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Lobbying at the EU

Who lobbies the European Union?

2,198 organisations with their headquarters in Germany are in the European transparency register. They try to influence European laws and decisions. Since December 2024 they have had 4,029 meetings with the European Commission between them.

What is lobbying? (click to read)
  • Lobbying means trying to influence the decisions of politicians and civil servants: through conversations, studies, letters or events. This is allowed and is done by companies, but also by trade unions, environmental organisations and cities.
  • Anyone who wants to meet the European Commission or the European Parliament must be in the transparency register and state how much money and how many people are spent on it.
  • The amounts are reported by the organisations themselves, in ranges (e.g. "between 1 and 1.25 million euros"). Nobody checks them all.
  • A European federation with its headquarters in Brussels often represents companies from all over Europe. That is why there are so many organisations in Belgium.
  • We do not show self-employed individuals (people).

Organisations

2,198

Reported lobbying costs per year

€ 220 million – € 301.1 million

Of 1,546 companies, federations and trade unions that report this.

Access badges for the European Parliament

843

Lobbyists who can walk in freely.

Who are they?

  • Companies 735
  • NGOs and citizens’ organisations 489
  • Trade and professional federations 473
  • Think tanks and research institutions 112
  • Trade unions and professional associations 98
  • Other organisations and public institutions 90
  • Consultancies 72
  • Associations of public authorities (e.g. cities and regions) 53
  • Universities and colleges 53
  • Law firms 15
  • Churches and religious or philosophical communities 7
  • Institutions from countries outside the EU 1

Biggest lobbying budgets

What they report themselves for lobbying work at the EU, per year.

  1. Bayer AG Companies € 6 million – € 6.5 million
  2. BASF SE Companies € 4.5 million – € 5 million
  3. Verband der Chemischen Industrie e.V. Trade and professional federations € 4.5 million – € 5 million
  4. Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V. Trade and professional federations € 4 million – € 4.5 million
  5. Deutsche Industrie- und Handelskammer Other organisations and public institutions € 4 million – € 4.5 million
  6. Siemens AG Companies € 3.5 million – € 4 million
  7. BDEW Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft e. V. Trade and professional federations € 3.5 million – € 4 million
  8. Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft e.V. Trade and professional federations € 3 million – € 3.5 million
  9. Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands eV Trade and professional federations € 3 million – € 3.5 million
  10. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft Companies € 2.8 million – € 3 million

Most meetings with the European Commission

With commissioners, their private offices or directors-general, since December 2024.

  1. Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft Companies 104 meetings
  2. Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V. Trade and professional federations 93 meetings
  3. Siemens AG Companies 84 meetings
  4. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft Companies 77 meetings
  5. Deutsche Bank AG Companies 75 meetings
  6. Siemens Energy AG Companies 67 meetings
  7. Verband der Automobilindustrie Trade and professional federations 61 meetings
  8. Robert Bosch GmbH Companies 59 meetings
  9. Bayer AG Companies 54 meetings
  10. Deutsche Industrie- und Handelskammer Other organisations and public institutions 52 meetings

Source: EU transparency register and meetings of the European Commission with interest representatives (European Commission, reuse allowed with credit to the source). Amounts as reported by the organisations themselves.