Government Relations (GR) is the process of influencing public and government policy at all levels: Local, Regional, National, European, Global. It involves the advocacy of an interest that is affected, actually or potentially, by the decisions of government leaders.

At its core, GR is an educational process mixed in with a liberal amount of advocacy.

AALEP is dedicated to

a. to promote and protect the public interest by governing and regulating the practice of GR professionals members of the Association including

During the sixth round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission organized a Stakeholder Event on 16 July 2014. At that time, stakeholders were given an opportunity to explain their views to EU and US negotiators as well as to other interested stakeholders, in particular:

As of 29 July 2014, here below is the State of Play of T-TIP negotiations after the 6th round:

1. Market Access

1.1. Trade in Goods: Both sides are working on the basis of a consolidated text with a view to progressively reducing divergences. In addition, on agriculture, the Parties have discussed the possibility of developing specific provisions relating to agricultural trade, wine and have exchanged views on non-tariff issues.

At its best, lobbying provides critical services to organizations and clients and critical client information to public office holders.

Back in 2012, the TI-Liaison Office to the EU and TI-Secretariat published a  Regional Policy Paper that was part of a series published in the framework of TI’s European National Integrity Systems study conducted in 25 European countries with financial support from the Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme of the European Commission Directorate-General for Home Affairs, Norway Grants/EEA Grant and Svenska PostkodStiftelsen.  

The new Australian Economic Diplomacy agenda is based on four key principles:

1. Promoting trade - Australia’s ambitious trade liberalisation agenda aims to open up new markets and opportunities for businesses. The Australian Government is seeking to work with key regional partners to develop a stable and transparent framework for global trade.

There are three ways to acquire knowledge in the field of Government Relations: College, On-the-Job and through Continuing Education. Keys areas of the GR practice include: Direct Lobbying, Grassroots, Fundraising and Effective Money Management, Communications, Issue Management, Resource Management and Relationship Building (Legislative, Regulatory and Coalitions). Each area of the GR practice considers the following aspects: A. Legal/Regulatory/Ethical Aspects, B. Advocacy/Communication/Persuasion Aspects, C. Process/Trade Craft/Research Aspects and D.

The document here below is designed to elaborate upon, interpret and operationally define the AALEP Standards and Criteria for providing Continuing Education (CE) to GR professionals.

AALEP aims to advance the profession of government relations by the improvement of the qualifications and usefulness of government relations professionals through high standards of ethics, conduct, education, and achievement; by the establishment and maintenance of the highest standards of professional ethics and conduct of the members of the Association; by the increase and diffusion of government relations knowledge through meetings, professional contacts, reports, papers, discussions, and publications.