On February 17th, 2022, the House of Representatives approved the "Law on Transparency in Public Decision-Making and Related Issues (Law 20(I)/2022)" in order to establish a framework for promoting and consolidating transparency in relation to involvement in processes of public decision-making concerning issues related to executive or legislative authority, so as to prevent conditions that allow or facilitate the emergence of corrupt practices.

According to the legislation, those who wish to participate in processes of public decision-making are required to register in a relevant lobbyist registry, and after their scheduled meeting with any government official, they must submit a relevant report to the Anti-Corruption Authority. Additionally, government officials are obligated to submit a communication form to the competent authority regarding any scheduled meeting they had with a representative of a special interest group.

Moreover, on April 6th, 2023, the House of Representatives passed the "Transparency in Public Decision-Making Processes and Related Issues Regulations of 2023 (L. 118/2023)" which aim to establish the type of Registry of Lobbyists and the procedures for collecting, processing, using, disclosing, accessing, retaining, and deleting personal information and data for the purposes of implementing the legislation regulating lobbying processes in Cyprus.

At this stage, the official announcement from the competent Independent Authority Against Corruption regarding the start of electronic registration applications for the lobbyist and reporting registry, as well as the issuance of a code of ethics that those who register with the lobbyist registry should follow, is pending.

The legal and official activity of lobbying is necessary for the decision-making process, as it ensures that proposed new policies or reforms reflect the needs and opinions of citizens. In a truly democratic society, lobbying is the means that facilitates citizen participation in the decision-making process, thereby enabling a participatory and vibrant democracy. The recent approval of legislation and regulations on lobbying in Cyprus is expected to help regulate and improve the professional activity of lobbyists, as is the case in many advanced democracies.

The influence of lobbying should be treated as an important process of democracy and not be confused with corruption. Communication between interested parties is an essential element of a healthy society and public authorities should encourage and facilitate this communication. However, there are still gaps in the existing legislation, such as the limitation of meetings that must be recorded (only scheduled ones that concern the promotion of economic interests), as well as the exemption of public procurement processes from the scope of the legislation, etc. Therefore, it is important to address these outstanding issues immediately and to conduct a full assessment of the proper implementation of the legislation.