Iceland to assess lobbying rules but sets no timetable

Iceland’s Prime Minister’s Office plans to assess how the country’s conflict-of-interest law is being implemented, but has set no timetable for the work, mbl.is reports.

Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said in a written response to a question from Social Democratic Alliance MP Dagur B. Eggertsson that the assessment would cover the law’s provisions on registering lobbyists, their contacts with government authorities and the publication of information. These provisions have not previously been assessed separately.

After the review, the government will consider whether the law should be revised, including whether its scope should be expanded. No specific legislative changes or other measures have been announced. The pace of the work will depend on the ministry’s priorities, Frostadóttir said.

Dagur asked about an OECD assessment of Iceland’s rules on lobbying. The organisation’s Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026, published on March 24, found that Iceland’s regulatory framework met 20 per cent of the OECD’s assessment criteria, compared with an average of 43 per cent among member countries.

Norway and Sweden also met 20 per cent of the framework criteria, Finland met 40 per cent, and Denmark met none. Iceland scored above the OECD average on implementation, meeting 44 per cent of the criteria compared with an average of 38 per cent. Finland met nearly 90 per cent on implementation, Norway 11 per cent, and Denmark and Sweden none.

The response said no assessment had yet been made of whether further rules or changes to current practices were needed.

Dagur also asked whether the government would propose a shared, public, searchable register of lobbying covering the central government, Parliament and municipalities, and linking lobbying to specific bills and other public decisions. The response did not take a separate position on that proposal. It said only that no date had been set for a bill, should the law be reviewed.