European Lobbying Guide. A Guide On Whom and How to Lobby

193 Pages·1999·0.39 MB·English

T H O R O G O O D
P R O F E S S I O N A L
I N S I G H T S
A SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED REPORT
EUROPEAN
LOBBYING GUIDE
A GUIDE ON WHOM AND
HOW TO LOBBY
Bryan Cassidy
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A Thorogood Report
EUROPEAN LOBBYING GUIDE
A guide on whom and how to lobby
Bryan Cassidy
Published by Thorogood
Other Thorogood 10-12 Rivington Street
London EC2A 3DU
Reports:
t: 020 7749 4748
Public Affairs f: 020 7729 6110
Techniques for e:
The author
Bryan Cassidy was a Member of the European Parliament for 15 years from 1984-
1999 specialising in economic, industry and monetary affairs. During that time,
as a recipient of too much ill thought out lobbying from the proliferating interest
and pressure groups in Brussels, he became an expert on the subject.
He a business advisor, lecturer and writer on the European Union.
Before his election to the European Parliament, he had a successful career in inter-
national business and he is a former member of the Council of Confederation of
British Industry (CBI).
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Contents
FOREWORD TO THE LOBBYING GUIDE 1
Preface...........................................................................................................2
Further information.......................................................................................4
1EUROPEAN LOBBYING GUIDE 7
Lobbying – an introduction ...........................................................................8
What is lobbying? ..........................................................................................9
Interest groups and pressure groups...........................................................10
Governments as lobbyists............................................................................10
2THE ‘INSTITUTIONS’ OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 11
European Union (EU) or European Community (EC)? ................................12
The European Council.................................................................................13
The Council .................................................................................................13
The European Commission .........................................................................23
E U R O P E A N L O B B Y I N G G U I D E
3THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OTHER BODIES 29
The Single European Act .............................................................................30
The Maastricht Treaty..................................................................................31
The Treaty of Amsterdam ............................................................................31
The Co-decision Procedure .........................................................................33
Parliamentary Committees ..........................................................................33
Composition and profile .............................................................................34
The European Parliament and the Budget ...................................................36
Parliamentary Committees of Inquiry and committee public hearings ......37
THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF EUROPEAN
4COMMUNITY LAW 41
The Economic and Social Committee .........................................................42
The Committee of the Regions ...................................................................44
The Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ) ..........................45
Other bodies................................................................................................46
The different kinds of European Community Law ......................................48
5HOW AND WHOM TO LOBBY 51
Getting a proposal approved ......................................................................52
Lobbying the Commission ..........................................................................53
Commissioners or their officials? ...............................................................53
Council involvement – UKREP ...................................................................53
Publication of draft directives ....................................................................54
C O N T E N T S
The parliamentary stage .............................................................................54
Lobbying in the European Parliament ........................................................55
The Commission’s work programme .........................................................55
Rules to observe .........................................................................................56
1ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 59
2THE TREATIES 67
3COUNCIL DECISION 71
Rules of Procedure of the Council ..............................................................73
Annex I ........................................................................................................87
Annex II .......................................................................................................88
ANNEX ANNEX ANNEX
E U R O P E A N L O B B Y I N G G U I D E
COMMISSION RULES OF PROCEDURE
4ADOPTED ON 18 SEPTEMBER 1999 93
Chapter 1: The Commission........................................................................94
Section I: Commission meetings .................................................................95
Section II: Other decision-making procedures............................................97
Section III: Preparation and implementation of Commission decisions .....98
Chapter 2: Commission departments........................................................100
Chapter 3: Deputising ...............................................................................101
Final provisions .........................................................................................102
NEW DIRECTORATES-GENERAL AND
5THEIR DIRECTORS-GENERAL (DGs) 103
COUNCIL DECISION 93/731/EC OF
20 DECEMBER 1993 ON PUBLIC
ACCESS TO COUNCIL DOCUMENTS
6AMENDED 2 DECEMBER 1996 107
ANNEX ANNEX ANNEX