Transcript Lobbying

The role of business lobbying
in the
European Union
Budapest, 26 April 2006
Mario Müller, Manager Public Affairs & Communication
What is EuroCommerce?
• EuroCommerce represents more than
100 members from:
– national trade associations
– individual companies
– European sectorial trade associations
• Members from 28 countries
Commerce in the EU
• 13% of EU GDP ; 5,5 millions
enterprises, 95% of these are
small enterprises;
• Interface between industry and the
450 million consumers across Europe
• Providing jobs for 26 million people
from all parts of society
“A thriving sector bringing Wealth to the
European Economy”
Our mission
• To promote the common interests of
the sector vis-à-vis the EU institutions
• To lobby throughout the legislative
process on behalf of commerce
• To educate EU decision makers to the
impact of future legislation on
commerce
• To provide timely and comprehensive
information to members
Lobby as an Ancient Art
Lobbying
Why is it so little understood?
Lobby as an Ancient Art
It is still frequently viewed with suspicion
History: usage early 19th century
The caricature: portly, cigar-smoking men
who wine and dine lawmakers
while slipping money into their pockets.
Lobby as an Ancient Art
Lobbying is a legitimate and
necessary part of our democratic
political process
Politics can not take a fair and
informed decision without
considering information from a
broad range of interested parties
Lobby as an Ancient Art
• A definition:
Lobbying is support and
encouragement of a point of view,
either by groups or indviduals
• Basic elements: researching and
analyzing legislation or regulatory
proposals, monotoring and reporting
on developments
The Brussels Situation
Why it is important to be present !
The Brussels scene
Press
+/- 3.000
journalists
EU
Commission
-proposes
Council
25 Member States
- adopts legislation
Federations
(EuroCommerce),
NGOs,
lobbyists, etc.
European Parliament
732 MEPs
- adopts legislation
The Brussels scene
• The way the EU is organized has a
significant effect on the lobby
• Information is passing through seperated
routes of the policy making process
(Parliament, Commission and Council) or
via the national governments
• Major political groups in the Parliament
are by significant importance
The Brussels scene
• Personal communication between the players is
essential
• About 12.000 lobby representatives seek the
attention of the EU institutions
• European law creates virtual mountains of
documents
• Growing importance of European legislation and less
by the national
• Enormous imbalance between corporate lobbying and
lobbying on behalf of the public service
Lobbying and Communication
Effective lobbying and
communication begins at
home – the social contact is
what counts
The Brussels Lobby Situation
• Lobbying and pr - communication are
growing, both on a national and European
level
• Woody Allen says: « 90% of life is just
showing up »
• The same is true for moving an idea
through the political process
The Brussels Lobby Situation
• Possibility to influence the process
• Early information: what is discussed
today in Brussels will impact on your
activities tomorrow
• Open Decision makers to “real life”
cases
Lobbying and
Communication
High Yield Lobbying
1.
Good information about the person you visit
2.
Be fair and reasonable - lost credibility never comes
back
3.
Introduce yourself and the federation
4.
Discuss only one issue at a time
5.
Be a good listener
6.
Clear presentation of your position
7.
Give realistic solutions and offer alternatives
8.
Bring a good written executive summary
9.
Build up a personal relation
10. Follow-up
Lobbying and Communication
• Inside your organisation:
– to obtain feed-back
– to achieve recognition
• Outside your organisation:
– to collect information
– to present arguments
• Don’t rely (only) on nationality,
language or political party affiliation
Lobbying and Communication
• Make sure you get all relevant information:
– don’t rely on the press only - always look for
originals
• Don’t send too many documents home without
adequate summaries and comments
– not all language-versions are promptly available
– contacts, associations, consultants, special
publications, by coincidence, …
– most documents are too long to be quickly
understood
– “Brussels’ speak” is little known
Public Affairs and the Media
The interests of the national vs
the « European » media
Public Affairs and the
Media
• Everybody wants to read his name in
the press
• Press is one of the capitals to
support EuroCommerce visibility
• Classical media: newspapers and TV
• New medias: internet portals,
internet information agencies
• Brussels based federations focus on
European news
EU Lobbying
Thank you for your attention
Mario Müller, Manager Public Affairs & Communication
www.eurocommerce.be