"On Lobby & Public Affairs | A transparent added-value strategic manner of managing political

communication and Issues Management” Lisbon, 11th November 2014

Jorge Cerveira Pinto

“The Brussels Way: The Function of the Accredited Lobbyist”

Jorge Cerveira Pinto

jorgecerveirapinto@msn.com

EU Consultant, Programme Expert and Accredited Lobbyist at EuroParl

Who can be an Accredited Lobbyist?

Acording to the European Commission and the European Parliament:

“All organisations and self-employed individuals engaged in “activities carried out with the objective of directly or indirectly influencing the formulation or implementation of policy and decision-making processes of the EU institutions”.

In order to develop these activities YOU are expected to register.

Introduction: Transparency Register (TR)

In conformity with the participatory democracy principles enshrined in Article 11 TEU, EU institutions must remain open to contributions from citizens, representative associations and civil society.

The Transparency Register (TR) was set up as a voluntary scheme by the European Parliament (EP) and the European Commission (EC) together, to add transparency to the EU decision-making process.

The TR, housed on the EC's europa portal provides citizens with information about organisations seeking to represent their interests on the EU level:

http://europa.eu/transparency-register/index_en.htm

Putting the TR into context: regulating interest representation

The TR and international standards and practices

Through this scheme, the EU institutions involved have joined the relatively few public authorities in the world (among others: the USA, Canada, Australia), which have developed various systems to regulate interest representation, including lobbying, and provide more transparency in this area.

Among these systems, the TR ranks among those offering the widest range of information to citizens, and is applicable to the widest playing field.

The TR is in line with international standards in this domain, such as the Recommendation of the OECD Council on Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying.

What does registering imply and who needs to register?

Registration shows that an organisation interacts with the European institutions and provides the minimum elements of information which are required for the purpose of ensuring transparency toward the citizens about who is engaged in this type of activities.

It does not mean that those registering can be labelled 'lobbyists' as there is no commonly agreed definition of this word and that the scope of the Register is much wider, encompassing all activities covered by article 11 of the Treaty on participatory democracy.

It is not the nature of the organisation which is the determining factor for registration, but the nature of the activities in which the organisation is engaged.

Code of Conduct In their relations with the EU institutions and their Members, officials and other staff, registrants shall:

a) always identify themselves by name and by the entity or entities they work for or represent; declare the interests, objectives or aims promoted and, where applicable, specify the clients or members whom they represent;

b) not obtain or try to obtain information, or any decision, dishonestly, or by use of undue pressure or inappropriate behaviour;

c) not claim any formal relationship with the EU or any of its institutions in their dealings with third parties, nor misrepresent the effect of registration in such a way as to mislead third parties or officials or other staff of the EU;

d) ensure that, to the best of their knowledge, information which they provide upon registration and subsequently in the framework of their activities within the scope of the register is complete, up-to-date and not misleading;

e) not sell to third parties copies of documents obtained from any EU institution;

f) not induce Members of the EU institutions, officials or other staff of the EU, or assistants or trainees of those Members, to contravene the rules and standards of behaviour applicable to them;

g) if employing former officials or other staff of the EU or assistants or trainees of Members of the EU institutions, respect the obligation of such employees to abide by the rules and confidentiality requirements which apply to them;

h) observe any rules laid down on the rights and responsibilities of former Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission;

i) inform whomever they represent of their obligations towards the EU institutions;

Transparency Register (TR)

http://europa.eu/transparency-register

• As of 31 October 2013 there were 5 952 registrants in the TR in

total, of which almost half have registered as Section II (2 972 in-

house lobbyists and trade/professional associations) and about one

quarter in Section III (1 536 NGOs).

• About almost 6,000 organisations engaged in activities seeking to

influence the EU policy and decision-making process, all bound by a

common code of conduct.

• The EP has made registration on the TR a precondition for

facilitated access to its buildings.

1 – Content of register by section

1 – Content of register by section

Tipology of Accredited Lobbyist – some clarifications…

Registrants must select the section or subsection that most accurately reflects the nature of their organisation and work: Section I: •Only individual persons working alone (self-employed persons, small-scale entrepreneurs, freelancers, etc.) should register in the subsection "consultants acting as independents". Any entity involving more than one person must register in one of the two other subsections. Section III: •Any entity registered under this heading must be completely independent from any profit-making organisation (commercial, industrial, etc.). As soon as there is a profit-making element in its membership (at whatever sublevel), the entity must register in one of the subcategories foreseen under section II. Section IV: •Any entities with "Research" as a primary purpose – whatever its field of application (scientific, political, economic, technical, etc.) – and which do not include any profit-making entities or associations of profit-making entities in its membership should register in the subsection "think tanks and research institutions". If the primary purpose is an educational activity, they must register in the specific subsection "Academic institution".

Activities Expected activities include:

- contacting members or officials of the EU institutions;

- preparing, circulating and communicating letters, information material or

argumentation and position papers;

- organising events, meetings or promotional activities (in the offices or in

other venues).

This also includes activities that are part of formal consultations on legislative

proposals and other open consultations.

Activities Certain specific activities do not fall within this scope:

− providing legal and other professional advice, when this concerns the exercise of a

client’s fundamental right to a fair trial, including the right of the defence in administrative

proceedings.

− activities of the social partners when they are part of the Social Dialogue. This applies

mutatis mutandis to any entity specifically designated in the Treaties to play an

institutional role.

− in response to direct and individual request from an EU institution or a Member of the

European Parliament such as ad hoc or regular requests for factual information, data or

expertise and/or individualised invitations to attend public hearings or to participate in the

workings of consultative committees or in any similar forum.

Activities 1. Main legislative proposals covered by the activities of the registrant: under this

label, registrants should list the legislative files on which they have worked and

carried out activities falling under the scope of the Register. For legislative files, it is

the entirety of the process which is understood, that is: from its early preparation

(Green - White papers), including the Commission preparatory work, up to the

legislative process (Directives and Regulations) and the final adoption of the texts by

the legislative bodies. It includes the EU annual budget, the multiannual financial

framework and major policy-review processes.

Examples: European Commission annual work program; European Commission Impact

assessment (including the roadmaps); Legislative Observatory (European Parliament); Prelex

data base; Work in Progress of the European Parliament; Work in Progress document by

Parliamentary committees

Activities What do Public Policy Advocates do?

Although Public Policy Advocates can open doors for you, a good Public Policy Advocate

will do a lot more than that. Public Policy Advocates can offer a whole range of services,

including:

(1)Setting Goals: You really should already know what your goals are before you talk to

any Public Policy Advocates. But Public Policy Advocates can help you translate your

goals (which may be business-oriented or end-results oriented) into goals that make

sense in the context of government.

(2)Strategy, Timing, & Focus: Help you develop a strategy and focus your efforts where

they’ll be most successful at the proper time. If a Public Policy Advocate doesn’t

specifically mention this in your talks with them, you might want to talk to another Public

Policy Advocate. No matter how many contacts a public policy advocacy firm has, without

the proper strategy, and execution at the right time, it won’t be effective.

Education

Activities What do Public Policy Advocates do?

(3) Education: Educate you on government processes, regulations, & potential traps

(like conflict-of-interest laws).

(4) Representation: Represent you and your interests to the government, so you don’t

have to be there in person doing it yourself most of the time. Simply put, Public Policy

Advocates are talking with lawmakers, their staff, civil servants, and everyone else

involved in the process, day in and day out. Everyone working in the government has so

much work to do and so many people talking with them all the time that, even if your

issue is very important to someone, it probably won’t get enough attention without

someone there to remind them about it. A good Public Policy Advocate should do that for

you.

Activities What do Public Policy Advocates do?

(5) Relationships: Help you develop relationships with people in government that can

help you achieve your goals. This is where contacts come in. If you have a good Public

Policy Advocate , he/she knows enough people that, even if he/she doesn’t know the

specific people you really need to talk to, he/she can get introduced to them through

someone else he/she knows. Often all it takes to get a meeting with a lawmaker who

hasn’t returned your calls is a call from another lawmaker mentioning your name.

Although your Public Policy Advocate doesn’t have to know the exact people you need to

talk to for him/her be effective, he/she needs to know a lot of people. So the size of

his/her contact pool is more important than the specific people in the pool. Quality of

contacts is the next most important.

(6) Champions: Find and support “champions” within the government who are willing to

push for your objectives from within.

Activities What do Public Policy Advocates do?

(7) Coalition Building: Individuals, businesses and organizations often have common

interests that will provide a basis to work legislation effectively. Cooperation can

significantly improve and strengthen the position being advocated on behalf of any

individual or association. Coalition building is a key aspect of effective government

relations. Many groups lack the staff, time or money to thoroughly participate in every

legislative initiative or action on its own. Public Policy Advocates provide the professional

and technical resources to help you develop these relationships, build the necessary

coalitions, and advocate with greater numbers to enhance the likelihood of a successful

outcome.

(8) Monitoring: Provide customized reports on pending legislation, interim studies,

special commissions, task forces, roundtables, and other venues both inside and outside

the legislative process. This includes tracking discussions, drafts, emerging issues,

research reports and other activities that may ultimately affect legislation or client

interests.

Activities What do Public Policy Advocates do?

(9) Issue Management: Plan and implement programs for client participation including

strategic planning, policy development, monitoring and communications with government

officials. Help you with coalition building, developing legislative or political presentations

to targeted audiences and coordinating grassroots and media components of an effective

government relations effort.

(10) Marketing: Advertise you and/or your project in appropriate places and appropriate

ways.

(11) Prospecting: Identify potential customers within the many, many agencies,

organizations, and offices in the government.

(12) Delivery: Navigate the processes, politics, and regulations to successfully deliver a

project after you’ve succeeded in getting it.

Cost Estimate • Staff cost: to be calculated on the basis of staff time (pro rata) devoted to activities

falling under the scope of the Register and expressed in relation to the number of

persons involved/year. The share of personnel costs devoted to these activities will

then be the sum of the respective shares.

• Administrative costs (including costs of office space in Brussels): to be calculated

by adding the share of staff costs, resulting from the above approach, to the

administrative costs.

• Outsourced activity costs, consulting fees and subcontracted activities related to

activities falling under the scope of the Register.

• In-house operational expenditures: cost of all operational expenditures related to

activities falling under the scope of the Register. Example: cost of advocacy

campaigns, use of media, organisation of PR events, etc.

Cost Estimate • How do Public Policy Advocates get paid?

Every public policy advocacy firm has different pricing, and the pricing will almost always

depend on the type of project, amount of work involved, size of the client (the size of

the company or organization), and expertise of the public policy advocacy firm in the

specific areas you need help with.

In general, for a specific and fairly well-defined project, quotes may range from

€5,000/month to €25,000/month. In general, the size of the quote increases as the

size of the public policy advoccay firm increases. It’s important to know that these

prices assume a contract of at least 1 year. They will tell you that most of the work in

any project is in the first few months – and they’re being honest. What you’re really

paying is a yearly fee, with payments spread out in monthly increments.

Cost Estimate • How do Public Policy Advocates get paid?

It’s also important to note that you should expect to pay a premium for a really good firm.

They may be willing to spread the costs out over 2 or 3 years to reduce your monthly

fees, but they’ll usually expect to get paid well. This can be 2 to 3 times the price for

a “normal” firm of the same size.

Commissions: It’s against the law for Public Policy Advocates to get paid on commission.

Don’t think of them like sales reps – they’re not. Instead, think of them more like

attorneys – you pay them for their services, and if you have the right firm on the right

case, they’ll get results. But if they don’t get results, you still have to pay them.

Transparency – is the principle… Information about clients, required from registrants of section I

•Registrants under section I must enter the turnover attributable to the activities falling

under the scope of the Register, as well as the relative weight of their clients. This must

be understood as the provision of the full list of all clients, designated by their individual

names and their location within the bracket grid of values offered by the registration form.

Declarations entered without the full list of the individual clients or with an unidentifiable

collective designation such as "corporates" "other small clients" "confidential information"

or similar do not meet the requirements.

•It can be admitted that an entity, registered in category 1, is engaged in activities falling

under the scope of the register on its own behalf and not under contract with any specific

client. Such a situation should be clearly, and explicitly, mentioned in the declaration. Any

subsequent evidence establishing that actually the entity is acting in this field, or has

acted, under contract and mandate from a client will be considered as establishing a

serious and deliberate non-compliance with the code of conduct.

Accredited Lobbyist as a profession…

AALEP – Association of Accredited Public Policy Advocates to the

European Union

http://www.aalep.eu/

Thank You ...and see you in Brussels...

Jorge Cerveira Pinto

jorgecerveirapinto@msn.com