The new Law on Transparency of Interest Representation has been in force for almost a year, and now the first version of the Cabinet of Ministers Regulations has been developed to implement the provisions of the law. The greatest concern and anxiety is the excessive administrative burden that may inadvertently arise from these Regulations.
In Latvia, many societies, associations, and other interest groups operate on a voluntary basis to communicate with state institutions on behalf of their members. They do not have many resources and therefore need clear, enforceable, and simple regulation.
Kristaps Zariņš, a member of the “Association of Interest Representatives”, a lecturer at Riga Stradiņš University, explained that the draft regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers provide for the declaration of interest representatives – natural persons, indicating the sector represented. The seminar participants noted that the procedure included in the draft regulations, when choosing the area to be represented, is in a way reminiscent of registering a company, where the sectors of activity must be selected. Although the justification is understandable, the spectrum of possible areas is extremely wide – to choose from almost 150 offered, and in addition, in a way, the information already available in the Enterprise Register is duplicated. The participants were not sure whether it would really be justified to duplicate the information that is already at the disposal of the Enterprise Register. The participants agreed that explanations are needed for many everyday situations in lobbying work – for example, individuals may be involved in different associations, so it should be clear how they will be identified and whether this will not duplicate data from the Enterprise Register, what to do if members of the association’s board are replaced by other members of the association in a specific communication with state institutions. These and other open questions call on state institutions to take the time to inform and educate the target group to which these Regulations will apply, which will prevent possible misunderstandings and prevent chaotic application of the Regulations.
In turn, the head of Meta Advisory, Armands Gūtmanis, who is also a board member of the association “Interešu pārstāju apvīnība”, called for a reverent approach to the development of new regulations in order to implement the Law on Transparency of Interest Representation adopted by the Saeima. “The regulation should definitely avoid creating an excessive administrative burden, and civil society should be given a safe and broad opportunity to participate in the legislative process. It would not be right to put obstacles in the way of presenting the interests of various groups in society. Therefore, a much broader discussion with associations and civil society in general is definitely desirable here before adopting regulations with new restrictions,” emphasized A. Gūtmanis.
The discussion was attended by experts with extensive experience in interest representation and lobbying, representing both specific companies and business associations, universities and neighborhood associations, including from the companies “Bayer”, “ISA Solutions”, “Tet”, “Bio Venta”, “ZAB Voroncovs”, from the Wind Energy Association, from the Āgenskalns Neighborhood Association, from the office “Sorainen”, associations such as the Latvian United Poultry Industry Association, the Cooperation Council of Agricultural Organizations, the Latvian Electric Vehicle Association, the Latvian Insurers Association, the Association of Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers in Latvia and others.
On the Law on Representation of Interests
The rules of the Register of Interest Representation and the Declaration System of Interest Representation are scheduled to enter into force on 1 September 2025, and will primarily regulate the activities of interest representatives as natural persons in their communication with state institutions and legislative bodies. The Interest Representation Law entered into force on 1 January 2023 to ensure the transparency of the interest representation process, promote public trust in interest representatives and public authorities, and ensure fair and equal opportunities for all interested parties to engage in interest representation, which is understood as one of the forms of civic political participation.
The process of lobbying is regulated by special laws in many countries. Several international organizations, of which Latvia is a member, have indicated the need to adopt lobbying-related regulations. For example, the fourth evaluation report of the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) recommended that Latvia “introduce a regulatory framework that determines the procedure for members of parliament to communicate with lobbyists and other parties seeking to influence the legislative process.”
The central concept of the Openness of Interest Representation Law is “interest representation”, defining it as direct or indirect communication between a private individual and a representative of public authority in order to influence the initiation, adoption or application of a public decision, as indicated in the annotation to the law.