Carlos Parry: "We lobbyists must be the only sector that wants to be regulated and in the end it does not happen"

MadridThe debate on the regulation of lobbyists, which Congress has ultimately rejected, has had special guests in the gallery. These are members of the Association of Public Relations Professionals (APRI), who have come to the chamber to demand that they be regulated as a sector. Carlos Parry, president of the organization, speaks to ARA in the midst of the discussion inside the hemicycle.

How do you assess Congress rejecting the possibility of regulating lobbyists?

— A lost opportunity. In the end, we finally had the opportunity to have a register and know who speaks with whom when legislating.

Why do you think the PP, Vox, and Junts have rejected the initiative?

— For political reasons that have nothing to do with the regulation. One thing is what they have said in the debate and another is what they say in private. In reality, they all agree with the content, but when the political agenda is mixed in, they are unable to reach an agreement.

Do you think the PSOE government has also proposed it now for political convenience?

— No. I believe there is a reality and that is that different international bodies, such as the European Commission, GRECO, and the Council of Europe, have asked year after year for Spain to implement the regulation. There is an anomalous situation. Now this regulation already exists in Catalonia, Madrid, Valencia, and Brussels, but not at the State level. This law was part of a package to receive recovery funds. I believe that what has accelerated the decree has been the pressure from the European Commission.

Is there any possibility of recovering it in some way before the end of the term?

— I hope there is some possibility, because it is true that the groups have left the door open to discuss the draft law that, in parallel, is still being processed in Congress. If there are no elections soon, they can reach a minimum agreement on the regulation.

Are there companies that also resist registration?

— At APRI we are 350 associations. We have not had any company or associate who has told us to be alert about this or that. It is true that the way in which the decree was made has surprised everyone and was maximalist. They have gone further than the Catalan regulation because they also include the regulatory footprint [knowing which lobbies have intervened in each law] and a code with harsh economic sanctions.

Do you think that this regulation would put an end to the bad reputation of lobbies?

— It would be a good opportunity to make what we do more transparent. The problem we have is that we usually appear in the media when someone poses as a lobbyist and there is a corruption scandal. If we had regulation, a gentleman like Aldama would not be able to walk freely through a ministry. With the regulation of a registry, alarms would go off very quickly. We lobbyists must be the only sector that wants to be regulated and it does not happen.

Does Zapatero or Montoro consider them lobbyists?

— No. Furthermore, lobbying regulation includes the end of revolving doors. You cannot be Minister of Finance today and set up a consultancy tomorrow to work on economic issues for companies. This regulation would help prevent such things from happening. This is about putting an end to attitudes that we cannot tolerate as a democracy.