Spanish lobbies listed in the European transparency register

Abstract

Lobbyists are political agents of great importance, since they operate with the objective of influencing the decision making of different institutions. In order to improve knowledge about these pressure groups, the present research analyses the composition and functioning of the 745 Spanish lobbies that are, until the date of the study, registered in the Transparency Register of the European Union. Through a content analysis, we tried to show the relevance and influence that these groups have on the European Parliament’s political decision-makers. The results showed that the category formed by the pressure groups of the companies of the commercial, business or professional associations is the most numerous, assuming 50,6% of the studied sample. Regarding the individuals who run these groups, it was noted that they are mostly men, in a proportion that corresponds to twice the number of women who perform this function. On the other hand, it is observed that only 8,18% of Spanish lobbies have their headquarters in Belgium, compared to 91,81% who are not domiciled in the place where the main administrative headquarters of the European Union is located. This indicates that the lobbying activity of Spanish groups is still low.