Mr. János Bertók:

I would like to deal with the questions in the reverse order. It is very important to understand the aim of registration and reporting. On the one hand it can support a level playing field so that everyone can understand what is happening and the different positions of people who are providing input into the debate. On the other hand it also supports public representatives, the decision makers. One surprising result of the opening forum is that public officials do not benefit from this system. They rarely check the background. It is better for the person seeking a meeting to be registered and for the clients to be known or what type of interest they have been representing. One needs to see that this system could be beneficial for public representatives. It would allow them to see the background of individuals, the professionals, the various clients being represented, the issues concerned and who they lobbied. For that reason and the sake of transparency it is important to provide information not only about the name of the firm or the professional lobbyist but also the background; who is the client and what interests they are representing or promoting or the interests they represented in the past. That is the response to the last question.

Checking the register is a very valuable source of information for public officials. To respond to the second question, similarly, in the background document the Deputy asked quite a lot of questions about public officials and how they are considered as a lobbyist. As a main trend, those who are public officeholders who are officially representing the public interest are considered to be lobbyists in very few countries. However, if they have dual mandates, for example, if a locally-elected official or member of parliament who at the same time also represents a commercial company is promoting the interests of the commercial company, he or she is considered a lobbyist. They are wearing two hats. If they are acting as an MP, a representative of the people, to promote in the executive branch or other parts of the public sector they are not considered as a lobbyist. However, the general rule is that if they are changing the hat they are a part of the lobby business.