As the holiday season approaches, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. On behalf of AALEP, we would also like to thank all our partners for their support in 2013, and we look forward to continuing our dialogue with Europe's public policy advocates in the next year!

Romania’s EU membership makes it eligible for billions of euro in EU grant funding. Structural Funds are available to support investment in physical infrastructure and many other types of projects, and require a co-financing component from the recipient, in addition to the national government. The EU has allocated approximately 27.5 billion euro to Romania for projects in areas ranging from transport and rural development, to energy and environment. However, Romania has a dismal record of availing itself of these funds.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has told lobbyists beating a path to his door before Christmas what they need to do. He wants them to play Santa Claus for the less fortunate. Lobbyists are urged to bring a gift for the Prime Ministers's Xmas tree. Xmas is a time when politics should be left behind. Perhaps Martin Schulz President of the European Parliament could make the same appeal to European lobbyists given that 16.4 % of the population, 80 million people, live below the poverty threshold in the European Union.

For operational and analytical purposes, economies are divided among income groups according to Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, calculated using the World Bank figures until 1 July 2011. The groups are: High Income $ 12,195 or more; Upper Middle Income $ 3,946-$ 12,195; Lower Middle Income $ 996-$ 3,945; and Low Income, $995 or less. Classification by income does not necessarily reflect development status.