EU PERMANENT REPRESENTATIONS AS INSTITUTIONAL LOBBYISTS

EU governments willingly provide policy briefings to their own national delegations in the European Parliament. Traditionally, much national briefing was essentially formal, taking the form of written memoranda outlining the view of national administrations on Commission proposals, or on parliamentary reports once tabled for the EP’s plenary. What has changed in recent years, however, is that national officials and politicians have started to seek to influence EP proceedings more intensively, at an earlier stage, and in tandem with their evolving position in the Council of Ministers. There is also a recognition that national governments should provide tailored briefings for Committee Rapporteurs, other key committee actors, constituency MEPs, Committee Members and, ultimately, all MEPs in the run-up to plenary.

Moreover, it is not unusual for individual permanent representation officials to suggest legislative amendments to their respective national MEPs in Committee. Invariably these amendments parallel current national negotiating positions in the relevant working group of the Council. In this sense, national officials have started to intertwine themselves firmly into the pattern of interest representation within the EP. In addition, officials of the Permanent Representations sometimes also operate collectively in seeking to influence the EP. To this end, Permanent Representation Attachés, who are responsible for relations with the EP, meet before each plenary session to co-ordinate their positions and identify targets for direct lobbying. Obviously, at this stage, national officials will reflect primarily the position arrived at in Council. Such lobbying may be intensive. Staff of Permanent Representations are usually present at  the Plenary Sessions, Committee Meetings and other events in the European Parliament, as well as at formal and informal meetings in the Council and in the European Commission As a result of co-decision the relationship between Member States and the European Parliament has taken on a more substantial and important role in recent years. To this end, Member States therefore have to spend a great deal more time taking into consideration the views of the European Parliament in the framing of policy because the views of Members of the European Parliament matter. This has an impact on negotiators based in Permanent Representations as well as those officials based in domestic departments who deal with European policy because governments can no longer spend the majority of their efforts lobbying to pursue national interests in Council negotiations. By contrast, it is just as important that governments are able to influence the European Parliament when policy documents are passed to the Parliament. To this end, Member States do not just react to the European Parliament’s proposals but crucially are proactive in lobbying for objectives from the outset. Success is nevertheless heavily influenced by the relative strength of the Member State within the European Parliament.

Areas of Activity

EU Permanent Representations expend their greatest effort by lobbying and negotiating on behalf of national capitals and informing the latter of the extent to which EU activities affect them. Here, the basic procedure is that once a national policy has been established, Permanent Representations are required to negotiate, or at least assist in negotiating. It is generally desirable that the Permanent Representation has an input into the process of policy formulation, as well as the revision of that policy in light of other developments, including changes in the negotiating position. To that extent, close contact is necessary with all the EU institutions, especially the Commission and the European Parliament, as well as other Permanent Representations. But the task of Permanent Representations also extends to representing the concerns of national business interests and domestic Parliamentarians.

1. Information Gatherer:  The role of a Permanent Representation is to discover what proposals are being worked upon in the Commission, and where appropriate, lobby for changes. This is especially important as the Commission sometimes takes care to keep its work secret until it has decided on a proposal, while at the other extreme it sometimes floats ideas in general terms with the view of obtaining reactions from Governments and interested parties, such as business groups and trade unions. Beyond this passive intelligence function, it is clear that a Member State can make a major gain if it even modestly moves a proposal in its own direction before it formally appears. The ability to do this depends on the negotiating issue and the level of experience and knowledge offered by a Member State. Success in this area depends on Government Ministers having clear objectives as to what is achievable and consequently a Government that does not provide its negotiators with clear instructions is unlikely to influence policy. Nevertheless, some policy areas lend themselves more to pre-negotiation influence than others do. Technical points are of particular relevance. This is because it is clear that officials in other Member States can have specific knowledge to offer, much of which is often welcomed. Obviously, the ultimate level for contact is the Commissioners themselves, and while they are supposed to work in accordance with the interests of the EU as a whole, they are open to reasoned argument. It is therefore sensible for Governments to advance factual analysis on the particular negotiating issue.
2. Information Provider: This involves two tasks, the first of which is to brief Ministers who attend meetings of the Council, with particular attention on negotiating tactics, such as the negotiating strategies adopted by Member States, the European Commission and the European Parliament. The second task is to ensure that national Members of the European Parliament are aware of the Government’s position, as well as providing extra assistance as and when required. The role of information provider takes many formats, including weekly trips by the Permanent Representative to brief Government Ministers and officials on developments at the EU level.
3.  Policy Formulation: The third function that a Permanent Representation faces is that of policy formulation, whereby it assists in putting together national policy towards EU issues and proposals. This also includes having to adjust to policy as the negotiating situation develops. Permanent Representations also assess or predict the actual (as well as the potential) reactions of other Member States and EU institutions, especially the Commission and European Parliament. Much of this involvement in policy formulation takes place in national capitals, whereby staff from the Permanent Representation briefs Government Ministers and officials. The specific system for dealing with policy input from Permanent Representations varies in each member state, though the eventual outcome is with a view towards a co-ordinated national negotiating position.
4. Information Conductor:  This role is of importance in linking EU institutions and national Governments because the former does not always know where the exact point of contact is within national Governments for addressing a communication. Permanent Representations also assist national organisations to contact the Commission, European Parliament or other EU institutions for lobbying purposes. Permanent Representatives are therefore essentially a directory of contacts. In this context they provide an information service at the EU level to the various institutions and Member States and at the domestic level to the various tiers of government and business interests, as well as anyone else who wishes to establish a contact within the European Union. The staff of a Permanent Representation will thus have as many contacts with their counterparts from the other Member States as they will have with the institutions of the EU.
5. Negotiator: The most crucial function, is that of a negotiator. The staff of a Permanent Representation negotiate at official level in line with instructions given by national Governments. This can be done either through informal contacts or the formal process of negotiating in Committees of the Council, the staff of which can be composed of officials from Permanent Representations and national capitals. But while this negotiating role has traditionally taken place within the Council, Permanent Representations now have to invest a great deal of effort in ensuring that national views are advanced within the European Parliament. Member States need to lobby and negotiate with the officials and Members of the European Parliament on a regular basis. And just as Permanent Representations are a pivot in terms of the relationship between Member States and the Commission, they are central to the ever-increasing importance of the linkage with the Parliament.

The very ability to carry out these five functions is, however, greatly determined by the degree to which national capitals exercise leadership within the EU and the quality of the instructions provided to Permanent Representations.  Added to this, political leadership within the EU has become an increasingly important factor in the ability of a Member State to influence policy decisions within the European Parliament.

Conclusion 

The Permanent Representations of the Member States are pivotal players in the EU‘s decision-making process. At the intersection between the European and the national level they are at the centre of a huge information flow with sources both in the national capitals as well as in Brussels. Especially through Coreper II and I, the meetings, that is, of the Permanent Representatives and their Deputies, are key, given that almost all legislative proposals on the Council agenda goes through their hands. They do not only fulfill a vertical bridging function between the working groups and the political level but they also ensure horizontal coherence between the different policy fields and the various pillars. Very often the negotiators within Coreper reach an agreement, which is then merely rubberstamped at the ministerial level in the Council.