Lobbying
11 March 2015, Mgr. Hana Zmítková
Some rules
• Switch off your mobile phones during
presentations
• Raise your hand if something unclear
• Don´t be afraid to comment
• Credit = 75% participation + test
Let‘s introduce ourselves
Do you know what is lobbying?
Do you know some lobbyists?
Have you met some?
Agenda for today
• Advocacy vs. Lobbying
• Definitions of lobbying
• EU institutions
• Lobbying in EU and in US
• Transparency and ethical lobbying
• Lobbying and Public affairs
• Lobbying strategy and communication
• Conclusions
Terminology
Political
activity
Lobbying
Advocacy
Each of these terms is different, although often they are
mistakenably used as if they are interchangeable.
What does mean ...
• Political activity
– The term means doing something in active support
of or opposition to a political party.
Almost never OK!
• Lobbying
– Effort designed to influence actions of government/public officials.
Sometimes OK!
• Advocacy
– It is a process by an individual or group which aims to influence decisions
within political, economic, and social systems and institutions.
Always OK!
Advocacy
• The act of pleading, supporting or recommending, a
political process by an individual or group which aims
to influence public policy.
• Communicating with government officials or between
organizations and their members with aim to
– educate
– provide expertise or technical assistance
– release data, research or survey results
– discuss broad policy issues(social, economic..).
How is advocacy different from lobbying?
•Lobbying is only one kind of advocacy. Not all advocacy is
lobbying but all lobbying is advocacy.
•There is no limit to the amount of non-lobbying advocacy
your organization can do, while lobbying activities are
restricted to a percentage of your operating budget .
•Lobbying involves attempts to influence specific legislation
at the local, state, or federal level while advocacy is focused
on educating about a specific issue.
• Lobbying makes up a small portion of the total amount of
advocacy efforts by most non-profits.
An example of an advocacy is a
non-profit organization that works
to help women of domestic abuse
who feel too afraid to speak for
themselves.
More examples?
What do we mean by Lobbying
• Lobbying is persuading people who have to say in
decision making process to do what we want.
• Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions
made by officials in the governments, most often
legislators or members of regulatory agencies.
• Lobbying is done by many different types of people and
organized groups, including individuals in private
sectors, corporations, interests groups...
Etymology of the term lobby
• The term lobby has etymological roots in the physical
structure of the British Parliament, in which there was a
room outside the main hall (lobby).
• People pushing an agenda tried to meet with members
of Parliament in this room, and they came to be known
as lobbyists.
Different types of lobbying
• Paid versus free
• Single issue versus multiple issue lobbying (corporations vs.
unions)
• Inside/direct versus outside/grassroot lobbying
Direct vs. Grassroots lobbying
• Direct/inside lobbying: It involves a person telling his
views to someone directly involved in developing
legislation. A government employee, staff member or
legislator are those with whome you should
communicate your views.
• Grassroots lobbying: It communicates a particular view
regarding a specific legislative proposal to the general
public and persuades citiziens to relay this view to their
local legislators.
Lobbying is a professional activity
• An efficient lobbying requires:
– to anticipate (strategic approach)
– to provide proper arguments
– be able to build an ad hoc network (strategic
alliances) because of a specific interest can be
accepted
– be able to share acceptable views of „public“ interests
or close to it.
Lobbying is a sort of expertise, it is a professional
activity.
How would you describe such kind of
lobbying?
Do you like it? Was it OK?
Do you think it´s obvious to behave like that
being lobbyist?
Lobbying roots are in US and GB
• In US, lobbying was defined in the first Amendment of the
Constitution in 1876.
• In GB, lobbying is part of the political game. Elected officers
support and fully disclose private interests. But due to
negative publicity in 90´s it´s called public affairs, public
relations, political consultancy.
•
Professional public affairs agencies, representing multiple
clients, undertake a significant proportion of lobbying activity
in addition to individual organisations conducting lobbying on
an in-house basis.
Europen Union some facts and figures
European Union
The European Union: 500 million people –
28 countries
Member States of the
European Union
Candidate countries and
potential candidates
EU: 24 official languages
Български
English
latviešu valoda
português
Čeština
español
lietuvių kalba
Română
dansk
français
magyar
slovenčina
Deutsch
Gaeilge
Malti
slovenščina
eesti keel
hrvatski
Nederlands
suomi
Ελληνικά
Italiano
polski
svenska
EU population compared to the rest of the
world
Population in millions, 2014
1537
1252
506
316
EU
China
India
127
144
Japan
Russia
United
States
How rich is the EU compared to the rest of
the world? world?
Size of economy:
2012 gross domestic
product
in trillions of euro
Wealth per person:
2012 gross domestic
product
per person
12.89
37100
11.77
26300
25200
5.96
4.32
1.33
EU
12000
5800
1.46
China India Japan Russia United
States
2600
EU
China India Japan Russia United
States
Three key players
Te
The European Parliament
- voice of the people
Martin Schulz, President of the European
Parliament
The European Council and The
Council
- voice of the Member States
Donald Tusk, President of the European
Council
The European Commission
- promoting the common interest
Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European
Commission
The EU main institutions EU institutions
European Council
(summit)
European Parliament
Court of
Justice
Court of
Auditors
European Investment
Bank
Council of Ministers
(The Council)
European Commission
Economic and Social
Committee
Committee of the
Regions
Agencies
European Central Bank
Council of Ministers – voice of the Member States
Ministers – voice of the Member States
• One minister from each EU country
• Presidency: rotates every six months
• Decides EU laws and budget together with Parliament
• Manages the common foreign and security policy
Council of Ministers – how they vote
they vote
Most decisions in the Council are taken by ‘double
majority’.
A decision must have the support of at least:
•
55 % of the Member States (16 countries)
•
Member States that represent 65 % of the EU’s population
Summit at the European Council
Summit of heads of state and government of all EU countries
• Held at least 4 times a year
• Sets the overall guidelines for EU policies
• President: Donald Tusk
EU commission
The Commission is composed of the College of Commissioners of 28
members, including the President and Vice-Presidents. The Commissioners,
one from each EU country, are the Commission's political leadership during
a 5-year term. Each Commissioner is assigned responsibility for specific
policy areas by the President. They are responsible for proposing
legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing
the day-to-day business of the EU.
The European Parliament – voice of the people
Decides EU laws and budget together with the Council of Ministers
Democratic supervision of all the EU’s work.
MP´s have to sign 10-point code of conduct on lobbying.
Accredited lobbyists receive special passes to access to meetings of the European
Parliament.
Number of members elected in each country
Austria - 18
Germany - 96
Netherlands - 26
Belgium - 21
Greece - 21
Poland - 51
Bulgaria - 17
Hungary - 21
Portugal - 21
Croatia - 11
Ireland - 11
Romania - 32
Cyprus - 6
Italy - 73
Slovakia - 13
Czech Republic - 21
Latvia - 8
Slovenia - 8
Denmark - 13
Lithuania - 11
Spain - 54
Estonia - 6
Luxembourg - 6
Sweden - 20
Finland - 13
Malta - 6
United Kingdom - 73
France - 74
Total - 751
The European political parties
Number of seats in the European Parliament
per political group (November 2014)
Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe
67
Greens/European Free Alliance
50
Progressive Alliance of
Socialists and Democrats
191
European People’s Party
(Christian Democrats)
221
European Conservatives
and Reformists
70
Europe of Freedom
and Direct Democracy
48
European United
Left - Nordic Green Left
52
Non-attached members
52
Total: 751
The Court of Justice – upholding the law
The Court of Justice – upholding the law
28 independent judges, one from each EU country
• Rules on how to interpret EU law
• Ensures EU countries apply EU laws in the same way
The European Economic and Social
Committee: voice of civil society
353 members
•
Represents trade unions, employers, farmers,
consumers and so on
•
Advises on new EU laws and policies
•
Promotes the involvement of civil society in EU
matters
The Committee of the Regions: voice of
local government
353 members
•
Represents cities and regions
•
Advises on new EU laws and policies
•
Promotes the involvement of local government
in EU matters
Civil servants working for the EU
The Commission employs about 23 000 permanent civil
servants and 11 000 temporary or contract workers
Other EU institutions employ about 10 000 staff
• Permanent civil servants
• Selected by open competitions
• Come from all EU countries
• Salaries decided by law
• EU administration costs €15 per EU citizen per year
• EU staff will be reduced by 5% between 2013 and 2017
How EU laws are made
Citizens, interest groups, experts: discuss, consult
Commission: makes formal proposal
Parliament and Council of Ministers: decide jointly
National or local authorities: implement
Commission and Court of Justice: monitor implementation
Lobbying Actors in the EU
• Lobbyists in Brussels fall into 3 categories:
– Industry associations, professional federations
– Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
– Regional representations
• Chamber of commerce
• Lobbying consulting groups
• Offices of large companies
Who are those lobbyists?
• About 3000 lobby groups with permanent office in
Brussels
• Big variety: Private vs. Public, Profit vs. Non-profit
• Industries form the biggest group (about 70%)
• Financial support (1 bilion euro) for non-commercial
interests (elderly, handicaped)
No specific diploma but a real job
• Lobbying doesn´t require special dilpoma, no specific
training...
• It is clearly a distinctive job that demands the knowledge
of the institutional system, understanding the laws and
texts, a good public relations and communication,
language and increasingly specific technical expertise.
Transparency since 1996
• The EP has had a Code of Conduct and Register
since 1996
• From 2011 a joint Transparency Register
• From 2011 revised Code of Conduct for European
Commisioners (may not engage in other professional activity, may be
politically active, have to declare financial interests, 18 month their mandate
ends shall not lobby, cannot accept gift if value is higher than 150 Eur)
• From 2012 similar Code of Conduct for MPs
Ethical lobbying is a must
• Few questions remains:
• How to perform the function of lobbyist with professional
competence, personal integrity and civic response.
• How to assurew the public that lobbying is done
ethically.
• There should be an Ethically responsible lobbying which
serves the public debate with a clear identification of all
of the interests being represented in the attempt to
influence policy.
Regulation of professional codes?
• Lobbying is a job that most professionals carry out in
compliance with the law and morals. But where power
and money mix, this may not be the case; hence the
need for rules.
• Be they regulatory or professional, the rules must meet
at least two criteria:
• it must create transparency
• it must make it possible to pick out rotten apples.
Key conclusions for lobbyists in EU
•
•
•
•
Transparent behaviour is non-negotiable
Registration while voluntary is expected
Single issue coalitions must register and be transparent
MPs or officials can ask you if you are registered before
granting meetings
• Confidentiality is a condition that must be asserted in
advance (commercially sensitive information)
• MPs and some officials may publish names of people
they meet or materials they receive
Questions?
Lobbying in US
• Lobbying happens at every level of government,
including federal, state, county, municipal, and even
local governments.
• In Washington, lobbying usually targets
congresspersons, although there have been efforts
to influence executive agency officials as well as
Supreme Court appointments.
• Since the 1970s, lobbying activity has grown
incredibly in terms of the numbers of lobbyists and
the size of lobbying budgets.
• Lobbying Disclosure Act 1995
Definitions of Lobbying
• Effort designed to influence actions of government/public
officials
• Pressure group that tries to influence policies
• Activities of persons representing a group interests
• Communication technique that aims to influence public
authorities
• Beyond the simple expression of a viewpoint lobbying
can be a mean of helping a public decision-making body
Any comments? Ideas?
Lobbyists. Left to right: Jack Abramoff, golf organizer Jason Murdoch,
former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, convicted former Bush
administration official David Safavian, and Bob Ney.
Myth or truth about lobbying
• Lobbying is still not always ethical
• Lobbying means for many people
corruption
• 73% of Czechs believes that lobbying is
always connected with bribery and dirty
game
• Lobbying has no regulations
And conclusion ...
• In any modern democracy, a place must be done to be a
direct expression of private economic and social
interests
• Lobbying is therefore a tool for an efficient democracy
if...these activities are conducted in an ethical and
professional way
• To improve transparency with registers at the European
and national scales is a good think, to the other hand
professional lobbyists must ensure a self control and
regulation of their jobs.
Make a team work
• Find out definitions of public affairs
• Find out definition of public relation
• What is difference between public affairs
and public relation
Lobbying strategy
Fundamentals of effective
lobbying, planning, successfull
advocacy
Lobbying strategy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Objectives
Message
Resources
First efforts
Audiences
Delivery
Gaps
Evaulation
What do we want?
What do they need to hear?
What do we have got?
How do we begin?
Who can give it to you?
How can we get them to hear it?
What do we need to develop?
How do we know if its working?
Objectives
• Any lobbying effort must begin with a sense of its goals
• What are the long-term goals and what are the shortterm goals ín terms of process and the people you want
to get involved?
• These goals need to be defined at the beginning in a
way that can launch an effort, draw people to it and
sustain it over time.
How to influence
• Be well briefed
• Be well timed (no sense to lobby after the decision has
been made)
• Be well aimed -target the right person
• Be diplomatic, behave well
• Be well prepared (index sources every day, build up
network for information)
• Be good communicator
Audiences
• An effective lobbying campaign requires a clear sense of
who these audiences are and what access or pressure
points are available to move them.
• This includes legislators and those who have capacity
to influence them, f.e. the media
Who are the people who makes
decisions that affects our lives
Ministers, Senators, MPs, Organisations, Institutions,
Municipality officials, PR /PA agencies
Message
• All messages must be rooted in the same basic truth and
be tailored differently to different audiences depending
on what they are ready to hear.
• Must appeal to the audience´s self interest.
Methods of delivery
• Personal meeting (be well prepared,know the facts,
leave info materials, put timings)
• Letter (be clear, make it real, use examples)
• E-mail
• Press release (decide the one thing you want to say and
say it well, be brief –focus)
• Telephone
• Via professional lobbyist
Fundamentals for effective lobbying
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
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Be fair and reasonable
Be realistic and willing to compromise
Never leave in anger
Contact with regularity
Be Actual and Factual
Give credit where credit is due
Don´t get too emotional
Prioritise concerns
Keep Everything in writing – Archive
Evaulation
• Never forget, evaulate continuously
• Be flexible
• It´s not a shame to reshape or even change objective.
Do‘s and Don‘ts for effective
lobbying
DO
• Commit to your cause.
• Get to the point soon and focus on your issue. Time is
precious.
• Keep it simple. Explain in simple and straightforward
terms the logic supporting your position.
• Get to know all stakeholders, lawmakers and their staff
• There is strenght in numbers, facts and figures.
• Be a good winner and loser, you win something and you
lose something.
Do‘s and Don‘ts for effective
lobbying
DON´T
• Cover multiply issues in one communication
• Underestimate the weight given to letters and phone
calls
• Never lie
• Forget that you and your lawmaker need each other.
Building relationships
• Get to know the political powers before you ask them to
do something for you.
• Establish a positive relationship with your
representatives through visits, phone calls ...
• Provide them with background information and offer
yourself as a resource.
• Provide recognition and visibility in exchange of their
support.
Lobbying plan 1/2
• The lobbying plan explains how to gain support and
minimize opposition.
• Consider the following elements when developing a
lobbying plan: people, cost and benefits, timing, place,
campaign contributions, communication with media,
avoiding unnecessary conflicts and maintaning
confidentiality.
Lobbying plan 2/2
• Identify the key decision makers
• Identify executive agencies that can support your issue.
• Find special interest groups as corporations, assotiations
and local governments.
• Locate potentional supporters and look for nontraditional
allies.
• Try to identify the amount of lobbying needed and
estimate the costs.
Communication with media
• Consider how to use the media to promote your issue.
Develop press releases that explain the identity of your
organization, its members and its lobbying goals.
• Select representative with high credentials, good
communication skills and well briefed to represent you in
the media.
Benefits of lobbying
• Tax benefits
• Improved Cash Flows
• Increased market value of equity
• ....
„Ten people who speak make
more noise than ten thousand
who are silent.“
Your homework for February 25
• Present a loobying or advocacy case from
the country of your origin
Thank you for your
atention