Regulating lobbying activities to protect competition

Competitive product markets are crucial for growth. This requires a regulatory environment that effectively manages interactions between policymakers and stakeholders, particularly lobbyists, to ensure special interests do not unduly influence the design of new policies and regulations. Yet, the OECD Product Market Regulation (PMR) indicators and database show that the regulatory frameworks supporting transparency and accountability in the interactions between interest groups and public officials lag behind best practice in many countries. As governments make greater use of industrial policies, policy reforms to check unregulated lobbying activity will become increasingly important to ensure competitive markets and a level playing field.