LOBBYING IS NOT A DIRTY WORD.
If you think EU decision-making is an opaque, non-participatory and impenetrable process held behind closed doors. It is not.
Whatever your setup – whether you are a pan-European business, a national industry association, or an NGO, your evidence-based opinion is always welcomed by European policymakers. But most organisations fail, because of the large number of competing voices and a lack of inhouse resources to strategize and amplify their position.
With more than twenty years in the Brussels arena supporting companies and organisations, I am here as your partner to help you achieve success in EU public affairs goals through a systematic three-pronged approach.
THREE-PRONGED APPROACH
WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU
Here are some of the services I provide for my clients.
Strategy Building
Planning is the foundation of your EU advocacy success. With it, you are able to scale up your campaign when the heat is on and the competition is fierce.
Executive Training
You just had a new Secretary General who needs a clear, insider’s overview of the EU legislative process. Or you need help in explaining to your headoffice how the EU works.
Early Detection
Stay one step ahead of the others. The earliest movers get to shape the opinions first.
Advocacy Campaign
Using the Laws of Persuasion, conduct a targeted campaign to modify the information landscape in your favour.
Crafting your Position
When your aim is to persuade, your position needs to be crystal clear to policymakers.
Media Engagement
I help you shape and send your message that effectively reaches the ever-changing Brussels press corps.
EU DIGITAL ADVOCACY & POLITICAL COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT
As a former UN-level global campaign organiser, former European Commission staffer, with years of working in and with European and national trade associations, NGOs, multinationals and third country embassies, I offer my clients:
- My deep understanding of and experience in the EU legislative process,
- Excellent grasp of current geopolitics that are influencing policy decisions,
- Full awareness of your business needs and those of your competitors,
- Hard expertise in formal policy communications,
- Proven success and leadership in digital campaigning across all online channels,
- Through years of experience, I have ensured my clients’ regulatory success using a three-pronged approach:
- Early Detection and Planning
- Shaping the Comms
- Making the Call to Action
This approach is based on the principles of EU advocacy and the seven laws of persuasion which I have been adapted specifically for public affairs. As a trainer and speaker on EU advocacy, I regularly share my experiences and ideas about the current state and future directions of European public affairs and outreach.
CONDITIONS FOR A SUCCESSFUL ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN
The EU is a complex regulatory machine. The key to success is the understanding and monitoring of what goes on behind every single position, and continuously update your strategy and activities accordingly.
How the EU actually works
What gets proposed? Who decides? How to contribute?
Scan the horizon
Stay alert with early detection and continuous monitoring.
Craft your position
Be crystal clear and concise.
Offer a platform
Listen and thou shalt be listened.
Understand the geopolitics
What and who are influencing the positions?
Build your strategy on a foundation
Start with a stakeholder and position mapping.
Psychology of persuasion
Your aim is to persuade, not throw social media posts at someone.
Shape the landscape
We do not live in an information vaccuum. Be where your audience is.
"Then let us be content with the terms we used earlier on for the four divisions of our line – Knowledge, Reason, Belief and Illusion. The last two we class together as Opinion, the first two as Intelligence, Opinion being concerned with the world of becoming, Knowledge with the world of reality. Knowledge stands to Opinion as the world of reality does to that of becoming, and Intelligence stands to Belief and Reason to Illusion as Knowledge stands to Opinion."