The BRICS Business Council was established during the BRICS Head of State Summit of 26-27 March 2013 held in Durban, South Africa. The BRICS Business Council consists of 25 entrepreneurs from the five BRICS countries (five from each country). All the 25 council members represent key enterprises in their own country which have global influence in a certain industry.

The Sixth BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit will take place on 15 July in Fortaleza, Brazi. Leaders of the five BRICS nations fueling global economic growth will discuss strengthening ties within the bloc and rallying emerging economies to play a greater role in world affairs, economic and political. The theme of the 2014 summit is “inclusive growth: sustainable solutions”.

On 15 July, MEPs will hold a plenary debate with Mr Juncker in Strasbourg, before voting on his nomination to become Commission President. He will need at least 376 of 751 votes to win an absolute manjority.

In order to increase the transparency of their  public policy advocacy efforts, organisations  should take the following 10 steps regarding their efforts to influence public policy formation.

Step 1: Make public policy advocacy part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy

Based on the current EU concept, anyone aiming to influence policy [directly or indirectly influencing the formulation and implementation of policy and the decision-making processes of the EU institutions] is considered a lobbyist, although the register does not use this very term. The ambiguity of the EU Transparency Register results from a lack of definitions e.g. Who is Lobbyist, Who is a Lobbying Firm, What are Lobbying Activities, What is a Lobbying Contact.

Businesses justify their public policy advocacy as intrinsic and essential to strategic management of their businesses, inasmuch as their business success or failure can be greatly influenced by government decisions. Top managers who recognize this dependence feel a responsibility to make known the effect of such decisions on their companies and to defend their companies’ interests against those of other companies or interest groups who are also active in the public policy advocacy arena.

Stressing that the integrity of law making at EU level needs to be above suspicion, Transparency International (TI) has asked the EP  under the leadership of President Schulz to be clear about who is influencing EU policies. TI advocates that a ‘legislative footprint’ should be attached to each European Parliament report, detailing all the relevant input received from lobbyists/interest representatives for draft policies, laws and amendments

The Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE) unites seventy-four presidents of European sub-national  or regional parliaments with legislative powers. They are established in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Germany will exert much influence in the new European Parliament having secured leadership positions:

Presidency of the European People's Party, President of the European Parliament, 2 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament,  5 Committee Chairmanships, 11 Vice-Chairmanships.

• President of the European People's Party:Manfred Weber
• President of the European Parliament: Martin Schulz (S&D)
• Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament: Rainer Wieland (EPP) and Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (ALDE)

Committee Chairmanships:

France only managed to secure two Committee Chairs, compared to four during the last legislature. Out of the 22 Committees and Sub-Committees, only two will be led by a French person i.e. the Budget Committee and the Fisheries Committee. The Budget and Fisheries Committees are important for France, but they come as little consolation.

Germany chairs 5 Committees, Poland 4 Committees, Italy 3 Committees, United Kingdom 3 Committees, France 2 Committees, Spain 2 Committees, Bulgaria 1 Committee, Czech Republic 1 Committee, Sweden 1 Committee.