The EU was overconfident about its soft power and both unwilling and unable to play by the rules of the region, where money rules the day. Brussels' soft power simply could not compete with Moscow's hard alternative.

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.

Recent internal studies comparing the European Parliament with four national parliaments (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) and the U.S. Congress identified a number of weaknesses in the current support structure of the European Parliament. One of them is an independent scientific advice available for Members on demand. This was also one of the main conclusions of the EP 2025 Study. That is why the guidelines for the 2014 budget urged the development of the current Library Service into a fully fledged Parliamentary Research Service for Members.

Cyprus bailed out economy is not expected to see any recovery until 2017 when GDP will have contracted by a cumulative 20 percent. After falling by an estimated 7.4 percent in 2013, Cyprus GDP is forecast to shrink by a further 8 percent in 2014 and 2.7 percent in 2015, against a backdrop of shattered consumer and investor confidence, soaring unemployment and a credit crunch according to EY.

At the outset the point should be made that there's no single degree that can prepare you to be a lobbyist, and no educational trajectory that will guarantee a lobbyist career. Instead, you'll need to get to know people in the field and establish a strong reputation as someone who can negotiate with policy makers (civil servants, legislators etc.). Lobbying is a demanding career that requires in-depth knowledge of government as well as issue-specific knowledge. You need to be highly persuasive, have excellent communication skills and know how to negotiate.

Hereafter are the 10 things to make Government Relations work for you.

1. Know that there are many ways to run a government relations campaign: Government relations encompasses a large range of activities, from passively monitoring legislation to actively advocating for a piece of legislation or a position. These activities can be done in a variety of ways, from a simple call to a legislator, to a full-blown lobbying campaign. An assessment needs to be made as to what makes sense for the company.

There are many ways Government Relations Advisers can help an organization:

Today, many organisations, businesses and not-for-profits are facing challenges relating with multi-level governments. There are new legal requirements that now have to be followed, and ethical challenges in influencing and lobbying governments all over the world. Government relations practitioners require a strategic approach to understanding the environment and techniques for effective proactive management of government relations and communication strategies.

Le 1er octobre 2013, est entré en vigueur un nouveau dispositif d’encadrement du lobbying à l’Assemblée nationale en France. Il existe dorénavant de nouveaux formulaires d’inscription sur le registre des représentants d’intérêts. Directement inspirés de ceux en vigueur au sein des institutions européennes (Registre de transparence commun au Parlement et à la Commission), ces formulaires doivent permettre de mieux cerner l’identité et l’activité des différents groupes d’intérêts qui souhaitent rencontrer les députés.

A Draft law on lobbying is currently awaiting the vote in the Romanian Parliament, after having been greenlighted by the judicial commission in the Chamber of Deputies, but lobbying professionals don’t believe it will yield the planned results. The Chamber’s vote, which is the final vote needed for the law to pass, was scheduled for Tuesday, December 10. UPDATE: The law was sent back to commissions for further debates, and it was no longer included on the Tuesday vote session list.