The dominance of business and finance in the expert groups of the European Commission has been criticised for years. Only recently, the European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly carried out a thorough review of the composition and working methods of these groups and presented a comprehensive catalogue of measures to finally improve the current system.

The EU Transparency Register has been in place since 2008 and wishes to provide – unfortunately only on a voluntary basis – an overview of all interest groups that are actively lobbying the Commission and the EU Parliament. However, in spite of this initiative for more openness and transparency, many loopholes still persist.

The announcement of the Commission to present a new proposal for a mandatory register before the end of 2015 could have the potential to significantly improve the current system. This request has been raised by trade unions, civil society and the European Parliament for years. The Commission has also announced a review of the register of expert groups for the first quarter of 2016.

What can we expect from the announcements of the Commission? Will there really be substantial improvements that will end secretive lobbying and lead to more transparency? Will a balanced composition of expert groups be possible at last?

Taking part in the discussion:

Sylvie Guillaume, Vice President of the European Parliament and responsible for issues concerning the Transparency Register– to be confirmed

Aidan O'Sullivan, Head of Cabinet of the European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly

Michelle Sutton, Vice Head of Cabinet and responsible for transparency issues in the Cabinet of First Vice--President Frans Timmermans – to be confirmed

Paul De Clerck, Head of the Economic Justice team at Friends of the Earth Europe and Member of the Steering Committee of ALTER-EU

Moderation: Detlef Fechtner, EU correspondent, Börsen-Zeitung

Hosted by AK Europa and European Office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation ÖGB, in cooperation with ALTER-EU