One of the biggest growth industries in Washington right now is something called ‘political intelligence’. Companies and individuals use political intelligence to understand the potential effects of legislative and executive branch actions on business, finance, and other decisions.

Thanks to revolution of big data, there will be a greater understanding of politics and decision-making, based on factual information and quantitative elements. These allow individuals to make judgments on the quality of the public debate, on the quality of politicians on an individual basis, on the effective compliance between a politician's actions and words. PolicyBrain is leading this revolution, and many other similar initiatives will contribute to achieve this important objective.

The view of Paolo Zanetto co-founder and managing partner of Cattaneo Zanetto & Co, one of the largest public affairs firms in Italy.

Association Management Companies (AMCs) typically provide a full range of management services and operational support to trade associations, professional societies, foundations and other non-profit special interest groups in Europe. They help associations to grow and prosper. They offer the expertise, staffing and resources that allow professional societies, trade groups, not-for-profits and philanthropic organizations to effectively manage day-to-day operations and advance their long-term goals.

Among the 613 Non-EU organisations listed in the transparency register, the breakdown by country is shown here below. 75% are from the USA, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, India, Turkey, Brazil and Ukraine combined.

The following EU Trade Associations are  listed in the Transparency Register and they hold only 1 European Parliament Pass. It is difficult to determine how effective their lobbying activities are.Lobbyist–policy-maker relations are important in explaining the relative power of an EU trade association, since it is at this point that the demands of the group are conveyed to the EU authorities. The more skillful the lobbyists are in forging personal contact with EU officials, the more successful the group is likely to be.  Possibly

Ecommerce Europe is the association representing 25,000+ companies selling products and/or services online to consumers in Europe. The e-commerce sector is one of the few European industries that has experienced a non-stop double-digit economic growth. The European e-commerce sector holds an accumulated value of approximately €365bn and it is directly and indirectly responsible for more than 2 million jobs in various sectors such as postal delivery and ICT.

The following National Trade Associations are listed in the Transparency Register. Only those holding 1 European Parliament Pass are indicated here below. It is difficult to assess the lobbying activities of these associations. Admittedly if you have only 1 individual who can enter the premises of the European Parliament, effective lobbying may be limited. Some associations may well have registered in the Transparency Register only to gain legitimacy and may not do much lobbying at the EU level. Others may have established a Brussels presence.

The Listing here below only considers Trade Associations having at least 3 individuals engaged in lobbying. (Descending order)

1. Fleishman-Hillard: (Belgium) 59 Declared Lobbyists, 46 EP Access Passes
2. Burson-Marsteller: (Belgium) 60 Declared Lobbyists, 33 EP Access Passes
3. Kreab Gavin Anderson: (Belgium) 45 Declared Lobbyists, 29 EP Access Passes
4. FTI Consulting Belgium: (Belgium) 40 Declared Lobbyists, 26 EP Access Passes
5. APCO Worldwide: (USA) 25 Declared Lobbyists, 28 EP Access Passes
6. FTI Consulting Belgium: (Belgium) 40 Declared Lobbyists, 26 EP Access Passes
7. G Plus Ltd: (UK) 41 Declared Lobbyists, 25 EP Access Passes