THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMUNITY OF EUROPE (P.A.C.E.) AT A GLANCE
Submitted by christian on Thu, 02/19/2015 - 13:09
- Austria: Austrian Public Affairs Association (www.oepav.at). The Austrian Public Affairs Association (OePAV) was founded in September 2011. Membership is open to public affairs professionals in companies, trade unions and NGOs or self-employed public affairs consultants. OePAV members work in various business fields (Lobbying, Government Relations, Issues -and Stakeholder Management, Corporate Social Responsibility). OePAV facilitates the exchange of knowledge of the national and international level. Thus, OePAV cooperates with national and international associations to advance the exchange of experience. OePAV’s objectives are: To develop the public affairs business by defining quality standards and a code of conduct; to support an exchange of knowledge and to provide education and training; to increase the perception of public affairs as management tool; to improve its reputation in business environment, the media and the public. Last but not least, to make Austrian politicians and administration aware of the importance of reputable public affairs work. Members of the Austrian Public Affairs Association commit themselves to comply with the principles of the OePAV code of conduct. Any violation of Articles 1 to 8 may lay the ground for a proceeding. A proceeding may result in sanctions ranging from a formal written warning to a complete exclusion from the OePAV. Violations of the code may be notified to the code of conduct committee by OePAV members, political decision makers, media representatives or individuals. Peter Jann, former judge of the Court of the European Union and the Austrian Constitutional Court heads the code of conduct committee. Peter Köppl, a board member from the beginning on, was elected OePAV-president in 2013. He is Managing Director of Vienna based Mastermind Public Affairs Consulting.
- Bulgaria: Boris Karakushev (Sofia). No PA Association per se.
- Cyprus: Mary Pyrgos. No PA Association per se.
- Czech Republic: The Association of Public Affairs Agencies (APAA) was launched in May 2012. APAA associates personal and legal entities that provide services in the field of public affairs with a goal to harmonize private and public interests, to enhance mutual communication between business sphere and state administration, and to contribute to mutual understanding between different interest groups. Individual companies participating in the Association are convinced of the importance of this field and the necessity to spread information about public affairs among the general public. Therefore, APAA creates a space for discussion. The Association pays heed to the development within the field and education of its members through organizing seminars, conferences and frequent meetings. The key objective of the Association is the effort to reach higher transparency, openness and professionalism, through supervision over the members´ compliance with the Code of Conduct, and to ultimately improve the reputation of the public affairs industry in the Czech Republic. Since the Association was established, its president has been Mr. Vaclav Nekvapil, who is the Managing Director of CEC Government Relations Prague. Vaclav’s public affairs expertise is especially strong in ICT, international transport and EU affairs, as well as electoral campaign strategy, networking, and building relations with stakeholders.
- France: AFCL, the association of the French lobbyists, was founded in 1991 with a specific code of conduct and ethics, compulsory for the now 36 active members from 23 various size companies. Members gather regularly for general meetings, news exchange through the internet and they also attend 6 permanent working groups, the one on Europe is chaired by Eric Schell. AFCL is currently in contact with the OECD discussing future principles on transparency and risky business for lobbying companies.
- Germany: De’ge’pol – German Association of Political Consultants was founded in Berlin on 25th May 2002. De’ge’pol is the first association of professional German-speaking political consultants. Members of the association are active in the fields of Public Affairs, campaign consulting, and policy consulting in various European countries. They are engaged in agencies, businesses, organizations, parties or independently. Since its formation, the de’ge’pol gradually advanced to an important contact within its line of business and became the leading association for political consultants in Germany. This is shown by the leading role in the development of criteria for quality management for political consultants as well as an increasing presence in the discussion on transparency within the area of political consulting. Furthermore the de’ge’pol is the partner of most important associations for political consultants on the European and international level. Due to these partnerships de’ge’pol takes part in strategic considerations. De’ge’pol is independent, non-partisan, and is exclusively sustained by honorary work. The members’ convention elects the executive committee for a period of three years. Chairman of de’ge’pol since 2002 is Dominik Meier – one of the founders of the association. Together with Constanze Miller he founded Miller & Meier Consulting (MMC) in 1997. MMC is one of the leading public affairs consultancy in Berlin with offices in Brussels and Washington.
- Greece: Georgios Limperis. No PA Association per se.
- Hungary – Gábor Rácz. No PA Association per se.
- Italy: Il Chiostro per la trasparenza delle lobby. Il Chiostro is an association that wants to promote the culture, practice and regulation in representing the interests of transparency. Il Chiostro wants to help change the simplistic approach to lobbying, with four objectives: 1. disseminate the values and culture of pluralism and democracy open to dialogue with anyone who has to represent legitimate interests to public decision-makers; 2. outline a clear identity of lobbying, as distinct from others and disseminate its characteristics to the public; 3. provide a clear, simple and untainted image of lobbying; 4. contribute to an appropriate interdisciplinary training based on sound ethical values of lobbyists. President is Giuseppe Mazzei
- Malta: Fabio Giangolini. No PA Association per se.
- Netherlands: Dutch Association of Public Affairs Professionals was founded in 1999 by Peter van Keulen. Today Peter van Keulen is owner of PA agency Public Maters.
- Norway: Rolf Jarle Brøske. No PA Association per se.
- Portugal: Joaquim Martins Lampreia (President Omniconsul-Communications Consultant). No PA Association per se.
- Romania : The Romanian Lobbying Registry Association is a non profit organization established in 2010 by the main public affairs consultancies, with the purpose of contributing to the popularization and promotion of the lobbying activity, viewed as a multidisciplinary activity, which requires juridical, economical, sociological and communication knowledge. Chairman is Laura Florea, Managing Partner of Point Public Affairs.
- Spain: Asociación de Profesionales de las Relaciones Institucionales (APRI) is taking a leading role in the promotion of the lobbying activity in Spain. Maria Rosia is Founding Member and President.
- Sweden : PRECIS, Association of Public Relations Consultancies in Sweden is a professional trade association founded for consulting firms specializing in advice on Public Relations, including Public Affairs and Lobbying. PRECIS purpose is to represent its members and the industry’s interests by emphasizing the value of public relations to achieve business and organizational goals and to work for public relations used professionally and in compliance with professional standards of both member companies and of their clients. Precis’ 37 member companies generate approximately 80 percent of the Swedish PRconsultancy industry estimated at €M 200. Anna-Karin Hedlund, CEO and partner, Diplomat Communications AB is a Board Member of PRECIS
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