Since the European Commission's voluntary register for lobbyists was opened on 23 June 2008, to date, 174 organisations have registered with the Commission, providing a certain amount of financial disclosure.

On the day the UK Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, published her report into the Equitable Life affair, MEPs have repeated their call on the UK government to respond to the findings of the European Parliament’s inquiry, adopted in June 2007.

“The European Parliament has already adopted a series of major reforms to its system of allowances for Members.  These amount to a substantial increase in transparency and will largely address the spirit of the Ombudsman’s remarks,” said Diana Wallis, EP Vice President responsible for transparency.