During the 2000s-2010s, EU Commission and Parliament and European interest groups advanced a specific model of regulation. It combines, on one side, lobbyists self-regulation-the codes of conduct for EU lobbying professionals' associations, such as SEAP and EPACA-with institutional nonbinding or "soft" regulation on the other side-the EU Transparency Register framework for registered interest groups, its code of conduct, the related system of checks, alerts, and complaints about interest groups misconduct put forward by the EU Joint Transparency Register Secretariat, the list of Dos and Don'ts by the EU Ombudsman. This paper examines the peculiar lobbying self-regulation and soft regulation tools and practices, as implemented within the EU model: SEAP and EPACA codes of conduct, EU Transparency Register, EU Interest Groups Code of Conduct, Commissioners and MPs codes of conduct, the procedures of the EU Joint Transparency Register Secretariat, and the Ombudsman list of Dos and Don'ts, underlining their growing impact on interest groups registration to the EU Transparency Register. This EU innovative regulatory model-based on a peculiar mix of self-regulation and institutional, incentive-based, soft regulation-stands as a concrete alternative to the traditional North American top-down binding regulatory pattern. The EU model is based on a participatory, cooperative, and pragmatic dialogue between European policy makers and interest groups. Clarifying the concept, the nature, and the functions of this model, while underlining its peculiarity is the purpose of this paper.
