Online Discussion on Lobbying Regulation in Latvia with Inese Voika, Deputy Secretary of Saeima

BritCham in cooperation with Irish Latvian Chamber and Swiss Chamber of Commerce, held an online discussion “10 Year Road to Lobbying Regulation in Latvia – Quo Vadis?” with Mrs Inese Voika, Deputy Secretary of Saeima.

After many years of unsuccessful attempts to adopt law on lobbying, the third attempt is marked by 2019, when the Saeima Defence, Interior and Anti-Corruption Commission established a working group for the development of the draft law on lobbying openness, which started their activities in 2020. As mentioned by Ms Voika, still very often the general perception is that lobbying is the same as corruption. It is important to understand that lobbying is advocacy, and it should not be a taboo or a corruptive act.

During the meeting Ms Inese Voika gave her opinion on why the previous attempts of the adoption of the law have been unsuccessful and outlined the planned timeline of the draft and adoption of the Lobbying Transparency Regulation in Latvia. She also spoke about the legislative approach and main focuses on transparency measures during the process of drafting the regulations that are planned to come into force in 2022-2023.

We would like to thank Mrs Inese Voika, Deputy Secretary of Saeima for finding time to address our members on this important topic.