THE EU TRANSPARENCY REGISTER AND INFLUENCING ACTIVITIES

The EU defines ‘interest representation’ as including all activities carried out with the objective of influencing the policy formulation and decision-making processes of the EU institutions.

This is too broad a definition and the range of influencing activities is so large and covers so many organizations that it is hardly operational for the participants involved and also for any other forms of dialogue with the EU institutions be it the Member States themselves or isolated individuals who participate in the process as well as other organizations within the operational environment of the European Commission.

Generally speaking common terms used when referring to policy influencing are lobbying, advocacy, activism, awareness raising.  Definitions of these terms are not clear-cut and agreed upon and the meaning of these terms and the activities they entail overlap. What further adds to the confusion about these terms is that often they are defined through particular activities. Thus a meeting with politicians is considered by some to be an activity that may fall under lobbying. Getting a press release published may be considered more like advocacy. Distinctions based purely on the type of the activities they do or do not entail are not very useful as one activity may be considered lobbying, advocacy or activism depending on the context, the intent of the organiser and the way it is perceived by the other party. The EU Transparency does not provide any definition. Some will say that is not very important to know exactly what lobbying, advocacy or activism is and that it is much more crucial to understand that there are differences between terms that are used by many people in different ways. But without an understanding for those differences, it is impossible to establish the basis for the mandatory rules that should apply governing the activities that can be undertaken at various stages of policy influencing intervention. Some e.g. think tanks will argue that they are not lobbying; others e.g. public affairs will argue that they are not lobbying etc…

Lobbying

If lobbying is defined as the attempt to influence others with facts and arguments, all those involved in EU policy-making lobby each other: Commission staff lobby their DG and colleagues to obtain support for specific projects, Commissioners lobby each other to exchange support for draft proposals, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) lobby each other to negotiate amendments, lobbyists lobby MEPs to modify amendments, and lobbyists lobby each other to create synergies and common positions.

There are obviously cases in which lobbying is done by professionals hired by clients who need to be represented in some way. It is often those cases that come to mind when the term lobbying is used.

It may be said that an organization is attempting to “influence legislation” when the communication is directed towards a legislator or employee of a legislative body; refers to specific legislation; and reflects a view on that legislation”.

Grassroots lobbying occurs when the communication  is directed towards the general public;  refers to specific legislation; reflects a view on the legislation AND encourages the recipient to take action with respect to the legislation.”

Advocacy

As is the case for lobbying there really is not one uniform definition of advocacy. Many definitions are almost alike to the working definition of policy influencing. However, there is one important distinction between policy influencing and advocacy, namely the possible character of the activities. Advocacy refers to activities designed to influence policies, practices and behaviour. It includes lobbying and other activities that are not lobbying.

Activism

Activism consists of intentional action to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing businesses, rallies, street marches and strikes, both sit-ins and hunger strikes . Mostly such activities are set up to convince or inform others, for example to get popular support for an issue or place an issue on the agenda. By undertaking such activities pressure can be put on particular stakeholders to change, using third parties such as the public. Activism in that way is often seen as opposite to lobby and/or dialogue which are more seen as passive, non-visual and consensus driven activities. Activism increasingly works through the use of social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as the use of new media, such as YouTube.

Awareness -raising and policy influencing

The term awareness-raising is very often mentioned in combination with policy influencing, advocacy, lobbying and activism, as well as on its own. For many it describes a set of activities or a strategy. In some cases awareness-raising is an end in itself. Awareness-raising is a pre-condition of all policy influencing activities. It is a mutual exchange of information between different stakeholders involved, either beneficiaries or decision makers. Awareness-raising, and keeping awareness raised, is a continuous process throughout the intervention. Many projects, such as policy influencing projects, contain an element of awareness-raising. In lobbying for example, organisations provide information to decision-makers, thereby raising their awareness about a certain issue. In many advocacy and activism-related activities the awareness of the general public, or specific groups, is raised with a view to mobilising them to put pressure on decision-makers. One can also raise the awareness of beneficiaries of the intervention. This is often the first step towards making them more powerful and making their participation in the intervention possible. As such awareness-raising is often part of the intervention. However, awareness-raising should only be a means to a more specific objective. Many organizations indicate that one of their objectives is to raise the awareness of others in their policy influencing interventions.

Awareness-raising is a series of activities such as distributing brochures, providing background materials to decision-makers, or having certain informative speeches at a conference. The outcome of that being that certain people have increased awareness of a certain topic. This then should contribute to the higher objective, outcome or result, which is behaviourial change regarding the specific topic.

Raising awareness through certain activities is done to  provide information in order to put something on the agenda; mobilise groups or the general public in order to put pressure on others to change;  undertake a first step towards empowerment of beneficiaries.

Activities covered by the Transparency Register

All 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, irrespective of where they are undertaken and of the channel of communication used, for examplle, outsourcing, media contracts with professional intermediaries, think tanks, platforms, forums, campaigns and grassroot initiatives.

• Direct Communicatione.g. direct contact or communications with the EU institutions or other actions following up on such activities;
• Indirect Communication e.g. use of intermediate vectors such as media, public opinion, conferences or special events targeting the EU institutions
• Contacting Members and their assistants, officials or other staff of the EU institutions;
• Preparing, circulating and communicating letters, information materials or discussion papers and position papers;
• Organising events, meetings, promotional activities, conferences or social events, invitations to which have been sent to Members and their assistants, officials or other staff of the EU institutions;
• Provision of support, via representation or mediation, or of advocacy material, including argumentation and drafting;
• Provision of tactical or strategic advice, including the raising of issues the scope of which and the timing of communication of which are intended to influence the EU institutions, their Members and their assistants or their officials and other staff;
• Networks, platforms or other forms of collective activity
• Voluntary contributions and participation in formal consultations or hearings on envisaged EU legislative or other legal acts and other open consultations