Gone far enough?

The EU, always an institution to do things by halves if it can, has been rather defensive in response to criticisms of its new lobbyist register. In theory, the register helps "citizens know which general or specific interests are influencing the decision-making process of the European Institutions and the resources mobilized to that end." Who's paying who, essentially.

Unfortunately, this bold shuffle towards transparency has been widely rubbished by media and MEPs alike. The Greens in particular are not very pleased at what they see as a rather wet token gesture. Presumably this is because no-one is slipping them anything.

For its part the EU defended the scheme, saying that things had got off to "a good start". Good enough to extend the register scheme beyond its one year trial period? We'll see...