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Friday 15 January 2010

The Treaty of Lisbon from a Lobby point of view


After many setbacks (simplification of the Treaty, holding of a 2nd referendum in Ireland, Czech President and Euro-pessimists opposition) the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009. It is supposed to "provide the EU with modern institutions and optimised working methods to tackle both efficiently and effectively today's challenges in today's world", such as globalisation, climatic and demographic changes, security and energy (according to the European Commission website). 

However, from a lobbyist point of view, the Treaty of Lisbon Introduces some changes and novelties which should change the rules of the "game". So for Eurodom, my ex-consultancy (where I worked 8 months as a fresh graduated trainee), it seemed necessary to make people realize how this new treaty will change the way we work and interact with European decisions makers. Consequently, I was in charge of achieving a 20-slides presentation for the General Assembly of the cabinet. At the beginning it was no big deal for such a powerpoint/keynote expert as I am. Nevertheless I worked hard on it with my boss, Mr Bally, and after some sleepless nights, and a working sunday afternoon, we managed to achieve the presentation he wanted. 

The principal message we wanted to deliver was the following : the Treaty of Lisbon will reinforce democracy by providing the European Parliament (EP) with much more power than before. This is a good point for promoting the interests of European citizens, but that also signifies more efforts (and stress), more time, and more means for convincing a significant part of the 755 members of the Parliament. After all, Lobbyists will not suffer from this evolution; their work will just become a bit more complicated. In this economic downturn context, that probably means more jobs for experts in law and political sciences familiar with the EP functioning, which is a good news! Isn't? Anyway I hope you will appreciate this presentation and will not hesitate to write some comments about it.

You can also download the file:

Treaty of Lisbon

Thursday 10 September 2009

Inside the lobbying world of Brussels

Berlaymont-European Commission Brussels
Since the beginning of may 2009, I have been a lucky intern in a consultancy cabinet - EURODOM - located in Brussels and focused on european affairs. Our main activity is to defend the economic interests of the European outermost regions, mainly the French ones (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane, Réunion, etc.). Working in this area is very exciting but also very compelling. Most of the time, you work on macroeconomic issues and deal with politicians or high level experts. In the European affairs microcosm, there are few vacancies but many applicants... Indeed, I met a lot of overqualified and high skilled people who are looking for a job - since months - in the european affairs field. That's the reason why I feel very lucky to do my trainee period in this area.

Moreover, lobbying is a controversial activity which triggers many fantasies. Some are over-exaggerated and other are quite true. However, it is something more natural and transparent than people think. In Brussels, which is the second most important city in terms of lobbying (behind Washington), most European affairs cabinet are registred in a special register for transparency purpose.

Every sectors, NGO, european regions, EU member states, significant associations, etc. are represented in Brussels. From the NGO, Human Rights Watch to the Pharmaceutical firm, Sanofi-aventis, "everyone" can lobby for their interests or defend their cause. People used to think that Lobbyists make laws. In fact, the main important role of the 15000 people who work in the Lobbying industry in Brussels consist in informing politicians (european deputees, Commissaries) and european civil servants about technical aspects, they are not able to understand properly.

After all, politicians are those who make the decision and only them. Before implementing any measure, they have to weigh up the pros and cons, and never forget that they work for common interest. It can happen that some amendments could be directly inspired or wrote by a lobby but it is more an exception than a rule. Anyway, lobbying is as old as politics itself. The good question is how to make it more transparent, better regulated and more fair between those who have money and those who don't.

Sunday 9 November 2008

Congratulations US citizens for electing Obama

Obama victory speech

Flickr, cc license, Barack Obama

Three days ago a friend of mine, an American citizen, ask me a original request; she wanted to know what I and other French people think about Obama's election. Actually she is teacher in a school for young children, and she would like to share with her pupils various points of view from around the world about the presidential election. Why? Because she would like to demonstrate to them how important is to know what foreign people think about the United State of America and its new president. She told me, she was very surprised to notice how different was the way French were considering the USA during the last presidential elections, in 2004. This revelation change the way she considered her country, her government and mainly her president.

I appreciate her open mindedness, so I wrote the following long text (click on the link below) to answer her request. Sorry, for the moment the text is in French, but I will translate it soon. Stay tuned ;-)

Hello Jill, Ça fait un bail!!! J'espère que tout va bien de ton côté. En tout cas moi ici à Lille je suis overbooked! Lol! Mais j'adore ça, donc j'assume.

Pour en revenir à ta requête, je tiens d'abord à te dire que l'analyse de ta copine Héloïse fait un peu "café du commerce", sans vouloir être désobligeant à son égard, je trouve ce genre de propos très irritants... Obama n'a pas remporté les élections grâce au soutien de George Clooney ou de Will.I.am. Ni parce ce que "ça fait cool de voter pour un noir". Les temps sont durs (deux guerres qui s'enlisent, une grave crise financière et économique, des expropriations en cascade, une hausse record du chômage et de l'endettement des ménages, des défis environnementaux sans précédent, un système de santé inefficace et injuste, un leadership en berne, etc.) et c'est une insulte à la personne d'Obama et aux électeurs qui lui ont accordé leur vote, que d'affirmer qu'il a été élu non pas sur son programme ou sa personnalité, mais juste parce que c'est le candidat des stars. D'ailleurs les républicains ont utilisé ce genre d'arguments contre lui ("The One"), avec les résultats que l'on connaît... Ce genre de discours est souvent formulé par des personne qui n'ont jamais pris le temps d'écouter le moindre discours d'Obama et qui n'ont pas vraiment suivi la campagne...

Continue reading...

Saturday 4 October 2008

Obama for President

Obama campaign

I really like the symbolic meaning and the impact of this photo... Don't you? Obama is really creating an incredible hope movement and not only in the USA. Like many people I believe in him, I believe in his honesty and his willingness to seriously take the bull by the horns. If the current polls say the truth, Obama is more and more close to the white house, but the current situation is so explosive that he will have to implement quickly radical and maybe unpopular measures. I do think that the next presidency will be the most difficult one after the two Roosevelt administrations (1933-1945). But like billions of people around the world I believe in you, and your promises, Mr Obama. So please do not disappoint us...


Credits : Joe Crimmings, Flickr, CCL

Saturday 5 April 2008

"Hate cannot drive out hate ; only love can do that."

Martin Luther King

You already know the man, and you already know about his struggles , I just want to say that it’s a pity he died so soon and mainly in such a violent way, because he was a real symbol of hope for several million people who used to be treated inhumanly for centuries. MLK was inspiring, not only for black people but also for those who really wanted to live in a fairer society, more peaceful, more respectful of human rights and more positive. When this hope bringer disappeared, the only lit fire which was sufficiently convincing and charismatic to make them believe in a better future, it was a disaster that nothing or no one could fix or recover. A drama which still has tragic consequences today. Since MLK, none US leader has managed to give America so much hope and confidence in a better future. No one, until today…