Enhancing Transparency in EU Lobbying? How the European Commission’s Lack of Courage and Determination Impedes Substantial Progress HEIKO KRETSCHMER/ HANS-JÖRG SCHMEDES T he intermediation and evaluation of societal interests is a core feature of representative democracies. Within that process, the roles of the different actors involved in decision-making must be defined unambigu­ously. On the one hand, actors in parliament and government must keep an eye on the common good and try to balance different, possibly even conflicting interests. Different definitions of both the common good and the rules for balancing conflicting interests are key features of different political formations and ideologies. On the other hand, interest repre­sentatives – commonly referred to as»lobbyists« – formulate interests and mediate between their principals and decision-makers in parliament and government. As the decision-makers in the political arena have to know whose interests they are confronted with, transparency of both lobbying organizations and lobbyists is a must. In a democratic political system, interest organizations play an es­sential role in mediating between policy-makers and society. It is not only a matter of their expertise; the very existence of open and pluralistic dia­logue can enhance the quality of political decision-making. Even more so, this is the case with regard to the European Union( eu ), whose insti­tutions have historically sought to narrow the»structural remoteness« 1 at which they supposedly stand from Europe’s citizens via organized inter­est groups, conceiving them as a»bridge between state and civil society« 2 and a potential source of political legitimacy. Over the past few decades, the variety of interest representatives in Brussels and the intensity of their activities in relation to eu institutions have increased significantly. According to some estimates, interest repre­sentatives in Brussels numbered about 2,500 organizations with about 1. Greenwood, Justin(2003): Interest Representation in the European Union . Basing­stoke: Palgrave Macmillan: 5. 2. Greenwood, Justin and Clive S. Thomas(1998):»Regulating Lobbying in the Western World,« in: Parliamentary Affairs 51(4): 487. 112 Kretschmer/Schmedes, EU Lobbying ipg 1/2010