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

Why is it so little understood? 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 EU Press Commission +/- 3.000 journalists -proposes Federations (EuroCommerce), NGOs, lobbyists, etc. Press +/- 3.000 journalists -proposes Council 25 Member States - adopts legislation 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 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

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