100 major U.S. corporations are following EU policymaking and developments. Many of them have a direct presence in Brussels and also belong to AmCham EU that speaks for American business in Europe. Through Amcham EU they have access to decision-makers and influencers in Brussels and throughout the EU. AmCham EU provides a network and the opportunity to share expertise with over 600 fellow business professionals. The organization has long been valued as an independent source of quality information and analysis.

Although EU institutions and policies create additional opportunities for national interest groups to influence policy-making, not all domestic groups make use of the extended niche provided by the EU. Perceiving the EU solely in categories of ‘high politics’ and omitting or marginalising its ‘low politics’ dimension is the reason why the possibilities of co-shaping the European integration process through both European and national social organisations, interest groups, regional associations, think tanks, etc., are not sufficiently used in Poland.

A Member State is having influence in the EU when EU policy outcomes realize its interests and objectives. Each Member State’s stance towards the EU is intimately bound up with its wider view of the way it wishes to approach its international challenges and place in the world.

Apart from the politics of a Member State’s EU policy, a Member State also exercises influence in the EU by virtue of the quality of its personnel and administrative capacity.

Romania must go beyond being simply a member state to defending and exercising its rights and uphold its national interests in the European decision-making process.

The EU asserts that the enlargement door remains open to any European country that is able to meet and implement the political and economic criteria for membership. The remaining Western Balkan states of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo are all recognized as potential EU candidates but their accession prospects and timetables vary. Most analysts believe that it will likely be many more years before any of these countries are ready to join the EU.

Having nationals on the staff of the EU institutions is important for any member state as a channel of influence to the EU. The European Parliament counts 6,690 staff persons. The following is the breakdown by nationality:

No less than 50 German national trade associations have a presence in Brussels. It has become increasingly necessary for national associations to maintain an office in Brussels owing to the increasing influence of the European Commission on national legislation. Through their Brussels offices cooperation with other associations can also be strengthened and synergy effects fully utilized in terms of extensive lobbying.

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is a multilateral treaty that bans chemical weapons and requires their destruction within a specified period of time. The treaty is of unlimited duration and is far more comprehensive than the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which outlaws the use but not the possession of chemical weapons.

CWC negotiations started in 1980 in the UN Conference on Disarmament. The convention opened for signature on January 13, 1993, and entered into force on April 29, 1997.

The very existence and functioning of representative democracy, where citizens delegate policy-making to elected representatives, hinges on the presence of politicians.

Lobbying as a practice attracts a very negative response that excludes the reality of how public policy evolves in democratic setting be it at national or EU level. There is a common and inaccurate perception that lobbying is unethical and damaging to heathly government.This misperception exists because lobbying attracts attention only in the light of contentious issues and not when positive outcomes are achieved.