Throughout over a decade, Parliament has been debating lobbying and the legitimate representation of interests just as the APECOM president, Domingas Carvalhosa, recalls in this magazine. The approval of the first Portuguese law regulating lobbying, on 12 December 2025, finally brings to Portugal the normality and transparency that has already existed in Brussels for decades, as Henrique Burnay also explains in this edition of Prémio.

In fact, we all want politicians who know about reality, grasp what is happening in the terrain and across the regions of this country; we all also know that the best intentions may produce unexpected – legislative – effects and that, whoever is deciding, should be updated and well informed; we are all looking for political decision-makers with the best possible knowledge so that, subsequently and with due democratic legitimacy, they are able to best decide.

However, throughout years, and due to media reports and suspicions around illegitimate interests, we have seen a rise in the distance and an excess in the diligence among organisations – companies, associations, federations – and the political decision-makers.

We now have, at long last, a “highway code” for regulating this path and the most transparent means for those needing to interrelate with political decision-makers. Indeed, it is normality and transparency that we are referring to.

What changes?

For the first time in Portugal, there are established rules for transparency to govern the interactions between public and private entities, whether national or international, with the objective of guaranteeing the legitimate representation of interests. To this end, the new legislation: sets up the RTRI – a Registry of Transparency and Representation of Interests; stipulates obligatory rules for all entities wishing to contribute towards public policies; enacts a code of conduct; and introduces nationally unprecedented monitoring mechanisms, such as the legislative presence that enables oversight of the contacts among public decision-makers and the representatives of particular interests while simultaneously establishing an innovative framework for sanctions.

In specific terms:

Definition and Scope

The legitimate representation of interests is defined as any activity designed to influence, directly or indirectly, the development or implementation of public policies, legislative acts, administrative acts or public contracts. This applies to all entities acting on their own behalf or representing third parties. The law spans the interactions of a vast range of public entities, including:

1. The Presidency of the Republic;
2. The Parliament;
3. The Government and the offices of its members;
4. The government bodies of the autonomous and local regions;
5. The Bank of Portugal;
6. Independent regulatory authorities.

The Transparency Register (RTRI)

Public, free and compulsory, the RTRI is to function in keeping with the system adopted at the European Union level.  It operates in conjunction with Parliament as a unique record and accessible to the public.

Managing the register, as well as exercising the powers handed down in the new law – specifically those relating to registration, cancellation and the application of sanctions – are to be bestowed on a management body to be nominated by Parliament through a specific act of legislation. This organism is also to set out the rules necessary to the functioning and supervision of the register.

The key rules relating to this register include:

1. Obligatory Registration: Private entities – such as agencies and firms – are to be registered in the RTRI prior to granting them any formal audience or participating in public audiences run by public entities;
2. Obligatory Information: Registered entities are to disclose their name, the interests or clients they represent, their sectors of activity, the annual income generated by lobbying [whenever applicable] and any public funding received.
3. Public Access: The register is accessible through the Parliament’s own website.

The “Legislative Footprint”

The law introduces the “legislative footprint mechanism”, which requires the compulsory identification of all consultations and interactions that take place during the drafting phase of legislative acts or public policies. Public entities are obliged to publish information on these meetings, including the date and the specific themes discussed on at least a quarterly basis.

“Cooling Off” Periods and Incompatibilities

To avoid conflicts of interest, the decree establishes specific restrictions:

1. Waiting Period of Three Years: Former holders of political or high ranking public positions are prohibited from lobbying the specific entities where they served for a period of three years after leaving the respective position;
2. Incompatible Roles: Lobbying on behalf of third parties is incompatible with currently holding any political role, high level public position or working in the respective support offices.

Rights, Duties and Sanctions

The entities registered in the RTRI hold the right to contact public figures and access public buildings on equal terms with any other citizen. However, they are to comply with the Code of Conduct and identify themselves by their registration number in all such interactions.

Failure to comply with these duties may result in sanctions, such as:

1. Suspension of registration for a period of up to two years;
2. Exclusion from public consultation procedures;
3. Cases handed over to the public prosecution whenever unregistered activities take place or having submitted false information.

Exemptions

Certain activities are not deemed to be lobbying under the auspices of this law, including:

1. Legal services provided by “lawyers and solicitors” within the scope of a judicial mandate (“forensic mandate”);
2. Activities undertaken by social partners (trade unions and employer associations as defined in the law) under the auspices of “social consultation”;
3. Exercising the “right of petition” or participating in public affairs without receiving any remuneration.

Following its signing by the President of the Republic, this new law comes into effect in June and, we hope that – by then – Parliament will complete the work of preparing the Register, the diplomas and the bodies still necessary for its full implementation.

On our own behalf, H/Advisors is, alongside the large majority of this market, prepared for this change – to help companies talk with the state and political decision-makers to ensure a better understanding of the realities they face. Always with transparency and now with clear rules.