WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN LOBBYING?

The great majority of our legislation stems from the EU legislation. This means that what is decided in Brussels affects 500 million of people throughout Europe. This is why around 15,000 people work in Brussels every day around the European Institutions in order to influence the decisions and their legislative process: this practice is the so-called “lobbying.”

In Brussels, the lobbying activity is exercised by consulting firms, European trade federations, law firms, multi-national corporations, NGO’s, etc. which advocate their interest before the policy-maker.

A lobbyist will need to combine a perfect knowledge of the EU law decision- making process with communication and negotiation skills, political sensibility, and excellent content-based knowledge of the issue concerned.  A lobbyist can speak several languages and works in a multi-cultural environment. This profession is normally well paid.

The lobbyist has, therefore, a multi-faceted profile:  he will partially act as a lawyer, as well as a public relations officer, an intelligence gatherer, and a negotiator.

It is a well-recognized and high level job which responds to specific ethic and deontological criteria.  It is one of the highest expressions of a mature democracy, able to involve civil society in the decisional process.

AdvocacyEurope (ADEU), through its tailor-made specialized courses, forms the lobbyists by providing all the required skills.