BUSINESS EUROPE: THE EU RED CARPET LOBBYIST THAT BOWED TO TRUMP

BusinessEurope (BE) is active on almost all issues of interest to industry. It has  an unquestionable impact on not just EU laws – big and small – but on the development of the European project as a whole.

BusinessEurope represents more than 20 million companies of all sizes and in all sectors, and counts 40 member organisations from all member states and beyond, including Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI) from Germany, and Mouvement des Entreprise de France (MEDEF, France). BE facilitates close cooperation between the 40 member groups. Very often one or more member organisations take the lead on a particular issue and reports back to BE, in order to have the organisation as a whole intervene and contribute, to strategise with allies, and to pool resources.

The organisation is at the centre of business strategising on EU affairs. While it may not always be the most visible player on the lobbying scene, it is almost omnipresent. It has both capacity and opportunity to meet constantly with decision-makers, and that is only at the top layer; there are myriad more, less visible paths for influence. And in recent years its lobbying firepower has certainly not decreased.

Clearly BE is a regular visitor with the Commission and high-level civil servants. The high number of meetings is about much more than a visit to a Commissioner’s office. Frequently, Commissioners or cabinet members come visit the employers’ headquarters in or join internal meetings online. The more powerful the Commissioner, the more BusinessEurope’s dominance on the lobbying scene stands out. And BE has regular interaction with all the key figures in the Commission. The exception is to some extent the Commission’s President who seems to have a strong preference for the European Roundtable for Industry – a forum of dozens of leaders of the biggest transnational companies in Europe. However, when including the cabinet, BE stands out as the most frequent visitor in the President’s office

Perhaps the strongest indication of BusinessEurope’s strong relationship with the European Commission is  at its annual get-together. In November each year BE organizes a conference for its Advisory and Support Group (ASG) - an assembly for big companies inside BusinessEurope that do not formally have a vote in the formal BE decision-making. That does not mean, however, that they do not have a say, nor that they are not integrated in the daily business. The annual “CEO Dialogue” with the Commission, is more a sign of an extraordinary status these companies enjoy with BusinessEurope, and the Commission.

The basic concept seems to mimic the annual meeting between the President of the Commission, the French and German heads of state and the chief executives of mega-companies in the European Roundtable for Industry (ERT) – a summit between political and economic power. As with the ERT Summits, the meetings between the Commission and BE’s ASG, the hottest economic issues of the day are discussed. But the meetings are clearly not intended for publicity. Both the Commission and BusinessEurope are shy about sharing details from the conversations between some of the biggest companies in Europe and Commissioners.

It is supposed to be very high level on both sides. That is reflected in the list of companies in the Advisory and Support Group (see box), which includes tobacco companies from sectors the Commission should sever its ties with, including tobacco companies, gas and oil companies. There is massive support by the Commission for these encounters. No other private organisation is able to attract this number of Commissioners to a meeting. Also, several of the meetings take place in the Commission’s own Berlaymont building – a strong sign of the close links between BusinessEurope and the European executive.

There is but a small step from the privileged access BE enjoys, to its role as an adviser rather than a lobby group for vested interests, and indeed BE is frequently invited to assist the Commission in that capacity. According to its own entry to the Transparency Register, BE has members of 34 of the Commission’s so-called Expert Groups. These groups are set up to assist the Commission in its work, and the most important ones actually help the Commission draft legislative proposals.

Some of the 34 groups see BE act alongside organisations that represent other interests, be they consumer associations, environmental groups, or trade unions, but in many cases, business interests dominate the forum. For example the ‘industrial Forum’ is  dominated by business, including BusinessEurope.

This pattern is repeated, albeit in a less comprehensive or perhaps less transparent way, in the Council’s Working Parties, including the bodies responsible for preparing ministerial meetings and political compromises. It is clear that BusinessEurope frequently appears as speakers at meetings particularly relevant to them, although the scale is difficult to pinpoint, because there is less transparency around Council groups than with the Commission’s expert groups. 

Participation in advisory bodies, either as advisers as in the case of Commission expert groups or as regular guests as with Council preparatory bodies allows BusinessEurope to participate in important stages of decision-making. Proposals are prepared with the Commission, and the position of governments are discussed and often negotiated in the Council preparatory groups.   

This dynamic puts employers on top of events. For example the work of the Industrial Forum expert group  is closely linked to the work done by the Working Party on Competitiveness in the Council..

But BusinessEurope can do much more than speak to civil servants that prepare a Council meeting. It is becoming tradition that shortly before a new government takes over the presidency of the Council, key ministers meet with the Council of Presidents of the 40 member associations of BusinessEurope to discuss priorities.