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"With a lobby register we take the first steps towards a more transparent politics in Maastricht" A Lobby Register may not mean much to you. But from Volt we are convinced that it is needed to strengthen our democracy. Lobbyists exert a lot of influence on individuals, organizations and our city as a whole. Therefore, Maastricht needs a legal means to make decision-making processes clearer.
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Jules Ortjens
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Ireland, Germany, the European Commission and even the Municipality of Madrid already use a Lobby Register. And recently, The Hague also decided to introduce a lobby register, in order to give a more transparent picture of how political decisions are made. Now it's time to bring Dutch municipalities on board as well.
In several local governments in the Netherlands, Volt is pushing for a Lobby Register at the moment. By registering meetings of executive councilors (Wethouders) and high ranked civic workers, every citizen can look up which possible stakeholders are trying to reach the local municipality and on whose behalf. This way we can find out how executive politicians work in practice, and with whom.
Together with GroenLinks and M:OED, Volt Maastricht has sent written questions to the municipal executives of Maastricht. In doing so, we are trying to draw attention to what we believe is one of the fundamental values of local politics: transparency. This way, we take the first steps towards a more transparent politics in Maastricht.
