Source: LobbyFacts.eu. The ranking shows the number of registered entities organisations by country of head office. The data displayed is based on information gathered from the EU Transparency Register (Possible errors)

Purpose  

Practice area at the professional level is a generally recognised or distinctive area of knowledge and expertise developed by a GR Practitioner by virtue of the path of education, training and experience followed.

Author: Cornelius Winter, Gründer und Managing Partner von 365 Sherpas – Corporate Affairs & Policy Advice und Gründungsvorstand der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Politikberatung (de’ge’pol)

1. Strategy Consulting

• Personal Consultation
• Communications Concepts
• Strategic Planning
• Workshops
• Coaching
• Situation Analyses

2. Political Analyses

• Analysis of Political Positions
• Risk Analyses
• Trend Explorations
• Force Field Analyses
• Scenario Analyses
• Presentation of Political Processes
• Issue Prioritizing and Management

3. Stakeholder Management

The Swiss Public Affairs Society (SSPA) is a professional association having for purpose the increase of awareness among authorities and the public of the reason and value of political, economic and cultural lobbying and its contribution to the democratic decision-making process. The SSPA counts about 230 members.

Purposes

The Austrian Public Affairs Association (OePAV) was founded in September 2011. Membership is open to public affairs professionals in companies, trade unions and NGOs or self-employed public affairs consultants.OePAV members work in various business fields. OePAV aims to unite key areas of public affairs – Lobbying, Government Relations, Issues -and Stakeholder Management and Corporate Social Responsibility.

The Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC) is the self-regulatory body for UK public affairs practitioners. As well as its traditional membership base of consultancies, APPC membership is available to trade associations, in-house PA teams and individuals.

The APPC has three main roles:

Corporate and non-governmental organizations exert a growing influence over public policy formulation at local, national and international levels. Many see this as a legitimate and necessary means of promoting and defending the interests of organisations and their stakeholders. US style professional lobbying has proliferated, first in Europe and then in the developing world. Many organizations are vociferous and effective advocates in shaping public policy, in ways that now go well beyond the narrow short-term defence of their own interests.

It is our belief, that the GR industry should have a system to ensure quality in the performance of GR engagements by its members. Professional standards should integrate ethical issues, structural issues and service quality issues, all of which are interdependent. Standards would be needed at both the corporate and individual levels. A corporate standard would allow GR firms to show that they have met certain requirements; an individual standard could extend to those working in-house as well as for freelance consultancies.

AmCham EU put forward the following set of recommendations for consideration:

1. Intensify effort by the Commission towards a smart enforcement strategy that facilitates the transposition of EU rules in Member States, in the least trade-restrictive manner. In doing this, the Commission would foster and enhance the integrity of the internal market, being the guardian of the treaties.