Analysing EU Influences: roles and rules for business interest and public interest lobbying
Trainer: Patrizia Heidegger
Various stakeholders seek to influence EU policy-making. There are an estimated 25.000 lobbyist in Brussels working for hundreds of European trade associations, for individual companies, law firms and consultancies. Hundreds of NGOs and not-for-profits have offices in Brussels to advocate for policy change. So do international and regional organisations, and governments. Who regulates lobbying? How do we ensure transparency and democracy? And what distinguishes business interest from public interest lobbying? Why does democracy need a strong civil society to make the voice of citizens heard in EU policy-making? We will explore these and more questions in our four evenings together, while taking a deeper look at the concrete example of the ‘green’ lobby, or how the environmental movement influences Brussels-level decision-making.
- Evaluation: In class group exercise on civil society lobbying (focus civil society lobbying) 10%
| Day | Class-Virtual | Time | Topic | Trainer(s) |
| TBC | Class | 2hrs | Influence, transparency, democracy: a critique of lobbying Who are the lobbyist? Which rules and regulations protect transparency and democracy? Which measures are missing? | Patrizia Heidegger |
| TBC | Class | 2hrs | Civil society, NGO, non-profits: what role for the ‘good’ lobby? Why does EU policy-making need a strong civil society? How do NGOs operate and advocate? Who funds them? And is civil society in the EU under threat? | Patrizia Heidegger |
| TBC | Virtual | 2hrs | The ‘green’ Lobby – or how the environmental movement influences EU policy-making Which environmental organisations are present in Brussels? What are their strategies to influence policy-making? What have been their successes? | Patrizia Heidegger |
| TBC | Virtual | 2hrs | Case studies: building an environmental advocacy campaign | Patrizia Heidegger |
| TBC | Class | 2hrs | Evaluation Exercise | Patrizia Heidegger |