AALEP Chair was invited to the Croatia-EU Business Council's (CEUBC) Christmas Party that took place on 17 December 2013 within the premises of the European Parliament. CEUBC's objective was for the Croatian Business Community to open dialogs and exchange ideas with Croatian members of the European Parliament while enjoying relaxed atmosphere and tasting Croatian food delicacies with a good glass of wine. Mission accomplished. Congratulations to CEUBC and our Croatian colleagues! and thank you for inviting AALEP!

The EU Commission has intensified its dialogue on the rule of law with candidate and potential candidate countries. In the reports on these countries, the fight against corruption has been highlighted. The aim of the dialogue on the rule of law is to strengthen benchmarking aimed at enhanced transparency at earlier stages of the accession process as well as building capacities and establishing effective tools in fighting corruption in respective countries.

1. Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink has been elected President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR).
2. Marcel Roy will replace Henning Schoppmann as Secretary-General of the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB) in 2014.
3. Victor Madrigal-Boloz has been appointed as the new Secretary-General of The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT).
4.  Duncan Botting has been appointed as Director of the European Utilities Telecom Council  (EUTC).

Germany’s new government is a grand coalition of the country's main centre-right and centre-left parties.

Here below is the configuration of the new German Government

Located in the South Caucasus, the region that connects Eastern Europe to Central Asia, Azerbaijan is one of the most significant “geopolitical pivots” of Eurasia. Due to its geography, Azerbaijan has a “sensitive location” that presents itself as a “defensive shield” for the Caspian Sea : it opens or blocks the access to many significant extra-regional actors, oil and gas thirsty. Baku has a pair of keys to the rich energetic Caspian Sea region whose place in the global geopolitics of energy is increasing proportionally to the degree of instability in the Middle East.

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!

In 2012, the foreign ministers of Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan met in Trabzon to sign what is now known as the Trabzon Declaration, which codified the growing links between the three Caucasus powers and signaled the pooling of their efforts within a common format. The signatories pledged to support each other's candidacies within international organizations, including, crucially, Euro-Atlantic integration. The Declaration also reiterated the three states' longstanding policy of the inviolability of sovereign borders - a direct nod to Georgia and Azerbaijan's separatist conflicts.

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.

There are five groups of companies that can be distinguished in the field of government relations.

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.