Spain continues in 2026 without a fully effective state lobby law, despite companies, associations, consultancies, social organizations, and other interest groups maintaining contacts with public officials to try to legitimately influence laws and political decisions. The Government presented in January 2025 the Draft Law on transparency and integrity of the activities of interest groups, but more than a year and a half later the initiative remains in Congress, currently in the reporting phase in the Finance and Public Function Commission.
The situation contrasts with that of other European countries. Ireland has regulated lobbying since 2015, France has its registry since the implementation of the Sapin II Law, and Germany has a mandatory registry for the representation of interests before the Bundestag and the federal Government. The three systems share a common premise: lobbying is not in itself an illegal activity, but citizens must have tools to know who is trying to influence political power and for what purpose.
The future Spanish regulation aims to cover part of that gap. The project includes a Registry of Interest Groups of the General State Administration, a code of conduct, a sanctioning regime, and the so-called "regulatory footprint," intended to document the contributions made by interest groups during the drafting of a regulation. However, all these obligations still depend on the law completing its parliamentary processing and coming into force.
France: declare what is being sought and how much is spent
France has one of the reference systems in Europe. Interest representatives subject to regulation must appear in the repertoire managed by the Haute Autorité pour la transparence de la vie publique (HATVP) and periodically communicate information about their activities. It is not only about identifying which company, organization, or consultancy is lobbying: the system seeks to make visible what objective their influence activity pursues.
The annual statements must indicate the objectives pursued, the scope on which action has been taken, the type of public decision that was intended to be influenced, and the kind of action carried out. It is also reported on the categories of public officials contacted and, when acting for third parties, the clients represented. France does not, however, require the individual identification in those statements of each public official contacted, but rather their category.
The French model also incorporates a particularly relevant piece of information: the money dedicated to lobbying. Interest representatives must annually declare the expenses linked to these activities, including human resources, event organization, consulting, or certain contracted services. The amounts are published in brackets, which allows for an approximation of the economic resources employed to attempt to influence public decisions.
Ireland: who lobbied, whom, and to achieve what
Ireland opted for a different and particularly simple system to explain. The Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 came into force on September 1 of that year with a purpose that the regulatory body itself summarizes in five questions: who is lobbying, on behalf of whom, on what issue, what result is intended to be achieved, and who is the subject of that influence activity.
The frequency of information also distinguishes the Irish model. The obligated subjects must submit statements three times a year, corresponding to periods of four months. In them, the activity carried out, the issue addressed, the result pursued, and the public officials to whom the communications were directed are identified. The register can be consulted free of charge by any citizen.
The regulation also covers communications that do not necessarily have to occur within an official office. What is decisive is that there is a communication covered by the law with a designated public official on a relevant matter. Ireland also contemplates a one-year incompatibility period for certain former public officials, which limits certain lobbying activities after leaving office.
Germany: how much lobbying costs and what law is being attempted to change
Germany approved its lobby registration law in 2021 and subsequently significantly reinforced its obligations. The Bundestag registry covers the representation of interests directed both at the federal Parliament and the German Government and requires registration from those who meet the legal requirements when trying to influence directly or indirectly its decision-making processes.
The amount of available information allows observing the professional and economic dimension of that influence. Organizations must provide, among other data, their areas of activity, the people who carry out representation work, the number of employees dedicated to them, and their annual lobbying expenses. Certain financial information is also required, and it must be indicated whether the individuals identified in the registry have held positions or functions in the Bundestag, the Government, or the federal Administration during the previous five years, information relevant to detect possible "revolving doors".
But one of the biggest differences lies in the degree of detail about what is being attempted to change. The German registry allows consulting the specific regulatory projects on which groups declare to exert influence and the main allegations, reports, or documents they have sent to the Bundestag or the Government outside of formal procedures that are already public. As of August 25, 2026, the registry itself counts more than 27,800 specific regulatory projects and more than 22,600 documents or positions linked to interest representation activities.
Spain proposes a mandatory registry and a "regulatory footprint"
The Spanish project starts from a broad definition of interest group. It includes individuals, companies, organizations, and associations that carry out activities aimed at influencing certain public personnel. The scope of the project focuses on relationships with the General Administration of the State and its institutional public sector, which constitutes a relevant difference compared to systems like the German one, whose registry expressly includes the influence exerted before the Bundestag and the federal Government.
The Spanish proposal incorporates a Registry of Interest Groups and establishes a code of conduct to organize the relationships between those who exert influence and public officials. It adds a specific regime of infractions and sanctions, so that the system would not depend solely on voluntary registration or ethical commitments made by organizations.
The most significant element is, however, the so-called regulatory footprint. The project establishes that the processes of regulatory drafting must include a report reflecting the contributions made by the participating interest groups. The objective is that it should not only be known who is registered as a lobbyist, but also what intervention they had during the drafting of a specific regulation.
Four models to make influence over power visible
The comparison shows that there is no single European model. France places a strong emphasis on the activities and economic resources used; Ireland allows for periodic identification of who has lobbied, on whom, and for what purpose; and Germany combines economic information with specific regulatory projects and documents used to attempt to influence. Spain aims to approach these standards through the registry and the regulatory footprint, but its state system is still not operational.
Comparison of lobby regulation in Spain, France, Ireland, and Germany
| Element | Spain | France | Ireland | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State lobby law in force | No, project in processing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mandatory registry | Foreseen | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Public registry | Foreseen | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Identification of the lobby target | Foreseen | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Information on lobbying expenditure | Foreseen in the project | Yes | Not the central axis of the registry | Yes |
| Identification of contacted officials | According to the final configuration of the system | By categories | Yes | The system identifies recipients in the published documents and areas of influence |
| Specific regulatory projects | Regulatory footprint foreseen | Type of public decision | Subject and pursued outcome | Yes |
| Published documents or positions | Foreseen within the transparency system and footprint | Declarative information of activity | Information on communications | Yes |
| Control of revolving doors | Regulation linked to conflicts of interest | Public integrity system | One-year period for certain former senior officials | The registry informs of public positions held in the previous five years |
The fundamental difference, therefore, does not lie in the fact that in France, Ireland, or Germany lobbying can be done and in Spain it cannot. Lobbying is a legitimate form of participation and influence over public decisions as long as it remains within the law. The distance appears in the capacity of citizens, journalists, and oversight organizations to reconstruct those relationships and know what interests are trying to modify a public decision.
Precisely that transparency helps to mark the boundary between legitimate lobbying and opaque practices that can lead to conflicts of interest or, when the criminal requirements are met, crimes such as influence peddling. A registry does not prevent companies, associations, or groups from defending their interests before political power; it makes a much larger part of that influence subject to public examination.
Spain has designed on paper instruments that would allow progress in that direction. The problem is the timeline: while Ireland has been regulating these activities since 2015, France has been applying its system since 2017, and Germany has had a mandatory registry since 2022 that was subsequently strengthened, the Spanish project presented in January 2025 remains in August 2026 in the Commission of Finance and Public Function of Congress.