1. The role of business lobbying in the European Union
Budapest, 26 April 2006
Mario Müller, Manager Public Affairs & Communication

2. What is EuroCommerce?
EuroCommerce represents more than 100 members from:
national trade associations
individual companies
European sectorial trade associations
Members from 28 countries

3. 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”

4. 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

5. Why is it so little understood?
Lobby as an Ancient Art
Lobbying
Why is it so little understood?

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. The Brussels Situation
Why it is important to be present !

10. The Brussels scene EU Press Commission +/- 3.000 journalists -proposes
Federations
(EuroCommerce),
NGOs,
lobbyists, etc.
Press +/
journalists
-proposes
Council
25 Member States
- adopts legislation
European Parliament
732 MEPs
- adopts legislation

11. 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

12. The Brussels scene
Personal communication between the players is essential
About 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

13. Lobbying and Communication
Effective lobbying and communication begins at home – the social contact is what counts

14. 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

15. 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

16. Lobbying and Communication
High Yield Lobbying
Good information about the person you visit
Be fair and reasonable - lost credibility never comes back
Introduce yourself and the federation
Discuss only one issue at a time
Be a good listener
Clear presentation of your position
Give realistic solutions and offer alternatives
Bring a good written executive summary
Build up a personal relation
Follow-up

17. 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

18. 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

19. Public Affairs and the Media
The interests of the national vs the « European » media

20. 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

21. EU Lobbying Thank you for your attention
Mario Müller, Manager Public Affairs & Communication