Government Relations or GR is an educational process mixed in with a liberal amount of advocacy. Simply put, it is an essential component of any business that is subject to government regulations.

At its core, government relations is an educational process: educating business and industry leaders about the governmental process; educating officials about the issues important to business or other constituencies; and educating governmental and business leaders and the public, about the potential consequences of legislation.

Lobbying is absolutely essential to the success of representative government. Without information, perspectives and proposals flowing from those who are governed, elected and appointed officials can often only dimly guess at what policies will advance the interests of those whom they are duty-bound to serve. Protection and facilitation of lobbying is, therefore, a matter of vast significance, achieved in varying ways in different legal systems.

1. ABB
2. ABENGOA
3. AREVA
4. ATIEL (EUROPEAN LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY)
5. BDEW (GERMAN ASSOCIATION OF ENERGY AND WATER INDUSTRIES
6. BP
7. CEA (COMMISSARIAT ENERGIE ATOMIQUE)
8. CEEP (CENTRAL EUROPE ENERGY PARTNERS)
9. CEFIC (EUROPEAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY COUNCIL)
10. CENTRICA
11. CEWEP (CONFEDERATION OF EUROPEAN WASTE TO ENERGY PLANTS)
12. CEZ GROUP
13. CHEVRON
14. COGEN EUROPE
15. CONSORZIO RFX
16. DANISHENERGYASSOCIATION
17. E-ON
18. EASE (EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR STORAGE OF ENERGY)

In spite of sanctions against Russia, it’s back to business again.

Under sanctions, the U.S. Treasury definition of ‘U.S. persons’ does not include ‘foreign incorporated subsidiaries of U.S. companies’. This leaves open the possibility of American business links with SSS (Sectoral Sanctions Identifications-listed firms) through foreign subsidiaries. In the EU, EU sanctions prohibit EU entities from direct provision of oil and gas services but do not specifically address technology transfer.

So there you have it:

Organized by Business Bridge Europe, European Business Summit with the participation of the EU Institutions and in cooperation with the key industries, the 2nd edition of the Energy Policy Summit was held in Brussels on 23 February 2016

Russian lobbying takes different forms in the EU. In Brussels, lobbying is undertaken by Russian entities through their GR representative offices and work via different government advisory boards.

The traditional Japanese lawmaking process is shaped by Bureaucratic-Lead Politics (BLP). The government ministries and their bureaucrats originate, research, vet and write most Japanese legislation. They monopolize both the information and agenda.

China is very proactive on the diplomatic front, both bilaterally and multilaterally.  China’s public diplomacy has gone into overdrive in Europe. Many of China’s policy initiatives, such as the ‘China Dream’, the ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) or even the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have been the subject of intense lobbying and communication to European publics, power brokers and decision makers. The frequency and depth of diplomatic exchanges varies across Europe but has intensified in general.

Written by Boris Johnson

AALEP is of the opinion that there would be great value for Member States’ National Qualifications Authorities in providing standards and a model for certification of ‘Consultants in European Relations and Lobbying’ inspired by the French example reproduced in English here below.