European Lobbying - Pact European Affairs

145 Pages·2012·2.65 MB·English

GUÉGUEN
L
I have put into this book 30 years of experience
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I
in European lobbying to answer the most N
A
important question:
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How to be influential tomorrow in Brussels?
European lobbying structures:

• The panorama of lobbying in Brussels
• European Trade Associations
E U R O P E A N
• Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
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• European Business Representation
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• Measuring their performance – Creating alliances
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The technical tools: Y
Soon to be
published in: B
• Methodology for effective monitoring
• Croatian B
L O B B Y I N G
• Business Intelligence
• Czech
O
• Networks (upstream and downstream)
• Romanian
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• Institutional Communication
• Russian
• The press, vector of information and influence
• Serbian
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• Slovenian
European lobbying strategies:
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• Ukrainian
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• Anticipation and impact assessment
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• The “top down” or “bottom up” approach?
• Strategies: negative, defensive, reactive, pro-active O
• Coalitions – indispensable, necessary, or worthless?
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• Business platforms – Transversal lobbying
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• What prospects for European lobbying in 2010? n
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E d i t i
e
2 n d  
A methodical and 100% practical analysis of European lobbying
EUROPOLITICS
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]
[email protected]
Price: 30 E
ISBN : 978-2-930409-06-1
Europolitics
rue d’Arlon, 53
B-1040 Brussels
tel. [phone]
fax [phone]
[email protected]
2nd edition September 2007
© Daniel Guéguen
ISBN 978-2-930409-06-1
Bibliography of Daniel Guéguen
For Europolitics
● The Comitology reform. With Vicky Marissen – September 2007
● European lobbying – February 2007
● Comitology and other Committees & Expert Groups
with Caroline Rosberg – February 2004
● The Practical Guide to the EU labyrinth
First edition: June 1991 – translated into 20 languages
For Europe Information Service
● The Euro: Europe’s Construction or Destruction?
with Juan Carlos Gonzalez Alvarez – December 2004
For Éditions Apogée
● Clés pour le Parlement Européen
with Dominique Lund – January 1992
● Euro-subventions : mode d’emploi
with Bernard de Galembert – June 1992
● Les Écus de l’Europe
with Roxanne Feller and Bernard de Galembert – May 1993
● Le Parlement Européen pour une Europe des citoyens – January 1994
● L’Europe à contre-sens – April 1996
For Éditions Dervy
● Les bijoux Rose-Croix (1760-1890)
with Robert Vanloo and Philippe Klein – May 2003
Translation and French adaptation
● Le drame yougoslave by Mihailo Crnobrnja – September 1992
● Europe l’étrange superpuissance by David Buchan – June 1993
With thanks to
Tim McPhie
Laurence de l’Escaille
Jasmine Heinen
And a special thank you to all my colleagues
Ludo BAMMENS (Coca-Cola), Alain BEAUMONT (Unesda), Martina BIANCHINI (Dow
Europe), Pr. Steven BILLET (George Washington University), Georg BRODACH (ABB),
Suzan DANGER (AmCham EU), Marcel DANIELS (Merck), Jean-Claude DELTHEIL
(Cercle de l’Industrie), John DREW (Ad hoc Council), Xavier DURIEU (Eurocommerce),
Franz-Josef FEITER (COPA- COGECA), Alfredo FILLIPONE (ACEA), Solène
FLAHAULT (Carrefour), Costa GOLFIDIS (COPA-COGECA), Alain de GREVE (SHV
Gas), John HONTELEZ (BEE), Guido KAYAERT (Nestlé), Beate KETTLITZ (CIAA),
Frank KOELEWIJN (Petcore), Maarten LABBERTON (EAA), Jean-Claude LAHAUT
(CEFIC), Pierre-Yves LE BORGN’ (First Solar), Chistophe LECLERCQ (EurActiv),
Yves de L’ESPINAY (EuLA), Tony LONG (WWF), Rodolphe de LOOZ-CORSWAREM
(Brewers of Europe), Thierry de l’ESCAILLE (ELO), Hans MARTENS (EPC), Erika MINK
(Tetra Pak), Luis MORAGO (Oxfam), Luc MORELON (Lactalis), Jim MURRAY (BEUC),
BernardO’CONNOR (O’Connor and Company), Patrick OZOUX (Michelin), Marc PAINSMAYE
(Unilever), Clairie PAPAZOGLOU (Birdlife), Russell PATTEN (British Chamber of Commerce),
Robin PEDLER (ETI), Wim PHILIPPA (ERT), Teresa PRESAS (CEPI), Eric REMACLE
(ULB), Jorgo RISS (Greenpeace), Marc SAPIR (CES), Carla SCHOETERS (CAN), Peter
SCHOETTLE (Brookings Institution), Andrew SOMOGYI (FEVE), Dominique TAEYMANS
(Brasseurs belges), Jan TE BOS (Plastics Europe), Henri THOME (Bouygues), Karen
TRAMONTANO (Dutko Worlwide), Pr. Laurent van DEPOELE (GEPE), Guy VERNAEVE
(Europêche), Michel VIAUD (EPIA), Christophe WOLFF (EDA), Harald WIEDENHOFFER
(EFFAT), Pascaline WINAND (ULB),
who have all kindly welcomed me for an open and always fruitful debate.
Dedicated to Michel Viaud
Daniel Guéguen’s European career
Positions Activities
• In 1988 managed the redeployment of CEFS
from Paris to Brussels.
1975-1994: • Development of social sectoral dialogue and
Successively Head of the Economic Service, Sec- creation of a strategic alliance with EFFAT,
retary General then Director General from 1988 European Federation of Trade Unions in the
of the European Committee of Sugar Manufac- Food Agriculture and Tourism Sectors.
turers (CEFS). • Two lobbying priorities: maintaining favour-
able regulation for the sugar industry and
obtaining a safeguard clause for the Uruguay
Round (WTO).
• Development of a partnership between GEOPA
1994-1996: (agricultural employers) and agricultural
Manager under the title of Secretary General of workers.
COPA-COGECA, one of the principal European • Attempt to unite the different agricultural
associations representing farmers and agricultural associations in a “COPA-COGECA galaxy”.
cooperatives in the European Union. • Reconciliation with the agri-food industries.
• Lobbying priorities: CAP, WTO, common
market organisations, community funding…
• Author of many books on Europe includ-
1997-2…: ing the Practical Guide to the EU Labyrinth,
Founder and CEO of CLAN Public Affairs translated into 20 languages.
(ESL&Network group), one of the leading Euro- • Guest lecturer at “Université Libre de Bru-
pean consultancies. xelles” (Master in European Affairs).
• Co-founder of the first European school of
2004: lobbying (EIPAL – 1992).
Creation of a European services platform com- • Directly involved in numerous lobbying dos-
bining consultancy (CLAN Public Affairs), press siers: CAP, WTO, food legislation, packag-
(Europolitics), training (European Training ing, PVC, duty free, bananas, chocolate, sugar,
Institute), and business centers (CLAN Business energy, transport…
Centres). • “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur” for his
European activities.
“In Brussels, influence is personal”
Tony Long
Director, WWF European Policy Office
This book has been written on the back of my practical experience in European affairs. Certain
ideas presented could be disputed and it is not impossible that omissions or errors have crept in here
or there.
Any contributions, comments and corrections are welcome for the third edition of this publication.
Please do not hesitate to contact me:
Daniel Guéguen
Clan Public Affairs – Group ESL & Network
rue Froissart 57
B-1040 Brussels
tel. [phone]
fax [phone]
[email protected]

CONTENTS
Introduction: European lobbying in perpetual motion ..................................................... 13
1. Times of construction (1957-1970): fusional lobbying ......................................................... 13
2. The low tide (1971-1987): diplomatic lobbying .................................................................... 13
3. The single market (1988-2005): strategic lobbying ............................................................... 14
4. The 30 nations Europe (2006-…): transversal lobbying ........................................................ 15
From sectoral lobbying to transversal lobbying: a revolution under way ...................... 16
Part One: Lobbying structures .................................................................................19
Chapter 1: An overview of lobbying in Brussels ........................................................................ 20
Introduction to the various structures of lobbying .................................................................. 21
Chapter 2: European trade associations .................................................................................... 22
1. An overview of the European trade associations in Brussels ................................................ 22
2. The members of European trade associations ..................................................................... 31
A. The typical structure ...................................................................................................... 31
B. Mixed systems combining national associations and corporate members ....................... 33
C. Towards direct company membership? ........................................................................... 36
3. The operational structure of European associations ............................................................ 39
A. Unanimity voting leads to impotency ............................................................................ 39
B. The role of the Secretary General in the decision-making process .................................. 40
4. European associations and national associations: who’s in charge? ..................................... 43
5. The audit: how to evaluate the performance of a European association .............................. 45
Chapter 3: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) .............................................................. 50
A. The NGO platform in Brussels (the Civil Society Contact Group) ..................................... 50
B. The position of NGOs in the EU arena .............................................................................. 53
C. The strategy and working methods of NGOs ..................................................................... 54
D. NGO/business partnerships ................................................................................................. 57
Chapter 4: European trade unions ............................................................................................. 59
A. ETUC: a force to be reckoned with ..................................................................................... 59
B. European sectoral social dialogue ....................................................................................... 60
C. Why and how to work with ETUC? .................................................................................... 61
Chapter 5: European representation of business ....................................................................... 63
A. A trend for reducing the size of European representations ................................................. 63
B. The choice of representation for a large company in Brussels ............................................. 64
C. Strategy of multinational companies in Brussels ................................................................. 64
Contents 7
Part Two: The tools .................................................................................................69
Chapter 1: European legislative monitoring .............................................................................. 70
A. The basics of monitoring: perimeter and depth .................................................................. 70
B. Frequency, audience ............................................................................................................ 71
C. A typical day of legislative monitoring ............................................................................... 72
D. Our method: a system of standardised reports ................................................................... 74
Chapter 2: Business intelligence in Brussels ............................................................................. 75
A. BI offers fantastic potential for information at European level ........................................... 75
B. Methodology for researching information ........................................................................... 77
C. BI: a major strategic tool .................................................................................................... 79
Chapter 3: Upstream and downstream network ....................................................................... 80
A. The notion of global networks ........................................................................................... 80
B. Upstream and downstream networks .................................................................................. 82
C. National networks .............................................................................................................. 83
Chapter 4: Institutional communication ................................................................................... 84
A. The No 1 problem of written and oral communication ....................................................... 84
B. The 10 golden rules of oral communication ........................................................................ 85
C. The 10 golden rules of written communication ................................................................... 86
D. Towards a new type of position paper? ............................................................................... 86
E. Do good manners still count? ............................................................................................. 88
Chapter 5: The accredited press ................................................................................................ 89
A. An overview of the accredited press in Brussels .................................................................. 89
B. European journalists: how to work with them? ................................................................... 89
C. The press as part of a lobbying campaign ........................................................................... 90
D. The press, an integral part of your network ........................................................................ 91
Part Three: Lobbying strategies ...............................................................................93
Chapter 1: Lobbying, an integral part of the decision-making process ................................... 94
A. A legally recognised counter-balance, with a considerable influence ................................... 95
B. “Good lobbyist” – “Bad lobbyist” ....................................................................................... 95
C. Influence in Brussels depends on excellence ........................................................................ 96
D. Where national lobbying is essentially political; European lobbying is mainly technical .... 96
Chapter 2: The preparatory phase ............................................................................................. 98
A. The 7 pillars of European lobbying .................................................................................... 98
B. Anticipation ........................................................................................................................ 99
C. Impact assessment and prioritisation ................................................................................ 100
D. Intervention “from the top” or “from the bottom” ........................................................... 102
8 Contents
Chapter 3: Where and when to intervene? ............................................................................... 104
A. The equal importance of the three Institutions ................................................................. 104
B. Interventions during the proposal phase ........................................................................... 104
C. Interventions at the different stages of the co-decision procedure ..................................... 106
D. Interventions at the execution phase (Comitology) ........................................................... 112
Chapter 4: Adopting a strategy: negative, defensive, reactive, pro-active .............................. 117
A. Firstly, manage the constraints ......................................................................................... 117
B. Adopting a strategy ........................................................................................................... 118
C. Four strategic options ....................................................................................................... 119
1. Negative lobbying strategies .......................................................................................... 119
2. Defensive lobbying strategies ........................................................................................ 120
3. Reactive lobbying strategies .......................................................................................... 123
4. Pro-active lobbying strategies ........................................................................................ 123
D. Some statistics on lobbying strategies ............................................................................... 127
Chapter 5: Classical coalitions: indispensable, necessary or worthless? ................................ 128
A. Sectoral associations, a classic spearhead of lobbying in the 1970s & 1980s ..................... 129
B. The concentric coalitions of the 1990s: Big is beautiful! .................................................... 129
C. European lobbying + national lobbying: another form of coalition .................................. 130
D. Acting alone? .................................................................................................................... 131
Chapter 6: The new coalitions ................................................................................................. 132
A. Platforms .......................................................................................................................... 132
– Public/private partnership platforms .............................................................................. 132
– “Shop window” platforms .............................................................................................. 133
– “Counter Balance” platforms ......................................................................................... 133
– Industrial platforms ....................................................................................................... 134
– Platforms created as lobbying tools ................................................................................ 134
B. Transversal lobbying ......................................................................................................... 135
– The emergence of civil society as a means of influence .................................................. 135
– Breaking “the segregation of interests” .......................................................................... 136
– Transversal lobbying: the theory .................................................................................... 137
– Transversal lobbying: the practice .................................................................................. 137
– A transversal alliance for the revision of the Directive of sewage sludge ........................ 138
Chapter 7: And what about ethics? .......................................................................................... 139
A. The budget: a false problem .............................................................................................. 139
B. Ethics: law and practice ..................................................................................................... 140
Contents 9