RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL LOBBYING CAMPAIGN AT EU LEVEL

A successful lobbying campaign is an ongoing process. It’s not done in a day or two, it may take months. But there are steps that every campaign must take to be successful.

Lobbying, at its core, is about relationship building. But a successful professional lobbyist is also a strategist. He knows when to say the right things, at the right time, to the right people. He knows the EU decision making process inside out. These two factors, relationship building and being a strategist, must work together in order for there to be success.

Direct lobbying works best when it’s part of a larger, strategic effort that integrates strategic planning, grassroots action, using the press and media, building coalitions with other like minded organizations and other elements of political and issue campaigning.

Successful lobbying involves an advocacy campaign, where meetings with EU appointed and elected officials are just a small part of getting your message out. At the European Parliament level, every MEP and staff person is dealing with many issues, some similar, and some very distinct. Your issue, although very important to you, may not be very important to an MEP or his staff. Therefore, you need to find other avenues to show MEPs how important your issue really is. This is where a lobbying campaign comes in.

Once you start to get the attention of MEPs concerning your issue, it’s time to meet with them. Most likely, you will first meet with an MEP Assistant, usually, a young man or woman a few years out of school whose job it is to handle the issue you are there to discuss. They know very little about your specific issue and have very little time to talk about it with you. Most often, you need to make your pitch in 15 to 30 minutes.

These young MEP Assistants are very much overworked. They will be polite to you and listen attentively, but after you are out the door, you are thinking “that was a great meeting” and they are thinking, “okay, what do I have to deal with now?” They’ve already forgotten about your issue. And if you don’t remind them about the meeting and your issue and follow up with them again, and again and again, soon your issue will be totally forgotten and it will be like you never met with them in the first place.

This is the importance of a long campaign. You need to echo your position and issue over and over again in a number of different venues for success. When meeting with MEP Assistants, don’t concentrate your efforts on a handful of MEPs. You need the support of many Members, from different political groups. That’s a lot of work.

After you meet with MEP Assistants, your lobbying campaign is not yet finished. A good part of the campaign involves successful and relentless follow-up. MEP Assistants are extremely busy. They deal with many issues, and you need to follow-up, send an e-mail to the person you met with and thank them for the meeting, review and confirm discussions and commitments made during the meeting. After you follow-up with the MEP Assistants you met with, send a letter to the MEP and repeat the process as often as necessary. Results don’t happen overnight. Sometimes it’s quite a long process but if you are persistent, you will make progress.