In a Spiegel interview published today (link in German), MEP Martin Schulz is defending the current plans to keep a register of the 15,000 lobbyists operating in Brussels are adequate. A parliamentary committee will be voting on the proposals today.

Critics say the register will be toothless, since it won’t include the names of individual lobbyists and won’t require information about how much lobbying firms are being paid. Even worse, it’s a voluntary affair, and the unscrupulous lobbyists won’t have much incentive to sign up.

But Schulz is upset by criticism from people like the European Greens and Alter-EU, the lobbying transparency group, who say that the register doesn’t go far enough.