Vocabulary
Lobbying consultancy
Lobbying consultancy refers to influencing activities carried out as an economic activity at the commission of a client or other related consultancy for a client. Lobbying carried out in the form of consultancy at the commission of a client is an example of lobbying consultancy.
Legal person
A legal person, who engages in lobbying or lobbying consultancy is obliged to submit information on their activities to the Finnish Transparency Register. Legal persons can include companies, associations and authorities. There are some exceptions to legal persons' obligation to provide information.
Lobbying
Lobbying refers to communication with a lobbying target on one's own account with the aim of influencing the preparation and decision-making in a matter by promoting a certain interest or objective.
Disclosure period
Information on lobbying activities is submitted to the Transparency Register twice a year. There are two disclosure periods each year: January–February and July–August. During the disclosure period, information on the lobbying carried out during the previous reporting period is submitted to the Transparency Register.
Disclosure of activities
A disclosure of activities is submitted during the disclosure period and contains information on the lobbying and lobbying consultancy carried out.
Financial information on lobbying and lobbying consultancy is submitted to the Register once a year in connection with the disclosure of activities submitted in July-August.
Discloser (actor subject to the disclosure obligation)
Legal persons and private entrepreneurs who engage in lobbying and lobbying consultancy are subject to the disclosure obligation. Of private entrepreneurs, only those who are principally engaged in lobbying or lobbying consultancy are subject to the registration obligation. The disclosers, i.e. those subject to the disclosure obligation, must submit their registration and disclosures of activities to the Finnish Transparency Register. The disclosure obligation applies always to the actor carrying out lobbying or lobbying consultancy, not the lobbying target.
Lobbying target
The lobbying target refers to the actor that a lobbyist tries to influence. In the Finnish Transparency Register, the lobbying targets include Parliament and the Ministries.
Private entrepreneur
A private entrepreneur that engages in lobbying is subject to the disclosure obligation regarding the Finnish Transparency Register. Private entrepreneurs that do not engage in lobbying or lobbying consultancy as their primary form of business are not subject to the disclosure obligation.
Registration
The start of lobbying or lobbying consultancy must be registered at latest on the day that the lobbying begins.
Reporting period
The calendar year is divided into two six-month reporting periods: January–June and July–December. A disclosure on the lobbying activities carried out during a reporting period is submitted to the Finnish Transparency Register during the disclosure period following the reporting period.
Oversight authority
The National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF) is the authority overseeing the Finnish Transparency Register, and it oversees the disclosures submitted to the Register.
Transparency Register
The register to which disclosures of lobbying and lobbying consultancy activities targeted at Parliament and the Ministries are submitted. Provisions on the Finnish Transparency Register are laid down in the Finnish Transparency Register Act (430/2023). The Register is maintained and overseen by the National Audit Office of Finland.