What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Changed:Recital 12: (12) Covert interest representation activities carried out on behalf of third countries are capable of affecting the development, formulation or implementation of the Union’s and its Member States'States’ internal and external policies, including regarding its economic and security interests. This affects democracy more generally, which is a common value of the Union, the securing of which is of fundamental importance to the Union and its Member States. Providing for a harmonised level of transparency across the Union regarding such activities should contribute to enhancing public trust in the Union’s and Member States’ decision-making processes.

Changed:Recital 20: (20) Activities carried out by officials of third country governments that are connected with the exercise of official authority, including activities related to the exercise of diplomatic relations between States or international organisations, such as those related to the functions referred to in Article 3 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, should be excluded from the scope of this Directive. This Directive should also not cover activities carried out by lawyers consisting of the provision of legal advice or the representation in legal, conciliation or mediation proceedings of third country entities and safeguarding their fundamental rights, such as the right to be heard, the right to a fair trial, and the right of defence. Professional advice other than legal advice should also be outside the scope of this Directive, such as procuring a professional or expert study to serve as evidence in support of arguments in court; getting technical or scientific advice on complying with technical legislation or using mediation services of a professional as mediators who are not necessarily certified lawyers. Ancillary activities such as catering, the provision of a venue, the printing of brochures or policy papers, or the provision of online intermediary services within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065,2022/20653, such as online platforms services, should not be covered by this Directive.

Changed:Recital 35: (35) Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council,Council6, information on the registration obligations and formalities established by this Directive should be available via the Single Digital Gateway which, through the Your Europe web portal, sets up a one-stop shop that provides businesses and citizens with information about rules and procedures in the Single Market, at all levels of government and direct, centralised, and guided access to assistance and problem-solving services as well as to a wide range of fully digitised administrative procedures. In addition, the procedure for registration should be fully online and organised in accordance with the ‘once only’ principle to facilitate the reuse of data.

Changed:Recital 54: (54) The use of digital tools developed within the internal market by the Commission and Member States enhances transparency and trust in cross-border provision of services and limits administrative burdens by allowing coordination, cooperation and communication between the relevant authorities at national level. Administrative cooperation and exchanges of information between the national authorities, as well as the supervisory authorities and the Commission takes place through the Internal Market Information System (‘IMI system’) established by Regulation (EU) 1024/2012 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilCouncil7 for administrative cooperation between Member States’ competent authorities in Single Market related policy areas. The interoperability of the IMI system and the national registers should therefore be ensured in line with the European Interoperability Framework.

Changed:Recital 60: (60) In order to amend the thresholds for requesting further information, to modify the list of information to be provided when submitting a request for registration, to modify the list of information to be included in the reports published by Member States, and to set out the technical specifications, the technical measures, the minimum criteria and means, and the technical conditions regarding the central public access portal, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.Law-Making9. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

Changed:Recital 64: (64) When implementing this Directive, Member States should lay down requirements in a clear and concise manner, ensuring legal certainty and predictable registration procedures, and should seek to minimise the administrative burden on the entities concerned, in particular micro, small and medium-sized enterprises within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council.Council10.

Changed:Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point b – paragraphsubparagraph 1 – introductorypoint part:b: the actions of the third country sponsor on whose behalf the registered entity is acting are attributable to a third country that has spent, in one of the five preceding financial years, and taking into account all third country sponsors whose actions can be attributed to this third country, an aggregate annual amount that exceeds either of the following:

Changed:Article 19 – paragraph 4: 4. Representatives of the European Parliament shall be invited to attend meetings of the advisory group as observers. Representatives of the European Free Trade Association States that are contracting parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area,Area17, may be invited to attend meetings of the advisory group as observers. The advisory group may invite civil society organisations to attend the meetings at least once a year as part of an open and structured dialogue on the implementation of this Directive.