

(3) The date of entry in the lobby register and the date of the last update shall be shown automatically.

(4) If the information pursuant to Article 3(1) is not updated for more than one year, the interest representatives concerned shall be requested by electronic notification to update the entry. If they do not update it within three weeks, the entry shall be marked as "not updated". If the interest representatives do not update the information within six months after the notification pursuant to sentence 1, the interest representatives concerned shall be notified electronically that the entry will be transferred from the active lobby register to the list pursuant to section 3(4) in one month's time.

(5) Beyond the limitation of subsection 2, sentence 2, the body keeping the register shall, upon request, restrict the publication of the registered information (section 3 subsection 1) in whole or in part if the interest representative demonstrates to it that, taking into account all circumstances of the individual case, the publication is opposed by overriding interests of the interest representative or of the persons to be registered pursuant to section 3 subsection 1, number 2 or 4 which are worthy of protection. Interests worthy of protection shall be deemed to exist if facts justify the assumption that publication would expose persons named in sentence 1 to the risk of becoming victims of a felony or misdemeanour under sections 124, 223, 224, 240 or 241 of the Criminal Code.

(6) In maintaining the register, appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken to ensure that the confidentiality of non-public information is maintained. This shall not affect the use of the data insofar as this is necessary for the proper keeping of the register and for procedures according to § 7. Upon individual request by members of the German Bundestag and federal ministries, information may be provided as to whether an entry has been made. Apart from that, there are no claims for access to information on the basis of other legal provisions with regard to the non-public contents of the register and other related information.

§ 5 Principles of Integrity in the Representation of Interests

(1) Representation of interests within the meaning of the Act may only take place on the basis of openness, transparency, honesty and integrity.

(2) The German Bundestag and the Federal Government, with the participation of civil society, shall establish a code of conduct which shall contain guidelines for the exercise of interest representation on the basis of the principles referred to in paragraph 1.

(3) Interest representatives shall accept this code of conduct by registering in the lobby register. The indication of further codes of conduct as a basis for interest representation is possible.

(4) Interest representation must be transparent in all contacts with the bodies, members, parliamentary groups or groups of the German Bundestag or the Federal Government. Interest representatives must

1. disclose their identity and their concern as well as, if applicable, the identity and the concern of their principal,

2. provide accurate information about themselves and their mandate in the representation of interests.

(5) Registered interest representatives shall refer to their registration at the first contact with the respective organs, members, parliamentary groups or groups of the German Bundestag or with the respective members of the Federal Government and shall name the codes of conduct on the basis of which interest representation is conducted. In addition, reference shall be made to the refusal of individual disclosures under section 3(1) numbers 6 to 8.

(6) Agreements by which remuneration or its amount is made dependent on the success of the representation of interests (contingency fee) are inadmissible.

7. Interest representatives shall ensure that all information provided at the time of registration and thereafter in the course of activities falling within the scope of the register is accurate, complete, up-to-date and not misleading and that any necessary supplementary information and updates requested by the entity keeping the register are provided without delay.

8. If, after carrying out an appropriate verification procedure, the entity keeping the register finds that an interest representative has committed a not insignificant breach of the code of conduct referred to in paragraph 2, that finding shall be published in the register. A deletion of this notice in the register shall take place after the expiry of 24 months after the publication of the violation.

(9) Registered interest representatives may publicly use the designation "registered interest representative" if the registration of the information according to § 3 paragraph 1 has been made, no information has been refused, the registration does not contain a marking "not updated" and no reference to a violation according to § 5 paragraph 8 has been published in the Register.

§ Section 6 Access to the buildings of the German Bundestag and participation in public hearings

(1) The German Bundestag may reserve the right to grant access rights to interest representatives only if a corresponding entry of the information pursuant to section 3 subsection (1) is made and the entry does not contain a marking "not updated" and no notice of a violation pursuant to section 5 subsection (8). There is no entitlement to the granting of access authorisations. Access shall be regulated by the President of the German Bundestag.

(2) Participation in public hearings of the committees of the German Bundestag as a person providing information shall only take place in the case of registered interest representatives if information pursuant to section 3 subsection (1) numbers 6 to 8 has not been refused and the registration does not contain a marking "not updated" and no finding of a violation pursuant to section 5 subsection (8).

(3) Participation under section 47 of the Joint Rules of Procedure of the Federal Ministries shall not be carried out in the case of registered interest representatives if the information under section 3(1) numbers 6 to 8 has been refused, the registration does not contain the marking "not updated" or a finding of an infringement under section 5(8).

§ 7 Provisions on fines

(1) It shall be an administrative offence for any person to

1. in contravention of section 2 subsection (1), first sentence, fails to enter information, or fails to enter it correctly, completely or in good time,

2. contrary to section 2 subsection (5) sentence 2, fails to enter information correctly or completely, or

3. contrary to § 3 paragraph 3 sentence 1, also in conjunction with sentences 2 to 5, fails to update information correctly, completely or in time.

(2) Any person who negligently commits an act referred to in paragraph 1 shall be deemed to have committed an administrative offence.

(3) The administrative offence may be punished by a fine of up to fifty thousand euros in the cases referred to in paragraph 1 and by a fine of up to twenty thousand euros in the cases referred to in paragraph 2.

(4) The administrative authority within the meaning of section 36(1)(1) of the Administrative Offences Act shall be the Director at the German Bundestag.

§ Section 8 Transitional provision

Entries under section 2(1) made within two months of the Act coming into force shall be deemed to have been made without delay within the meaning of the second sentence of section 2(1).

§ Section 9 Report and evaluation

(1) The German Bundestag and the Federal Government shall publish a report on the application of the Lobby Register every two years, for the first time by 31 March 2024 for the previous two calendar years.

(2) The German Bundestag and the Federal Government shall review the effects of this Act for the first time five years after the Act enters into force and shall publish the results of the review.

§ 10 Entry into force

The Act shall enter into force on 1 January 2022.