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ICF TEC 2007 Siena 4/5 November 2007

ICF TEC 2007 Siena 4/5 November 2007. « The Main Rules of EU Lobbying » Frédéric VAN HOUTE Secretary-General CPIV/EDG/ESGA. Contents. The Community’s legal acts: a reminder The Pillars of European Public Affairs How to work with the Commission How to work with the Parliament

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ICF TEC 2007 Siena 4/5 November 2007

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  1. ICF TEC 2007Siena 4/5 November 2007 « The Main Rules of EU Lobbying » Frédéric VAN HOUTE Secretary-General CPIV/EDG/ESGA

  2. Contents • The Community’s legal acts: a reminder • The Pillars of European Public Affairs • How to work with the Commission • How to work with the Parliament • How to obtain desired information • Acting as far upstream as possible • How to approach the EU institutions • The importance of Communication • The future CPIV - EDG

  3. 1. The Community’s Legal Acts: Reminder • The Regulation is compulsory in all its elements. It establishes the end to be achieved and the means for doing so. It is general and global in scope and directly enters into force and applies in every MS (Member State). No transposition is needed (e.g.: REACH Regulation). • The Directive dictates the result to be achieved by all MS but gives national authorities the freedom to select the means. Implementation therefore -slightly-varies in the EU (e.g. Packaging Directive). • The Decision is addressed to precisely defined individuals, entities or MS and is obligatory for them. It is an instrument for administrative implementation of EU law. Eg. Decision to exempt lead in crystal under RoHS. • Recommendations and Opinions are non-binding instruments (not laws) to guide national behaviour and legislation. They are addressed to MS and economic operators. • Proposed EU Constitution: Framework Law= Directive, European Law= Regulation CPIV - EDG

  4. 2. The Pillars of European Public Affairs • Legislative Monitoring • Economic Intelligence • Strategy • Networks, Coalitions • Lobbying • Communication • (EU Funding) >>>Lobbying is only one part of the picture. All pillars are separate and complementary CPIV - EDG

  5. 3. How to Work with the Commission • Identifying the contact • For a topic/an issue: Commission organigramme, staff directory, etc. to identify the Unit and its secretariat. • Specific legislative proposal: EP’s Legislative Observatory (OEIL) to identify parliamentary committee and ‘rapporteur’. • Approaching the civil servants • Any dialogue to be based on technical arguments. • Heads of Unit often have as much responsibility as Directors in national ministries. Their subordinates have considerable power… • The Commission is an informal and easily accessible institution. Contacts with civil servants are easy. Meetings (often ½ hour max.) focus on technical aspects! • Getting a first meeting is easy – need to be up to speed on a technical level for a second meeting! CPIV - EDG

  6. 4. How to Work with the Parliament • Accessing the Parliament • Accreditation system with permanent access passes, temporary badges. • Identifying the right MEPs • The Parliament is organized in specialized committees. • Key MEP is the “Rapporteur” in charge of the dossier, the “shadow rapporteurs” and the political group coordinators. • Other actors: Parliamentary assistants (“deputy MEPs”), civil servants (in-depth knowledge of dossiers, organization of committees), administrators of political groups (political advisor with a technical function). • Working with MEPs • Indirect approach first through assistants in charge of dossiers is best. • MEPs’ mailboxes inside the Parliament are accessible to the general public! • “Corridor meetings”, Committee meetings (pass), plenary sessions (open to all), public hearings… CPIV - EDG

  7. 5. How to Obtain the Desired Information • Much information is available in all 23 EU languages, e.g.: Commission work programme, Council or parliamentary committee meetings. Technical documents mainly in English. • General information on the EU: http://europa.eu - synthesized legislation: http://europa.eu/scadplus • EU Institutions (e.g. procedures, dossiers, archives, calendars, agendas): • Commission: http://ec.europa.eu ; • Council: http://consilium.europa.eu ; • Parliament: www.europarl.europa.eu ; • Legislative Process (progression of legislative proposals): • Eur-lex: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/ • Oeil: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/ • Prelex: http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/apcnet.cfm?CL=en • N.B.: Information not always up-to-date! CPIV - EDG

  8. 6. Acting as Far Upstream as Possible • Essential to act before there is a written proposal, when discussions are at the expert level! Influence possibilities are highest. • Once a proposal reaches the Directorate/Directorate-General level it becomes formalized, politicized - influencing becomes more difficult. • At the level of the College of Commissioners, the possibility of influence is almost nil except through the most influential bodies such as BusinessEurope or ETUC. • Influence increases once a proposal is tabled for 1st reading in the EP. Making a proposal for an amendment is simple but the strategy is complicated and costly: number of actors, translations… • In the 2nd reading, the margin decreases as the backing of a political group or 30 MEPs is required. In the conciliation committee, the opportunity for influence is close to zero. CPIV - EDG

  9. 7. How to Approach the EU Institutions • Via an association or a company? • A global influence strategy designed to impact requires a pan-Europeancoalition. • Influencing specific points in a legislative text requires a technical approach. Help from companies, consultants, lawyers may be useful. However, a strong command of the levers of influence in Brussels is definitely needed. • Which approach to choose: political or technical? • Top-down approach: targets the “upper-echelon” policy-makers. Too aggressive and hierarchical (e.g. French, American), it often results in failure. • Technical approach: plays on contacts with classical decision-making structures, on expert groups and the Commission assistants in the drafting/adoption/execution. It is more resource and knowledge intensive but yields higher results! >>>It allows the lobbyist to act upstream, where the potential for amending/modifying is highest. CPIV - EDG

  10. 8. The Importance of Communication • Ca. 45,000Institutional actors ( Commission: 25,000; Parliament: 4,000; Council: 4,000; CoR/EESC: 1,000; PermReps: 3,000), 30,000 Professionals (associations: ca.12,000; NGOs:5,000; business: 2,500; lawyers:2,500 etc.)! • Need to produce a synthesis between technicalcontent and clear presentation to make complicated issues easily understandable! • Need to send out the right message at the right time, to the right person. A good message: visible, short, clear, well translated …and “interesting”. Otherwise it will not be read • MEP assistants are shifting through several hundreds of messages per week… CPIV - EDG

  11. 8. The Importance of Communication • Means of Communication • The Position Paper is “the” basic tool. It must clearly set out one’s position/initiative/proposal and must be technical (concise with facts and expert arguments), short (max. 4 pages, ideally one A4, methodically presented), targeted (identify key actors out of 785!) • A press conference for major issues. N.B.: Difficulty to gather journalists • A well-written press release can be an excellent communication vehicle. • Other: articles, round table events, website... • The Press • Brussels is the number 1 world press centre. Importance to have good contacts with several key journalists. • Two major agencies specializing in European affairs: AGENCE EUROPE and EUROPE INFORMATION SERVICES are important information relays. They put out press releases and their online alerts are read daily by Commission staff. • For news and special reports: www.euractiv.com and www.eisnet.eis.be CPIV - EDG

  12. 9. The Future • The Project for the Constitution: a durable institutional crisis? • “Brussels” - more than ever inescapable: • The legislative power remains intact, its activity increases (e.g. REACH) • The Commission is at the heart of trade negotiations (WTO etc.). • Large national dossiers are being pulled away by Europe (80% of national laws originate from the EU). • EU enlargement continues and accelerates, increasing Brussels’ attraction • Complication of the parameters of the game. • Framework Directives and an increase of comitology. Legislation becomes difficult to adopt. 2,000 committees and expert groups assisting the Commission • A global network approach: new MS, new actors, power of NGOs! Develop transversal coalitions that cover the whole value chain (from cradle to cradle/grave) • More conflicting lobbying strategies: more intervening forces but also manipulation... • The need for leadership: innovation, anticipation, pro-activity, mastery of communication, dialogue with NGOs, federation, convincing, action! CPIV - EDG

  13. Thank you for your attention! CPIV - EDG

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