The House supported the establishment of lobbying rules

During Thursday’s session, the Chamber of Deputies supported the government’s draft law to enshrine lobbying rules. The draft defines lobbying, lobbyists and the lobbied in such a way as to include persons who at the central level influence not only the preparation, discussion or approval of legal regulations, but also, for example, measures taken by administrative authorities.

The main instrument of regulation should be the introduction of a register. “Lobbyists, if they want to conduct lobbying legally, will be required to report this activity to the Ministry of Justice in advance,” the ministry described.

Lobbyists will have to state in the register what interest they are lobbying for. In addition, they will insert publicly accessible declarations about lobbying every six months, which, according to the Ministry of Justice, should enable public scrutiny. The draft also foresees sanctions for failure to meet the legal conditions, the highest of which will be up to one million crowns or three percent of the value of the legal entity’s assets.

The lobbied draft includes, among others, the president, members of the government and their deputies, legislators and their assistants, government proxies and members of the advisory bodies of the cabinet and the chancellor of the Castle and legislative assemblies and their representatives.

The list also includes members of the banking board of the Czech National Bank and the management of the Supreme Audit Office, members of the National Budget Council, the Council of the Czech Telecommunications Authority, the Council of the Energy Regulatory Office, the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting and members of the Office for Supervision of the Management of Political Parties and Political Movements .