The mood in Europe and North America is deeply sombre, as business leaders, economists and policymakers alike expect the economic climate to get worse before it gets better. Therefore, the business-government relationship is of particular relevance. Business advocacy in trade policy can improve the competitive position of EU exporters in foreign markets by helping governments work out better trade strategies. EU firms need to push for improved foreign market access of their products and support regulations that improve their competitive position.

Fiscal Austerity means that the state  must engage in “fiscal consolidation.” In economic parlance, this implies that the state must cut spending and increase taxes in order to “service” its debt by reducing its annual deficit. Thus, the ‘conditions’ for receiving a loan demand “fiscal austerity” measures being implemented by the debtor nation. This is supposedly a way for the lender to ensure that their loans are met with appropriate measures to deal with the debt.

Investors are hoping for something big from European leaders at the EU Summit on 23 October and the Group of 20 on 3 November. Here below are some of the measures that most likely will be revealed in order to avoid the sovereign debt problems dragging the world into recession.

Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, homes, and life savings as the middle class has undergone an unprecedented collapse. 

/sites/default/files/Access%20Rights%20to%20the%20European%20Parliament_0.pdf

The European Parliament and the European Commission introduced a new joint register on 23 June, scrapping existing annual passes altogether. Instead, they put in place a new fast-track system for registered lobbyists to obtain one-day passes, based on accreditation valid for 12 months. However, many lobbying organisations remain unaware of how the new system works.

The French financial situation is worrisome. It is even worse than Italy whose budget (excluding servicing of the debt) is positive unlike France.  BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole together hold nearly $ 57 billion in Greek sovereign and private debt, versus $ 34 billion held by the German banks and $ 14 billion at British banks. As of December of last year, French banks also held more than € 140 billion in total Spanish debt and almost € 400 billion in Italian debt.

The Polish Ministry for Regional Development organized ‘The Polish Village’ from 10-12 October in Brussels presenting the level of implementation of 16 regional operational programmes of the 16 Polish regions: Lower Silesian (Dolnoslaskie), Kuyavian-Pomeranian (Kujawsko-Pomorskie), Lublin (Lubelskie), Lubusz (Lubuskie), Lodz (Lodzkie), Lesser Poland (Malopolskie), Mazovian (Mazowiecki), Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie (Podlaskie), Pomeranian (Pomorskie); Silesian (Slaskie), Swietokrzyskie, Warmian-Mazurian (Warminsko-Mazurskie), Greater Poland (Wielkopolskie) and West Pomeranian (Zachodni

All lobbyists have different areas of expertise, contacts, working styles, success records, and fees.  If you want to hire a good lobbyist – meaning one that’s effective for you, not just in general – you need to do some research into at least a few lobbyists, and find the one that will work well for you and your specific project(s).

The forthcoming G20 Cannes Summit to be held in Cannes on 3-4 November 2011 will be the sixth meeting of the G-20 heads of government in a series of on-going discussions about financial markets and the world economy.