European Agenda 04 2008 by Steffi Portfolio

I S S U E 0 4 / 2 0 0 8

Transparency Opinions on the Lobbyist Register Debates

Websites A closer look at the websites of the EU Commissioners

Food

Current events and issues in the Food sector

Dissolving mistrust Interview with Siim Kallas

EDITORIAL

Transparency matters

n the last 20 years, our society has seen a dramatic change in

rison of Blueprint considers how important transparency is to investors,

advent of the internet and sophisticated new communica-

Our topics of closer focus highlight the importance of transparency in

the way in which knowledge is handled and transferred. The

and we take a look at how lobbying works in countries across the EU.

tions technology has made data and opinion more readily

different sectors, including a look at food labelling, assessing the pros

then, that during the same time period, issues of lobbying

eating. We also log-on to some European Commissioners’ websites, to see

available than ever. Perhaps it should come as no surprise, and transparency have become increasingly signiﬁcant in the public eye.

and cons of using this system to inform consumers about what they are how they want to present themselves, and how successfully they do so.

With this issue, European Agenda is taking a new direction towards

The general public is strengthening its demand to receive accurate

comprehensive coverage of lobbying in Brussels. Our new Strategy and

inﬂuencing these decisions. What’s more, if they are not presented with

tures, interviews and articles will guide you through the maze of talking-

information on policy makers, the decisions they make, and the factors

the truth, they now have a greater variety of tools and skills to help them get their facts straight.

This issue of European Agenda is devoted to exploring transparency

Practice section focuses on a how-to approach to lobbying, and our fea-

point, tools and trends which matter in the industry. We hope you enjoy our new issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

across European politics and business. From consumers to policy makers to lobbyists to the policies themselves, everyone and everything is part of the debate. Does the lobbying industry need to be regulated? How? What

is the best way in which to most clearly and accurately inform the public

about issues that matter to them? And what does all of this mean for the

future of the lobbying industry? We have gathered expert opinions to help answer these questions, including an interview with European Commissioner Siim Kallas on the European Transparency Initiative, and an article by Ingo Friedrich MEP on the need for Lobbying regulation. Julia Har-

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11/04/2008

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Grit Fiedler

Editor-in-Chief

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CONTENT

TYPICALLY Commission Official and Stagiaire

NEWS from EU Brussels

Photos: European Commission; archive; Thierry Monasse

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY Interview with Siim Kallas 12 LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY Facts & Figures

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY Opinions

STRATEGY & PRACTICE Personality Websites

STRATEGY & PRACTICE EU Regulatory Developments

STRATEGY & PRACTICE Investing in Transparency

STRATEGY & PRACTICE Books of the Month

PEOPLE Betting on the EU President

PEOPLE Personnel Changes

PEOPLE Gala

FOOD Pro & Con

FOOD Labelling

FOOD Novel Foods

FOOD Agenda

AGENDA May/June 2008

BRUSSELS INSIDER Sports and Networking

BRUSSELS INSIDER 7 Reasons

Editor in Chief: Grit Fiedler

Photo Editors: Albrecht Noack, Olga Bode

Editors: Azra Ahmed, Beatriz Gamboa, Daniel Le Ray, Sarah Roberts, Christopher Robotham, Sara Schützeberg, Susi Teichmann

Cover: www.marco-urban.de

Graphical Concept: Stefﬁ Butter, Christina Ohmann Layout: Stefﬁ Butter, Christina Ohmann Illustration: Burkhard Piller

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Managing Editor: Max Obenaus (max.obenaus@europeanagenda.eu)

Interview: Siim Kallas, p. 12

Test: Websites of the EU Commissioners, p. 22

Agenda: European Council, p. 62

13-15, Rue de la Charité, B-1210 Brussels Tel.: +32 (0)2 219 22 90 Fax: +32 (0)2 219 22 92 E-mail: info@europeanagenda.eu www.europeanagenda.eu

Business Development Director: Cristina Silva (cristina.silva@europeanagenda.eu)

Helios Media Friedrichstraße 209 D-10969 Berlin

Publisher: Rudolf Hetzel, Torben Werner Editorial ofﬁce:

Print: Druck Vogt GmbH, Schmidstraße 6, 10179 Berlin

— 5—

TYPICALLY

Commission Official 2,300

When you start working for the Commission,

the average wage you receive monthly 2,300 Euros. However, this can go up to 16,000 Euros.

The average Commission ofﬁcial hangs up his or her hat at the age of 63, the typical

retirement age.

24,092 The number of people who work at the Commission in total is that of the population of a small town: 24,092 individuals

12,118

12,118 women work at the Commission, slightly outnumbering men, at 11,974.

make up the staff.

Multi-lingualism is a valuable asset for a

Commission Ofﬁcial. It is

20.3%

mandatory to be ﬂuent in at least two languages.

A whopping 20.3% of all people Sources: European Commission Staff Regulations. Rules governing the ofﬁcial traineeship scheme of the European Commission

working in the Commission are Belgian, followed by the Italians with 10.6%, and thirdly the French, with 10.3%.

0.4%

Only 0.4% of Commission ofﬁcials are citizens of Malta or Cyprus.

150

The total overtime which an

official may be asked to work shall not exceed 150 hours in any six months.

— 6—

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

TYPICALLY

Commission Stagiaire

8000

Every round of stages draws up to 8000 applicants.

650

There a two cycles of stagiaires at the Com-

mission each year. Twice yearly up to 650

3-5

Stages at the Commission last between a mini-

mum of 3 up to a maximum of 5 months.

(depending on budget and requirements) stagiaires work for the Comission.

The Commission has been welcoming stagiaires for almost half a

century now. Its programme was initiated 47 years ago.

Stagiaires are worked hard, but not too hard; they are entitled to 2 days of well-earned holiday per month.

1:1

The ratio of stagiaires to supervisors is a generous 1:1, to ensure that each

one is making the progress they ought to during their time at the Commission.

30 years used to be the age limit when applying for the Commission’s in-serv-

ice traineeship programme. It was abolished in 2005 after complaints that the age limit constituted discrimination.

1003

Each year the stagiaires’ salaries are

re-evaluated and reset. This year they receive 1003 Euros per month.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

— 7—

NEWS

News from EU Brussels Initiative

Europe Debates

Website

Guide to the 2009 Elections

In a new initiative, the Commission has

earmarked 7.2 million euros to fund civil society projects across Europe with the

aim of fostering a permanent debate

on the future of the European Union. As an attempt at increasing citizens‘ involvement in the EU decision-mak-

ing process, the project, Debate Europe,

Learn to vote

European Public Spaces to facilitate

The EU Proﬁler Project, to be launched in June

involving EU ofﬁcials in activities. Com-

will aid those who might want to vote in the

will launch online networks, develop debates, and go “even more local”, by

missioner Margot Wallström said, “The policies of the EU affect everyone‘s

lives...they need to be discussed and debated, whether in the town hall...on television shows or on the internet“.

Presidency

Initiative

Starck Style

Tax Talks

We can expect

Can we expect Europe to be united or divided

Fre n c h

press conference following the opening session

the

upcoming P re s i -

dency to begin in style: designer deity

Philippe

Starck has been

recently named as

its Artistic Direc-

tor. Starck, known for his minimalist, green and yet

high-tech visions, will be channeling his creativity by

Philippe Starck

designing events

and items for the

Presidency, keeping up with the tradition of French style.

— 8—

2009 Parliamentary Elections. Through the

initiative potential voters will be able to learn about the candidates, their campaigns, and all

the other actors who will play roles in the elec-

tions, thereby raising awareness and hopefully, participation.

Launch

EU-Russia Forum

by a common EU Company tax soon? At a joint

of the Brussels Tax Forum 2008, Christine Lagarde, French Minister for Economic Affairs, In-

dustry and Employment, indicated that France, during its six months presidency of the EU, will

be pushing for an agreement on the common

Lord Paddy Ashdown

have not been well received by all of Europe.

Lord Paddy Ashdown, President of the EU-Russia

about loss of national sovereignty for fear that

Forum as a “second-tier diplomacy tool to fa-

consolidated corporate tax. Her statements

It seems that the tax issue raises old worries this could only lead to a future harmonisation

of tax rates. Ireland, having attracted many foreign investors with its low corporate tax rate

in the 1990s, is especially weary of this project, fearing more general tax harmonisation. But

not to fret, for EU tax issues can only be decided by unanimity.

centre, welcomed the creation of the EU-Russia cilitate dialogue.” The Forum’s ﬁrst meeting took place on the 22nd of April in Brussels and the next one will be in October in Moscow, as such

alternating between Europe and Russia. The forum will provide an opportunity for its members

to discuss EU-Russia relations and policy recommendations.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photos: G.Boulougouris/EC; archive

Commissioner Margot Wallström

this year by the European University Institute,

NEWS

Media

Brussels Community

Pourier

EuroNews’ current look

New terrorism insurance in Belgium

The second European Communication Award

A complete strategic re-branding of EuroNews

Eurocrats can sleep more soundly at night after

sels. This year, the European Association of Com-

on-air look, new programme names, and a new

policy. From the 1st of May the population of Bel-

Award

ECB is a Winner

EuroNews Launch Insured?

ECB Director of Communications Elisabeth Ardaillon-

ceremony took place on the 24th of April in Brusmunication Directors awarded the European Central Bank for excelling in communicating

the idea of European integration. The ECB has

created a new standard for effective pan-Euro-

pean communication and provided reassurance to millions of citizens by upholding faith in the

Euro and maintaining conﬁdence in the ﬁnancial markets. Last year’s winner was UEFA.

is underway to bring viewers a new logo, a new website. On Wednesday the 4th of June at 20:00 switch on your TVs, computers, smartphones or

PDAs and experience the change. For 15 years, EuroNews has been recognised as one of the

world’s foremost international news channels. Today, despite increasingly ﬁerce competition, EuroNews is broadcast all over the world and is the European leader in terms of audience.

the introduction of a new terrorism insurance

gium will beneﬁt from this addition to their car, life and health insurances. Insurance companies

and the state have come up with the ﬁgure of

1 million euros to be invested into this project. The insurance will be included in eight types of

insurance policy and individuals in Belgium will

not suffer from supplementary payments to their insurance.

Award

Charlemagne Prize Photos: www.albrecht-noack.com; archive; www.dreamstime.com; archive

This year’s Charlemagne Prize went to Angela Merkel on the 1st of

May. The board is honouring, “a convinced European for her pioneer-

ing contribution to the European basic treaty, her negotiating style... for her wise diplomacy and her active dedication to the deepening of European integration”. Originally, the Charlemagne Prize, found-

ed by Dr. Kurt Pfeiffer in December 1949, was to be an international award intended for the “most valuable contribution in the services of Western European understanding and work for the community

and in the services of humanity and world peace.” Eventually the award became the most important for services to European uniﬁca-

tion. The ﬁrst prize was given to Richard Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, the founder of the Pan-European movement, but when it was given

to the Italian Prime Minister Alcide de Gaperi in 1952 the award un-

dertook an additional meaning, that of the promotion of the unity of Europe. In 1969 the prize was awarded to the European Commission and in the year 2002 it went to the Euro. Angela Merkel winner of this year’s Charlemagne Prize with past winner King Juan Carlos

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

— 9—

NEWS

Award

Institutions

Call to all Entrepeneurs!

Back to School

The search for the most entrepreneurial region in the EU is on again. The European Commission

has just launched the 2008 European Enterprise Awards (EEA). The EEA are rewarding excellence in enterprise and entrepreneurship promotion

especially at regional level. Participation is open to national, regional or local authorities, or pub-

lic-private partnerships, from anywhere in the EU and Norway. Founder of the EEA, Günther Verheugen

Frans Timmermans

Dutch MEPs returned to their former secondary

Internal Ethics Code gets Make-over The ethics and integrity of the European Com-

mission is a top priority for Anti-Fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas. In his new guidelines proposal, “Enhancing the Environment for Professional Ethics in the Commission”, Kallas outlines the

need to improve awareness-raising and ethics

policy, ethics infrastructure, and clariﬁcation of certain rules in the staff regulations related to potential conﬂicts of interest. Anti-fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas

Communications

.eu 2nd Birthday

schools on the 14th of April to speak with pupils

about the European Union and the work the 350 national MEPs are involved in. The scheme, called

“EU — Back to School”, saw Dutch ofﬁcials teach-

ing classes to groups from over 10,000 school kids on various subjects, with a speciﬁc focus on the role and work of the EU. The MEPs want

to make Europe more accessible to children in

terms of a future place to work and live. “Young

Europeans are eager to discuss their future in Europe,” said the Dutch secretary of State, Frans Timmermans. “They are hungry for knowledge but also want to express their wishes.”

Initiative

Launch

First Maritime Day Fifth Freedom On the 20th of May

the EU will celebrate the first European

Maritime Day with the aim to generate

greater public awareness of the importance

of Europe’s oceans and

seas. Joe Borg, Europe-

Freedom of the movement of Knowlege

Maritime Affairs and

As the EU strives for greater transparency, its

19th of May. President of the EP Hans-Gert Pöt-

dom” of knowledge to add to the four original

an Commissioner for

Happy Birthday .eu!

Commissioner Joe Borg

The Commission’s .eu web domain celebrated its

Fisheries, will give the opening address on the

of 2.8m customers, placing the domain in the

tering, Council President Janez Jansa, and Com-

second birthday this April with a healthy number

world’s top ten. World renowned names such as Versace, Bridgestone and Mika have joined the

.eu gang and signed up for the domain, though they still have some way to go before they reach the .com level of 71 million customers.

— 10 —

mission President Barroso, will sign the Joint Tripartite Declaration to establish this day. Meanwhile, several regional stakeholders around the

EU will organise their own activities linked to the European Maritime Day.

main political drivers want to create a “ﬁfth freeEU principles of free movement of persons, capital, services and goods. The EU wants to promote

further cross-border mobility of professionals, such as researchers, students, scientists and university teachers, as well as more funding for educational projects like the Erasmus programme.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photos: European Commission; Miguel A R Lopes; European Parliament; www.dreamstime.com; Ezequiel Scagnetti; www.dreamstime.com

Institutions

NEWS

Initiative

2009 Year of Creativity

Brussels Community

Operation Facelift

The Commission has proposed 2009 as ”year

of creativity and innovation” across Europe, to improve both its social and economic standing. Emphasis on improving and widening creative skills for the future will promote new ideas and understanding of a culturally

diverse and developing Europe, the Commis-

sion says. Skills will be enhanced through

Redecorating Brussels

of subjects including mathematics, science

The Brussels-Capital Region, with the European

well as highlighting social entrepreneurship.

an urban design competition, the aim of which

education and training across a wide range

and information and other technologies as The European Council and Parliament will

vote on the proposal later this year. Com-

missioner Ján Figel, wants to achieve this through “raising public awareness, and proCommissioner Jan Figel

Platform

Green University

moting policy debate and change.”

Commission and City of Brussels, have organised is to transform the European Quarter in Brussels

into an eco-district. The winner of the competition will have designed a convivial public space

giving priority to non-motorised mobility and

public transport, and providing buildings of high environmental quality and architectural value.

Media

Website to celebrate Customs Union The 1st of July 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of the European Customs Union. To celebrate this significant event, the European Commission has launched

a website dedicated to this topic. The launch marks the beginning of a communication campaign to

highlight the important but often invisible role of The ﬁrst Green European Summer University

Themed “Bridging the Gaps”, the Green European Summer University aims to build intel-

lectual, cultural and societal bridges. From the 28th to the 31st of August, at the university, located in Frankfurt/Oder (DE) /Slubice (PL), the

Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, in cooperation with the European Green Party as

the Customs Union in protecting citizens and facili-

tating trade. The campaign brings information to the public about key customs activities, such as protec-

tion against counterfeit goods. http://ec.europa.eu/ taxation_customs/40customs/index_en.htm

Customs Union’s 40th Birthday

Location, location, location

Photos: European Parliament; archive

well as the German and Polish Green parties, will

provide a platform for participants from all over Europe to critically discuss visions, concepts and

Euroregion Rhone-Alpes

Chevron

European Forum for

will also form part of the Summer University.

1050 Brussels

1160 Brussels

Rue Belliard, 12 - bte 5

policies for a sustainable Europe. Cultural events Greens and non-Greens, NGOs, scientists, managers and trade unionists, intellectuals and artists, students and other young people are invited

to gather for a stimulating debate on the future of Europe.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Rue du Trone 62

The delegation of the Rhone

Alps region can now be found at Rue du Trone.

Boulevard du Souverain, 165 Change of Address for

Chevron- EU Affairs as of 1st of March.

Responsible Drinking 1040 Bruxelles

EFRD moved together with CE-

PS in the same building at the end of February 2008.

— 11 —

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY

Interview As obvious and as open as possible EU Commissioner Siim Kallas on the European Transparency Initiative and the Lobbyist Register Debate

Photo: European Commision

by grit fiedler

— 12 —

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY

European Agenda: With the debate on the Lobbyist Register, your initia-

can work or not. I can only say that yes, the voluntary register is far from

expenses, transparency is quite high on the agenda in Brussels at the

is also far from perfect.

tive for the Commission’s internal ethics code and discussions about MEP

moment. What do you see as the most important steps towards greater transparency since you took over this portfolio at the European Commission in 2004?

perfect, but I also have to say that the idea of having a mandatory register

Why is it far from being perfect?

The first difficulty is to define the lobbyists legally. We can agree on the

Siim Kallas: When I started working as Commissioner responsible for

deﬁnition which is in the latest version of the code of conduct, but it is

ing ﬁnancial matters, is surrounded by enormous suspicion. There is the

an example in this regard, as they have 570 pages of manual and thus

discharge, I realized that decision-making in Brussels, especially concern-

suspicion that nobody knows how the decisions are being made, how the decisions are inﬂuenced, who is doing what, and what the outcome is or

will be. With the Transparency Initiative, we try to dissolve this mistrust surrounding decision making.

One of the most substantial parts of the Transparency Initiative is, of

course, the publication of information regarding beneﬁciaries of EU subsidies. This was the starting point, because the fact that 80% of EU spending is covered by a certain conﬁdentiality was, in my view, not very logical. The political decision on this is made.

How do you view the current development of the debate about the Lobbyist Register?

When I ﬁrst began working on this issue, I actually started

by asking all participants if they shared the view that we need

to bring more credibility to the lobbying landscape. Everybody

unanimously agreed that it is a good idea. On one hand, some NGOs view corporate lobbyists with suspicion and assume

that there is a ‘corporate bias’ in consultation processes. On the other hand, corporate lobbyists suffer from the fact that

public opinion quite often considers them to be evil and to

really difﬁcult to deﬁne them legally. The United States is often used as enormous bureaucratic layers of regulation on this issue. My theory is that

if we work with a legal deﬁnition, the deﬁnition will not be perfect. It will leave holes, and this will put the credibility that we are trying to achieve

into question again, as it would be the responsibility of this law to achieve it. Right now it is the responsibility of the participants, and thus a commonly agreed activity to bring about more credibility, more reliability. That is an important philosophical difference for me.

The other issue is that if we would now aim for a law that

If you underestimate the role of the communication �eld and of public opinion, then you will sooner or later fail.

implements a mandatory register, it is quite likely that we

would only have an outcome after several years, an outcome

which would probably not bring the credibility that is so much expected and required now. Some NGOs that can be considered rather radical in this regard, and some corporate circles, have found some common ground, in that they are

now calling for the register to be made mandatory. What

this would mean is that we would not have this voluntary register now, and the whole development towards more transparency would be postponed for years. For me it is deﬁ-

nitely a high political priority to complete this issue before my term, and this Commission’s term, expires. I have very

have very obscure purposes and aims. This is why we proposed to combine

clear support from the President on this. We also have to consider that

The Commission developed the idea of a voluntary register, where we

to go for a voluntary system has already been taken by the Commission

our good will and to establish something that would bring more clarity.

would include information about lobbyists and their backgrounds. This concept has not changed since March 2005, when I ﬁrst described it in my

speech at Nottingham. Things in Europe sometimes take more time than

the debate about the voluntary register is really an old one. The decision

two years ago. Of course we would theoretically have a chance to stop it, but then we would just stop it and nothing would happen.

we want, but we are moving forward, and where once the main focus was

Can you describe the next steps that we can expect from the Commission

of the register. In fact, the register as we have proposed it is more or less

issue of ﬁnancial disclosure?

firstly on the beneficiaries of EU subsidies, it is now on finishing the idea ready and the Commission will launch it on the 23 June.

The Parliament has recently decided to call for a mandatory register of EU

lobbyists, as opposed to the Commission’s suggestion for a voluntary one. How do you view this development?

with regards to this? How do you intend to deal with the much debated We will launch a register on the 23 June. The ﬁnal version of the code of

conduct for participants is currently being discussed, and will establish

principles which are very logical and which are present in most codes of conduct.

The most sensitive question for corporate lobbyists — and this has not

The register the Commission will launch on the 23 June will be voluntary,

been ﬁnalised yet — is of course that of ﬁnancial background. We have

stakeholders in 2006. In any case, the distinction between “voluntary” and

recognise this and therefore have proposed to ask for the relative weight

because this is the most fair outcome of the extensive consultation of all “mandatory” becomes irrelevant once the EP joins the register and makes

the registration a condition for issuing an access badge: I consider this “de facto” mandatory for all serious lobbyists.

I must say that we work closely with the Parliament on this issue and

that we want to have a common concept of how to approach these issues. The ﬁrst big debate and ongoing debate is whether the voluntary register EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

no legal ground to ask for concrete fees and contracts with clients. We of clients, which means that lobbyists have to disclose who their main

ﬁnanciers are. If, for example, lobbyists are interested in some legislation about pharmacy, which is probably the most sensitive area of all, then it

is crucial that they clearly indicate what their background is. If someone

says that they are serving in the interest of some patients’ organisation or

an NGO, while in fact they are mainly ﬁnanced by a big corporation, this

— 13 —

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY

about siim kallas Siim Kallas has been a member of the European Commission since 2004. Born in Tallin, Estonia, in 1948, Mr. Kallas graduated cum laude

from the Finance and Credit Department of the University of Tartu in

1972. After establishing himself as an economist and proponent of new ﬁnancial thinking, Mr. Kallas held a variety of increasingly high-proﬁle

positions within the world of Estonian politics, before moving on to Brussels. Married and father of two children, he now divides his time

between Brussels and Tallinn. Mr Kallas is a keen cyclist and has served

as President of the Estonian Cyclists Union. He also enjoys playing tennis and is interested in literature, theatre, music and history.

1979-1986 Director of the Estonian Central Board of Savings Banks.

1989-1991 Chairman of the Estonian Central Association of Trade Unions 1991-1995 President of the Central Bank of Estonia. Here, Mr. Kallas

acted as one of the principal architects of Estonian monetary reform, orchestrating the adoption of Estonia’s national currency, the kroon.

1994 Founder and first Chairman of the liberal-democratic Reform Party 1995-1996 Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs. As Estonia applied for

membership of the EU, Mr Kallas established EU co-ordination structures, and developed the first Estonian Action Plan for EU Membership.

I always enjoy it when there is an open battle — I am clearly an “open political battle” man [...] I am personally always quite happy to work transparently. have immediate questions about others and ask why they are not joining. We all agreed on the need for a register at the beginning and nobody

objected then, even though some have become critical of the register since. Initially, everybody agreed that the good that is produced through

this initiative is the legitimacy and respectability of the business, and I still think that this will be a great asset.

1999-2002 Estonian Minister of Finance. Mr Kallas reinforced Estonian tax

Do lobbyists realise that they might beneﬁt from it?

policies and took part in EU accession negotiations.

sophical resistance from the lobbyists’ side, but there are certain details

2002-2003 Prime Minister of Estonia. During this time, the country was

out. Of course the fees and the concrete contracts are clearly a commercial

legislation with the introduction of new and effective corporate taxation

invited to join NATO, and also finalised its integration into the EU.

MAY 2004 - NOVEMBER 2004 European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs.

SINCE NOVEMBER 2004 European Commission Vice-President, Commissioner in charge of Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud.

Quite a large portion of them do. There is probably not that much philo-

wherein they are extremely afraid that their commercial secrets will come matter, and therefore we do not ask for the exact fees and differences

in prices. But information on the relative weight of clients, that indicates who is a major client and who is less important, should be available.

So you don’t see the risk that there might be concerted action by lobby-

ists saying that they just won’t enter this register, because there were powerful lobbyists who did lobby against the register with all the other lobbying groups?

Everything is possible, we will see. However, according to the rules of

should be known and clear to everyone. In a case like this, in order to have

consultation, if, for example, a major lobbying group refuses to register

vast majority of someone’s clients, or their biggest clients, are from the

sion is consulting the public and civil society, their opinion will no longer

some reliability, it should be possible for anyone involved to see that the pharmaceutical industry.

How can you convince lobbyists to register voluntarily? What is there in store for them to make them say “ok, I’ll do this”?

Reputation. Once some lobbyists join the register, the public will imme-

diately have questions about the others. Commission ofﬁcials will also

— 14 —

and they then want to give their opinion on a draft on which the Commisbe noted as the contribution of the lobbying group as an overall organi-

sation, but as an individual contribution. This is quite a change in terms of their weight, and in terms of the reputation of an important lobbying

group. This organisation would then probably seriously consider whether to sign the register or not. If we assume that somehow the most radical side and the corporate side work together, one side goes too far, this

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photo: European Parliament

1986-1989 Deputy Editor of Estonian daily newspaper “Rahva Hääl”

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY

gives an excuse to a lot of these lobbyist organisations, and they say if it

goes too far then please come with a law, then okay, then we will come with a law. But I really think that this would be far from perfect. And what

How is the EU interacting with national governments regarding transparency issues?

It is interesting to see that since the Commission has launched the initi-

would they gain? These people underestimate how much the information

ative to regulate lobbying in Brussels, several member states have started

technology we have at our disposal, is completely different from what it

and France. The European Transparency Initiative has prompted them to

is in the air anyway. The communication ﬁeld nowadays, with all the new

used to be. If you underestimate the role of this communication ﬁeld and of public opinion, then you will sooner or later fail. Let’s assume that some corporate lobbyists do not join the register. Then they would thereby

prove that there is something suspicious and that this ﬁeld really must be

working on regulating lobbying at national level, for example Portugal

think about regulation in this ﬁeld, for example on the question of access

to the parliament or similar. Of course, all this contributes to the greater

interest of the public in general and creates more pressure, peer pressure.

regulated more heavily.

You have been dealing with transparency every day for a long time now.

You have been active in politics, in the Estonian parliament and govern-

general, and whilst in ofﬁce? And where do you get the motivation?

ment, and since 2004 at the EU level, for 13 years now. How have you seen

How has the transparency issue affected you personally in your life in I come from a completely different society, where the word transparency

the issue of transparency develop over this period of time? Do you think

did not exist, and in this society I felt quite bad. In the new society I always

to do with a more fundamental change in society regarding this issue?

tle” man. There are different types of politicians. Some politicians are very

that the attention that the topic of transparency has received has anything When I was Estonian Finance Minister - and the Ministry of Finance was

always considered as some kind of nest or headquarters for all conspira-

cies, and under much scrutiny - I said, “Let’s put everything on our website”. Once, in Parliament, one of my ﬁercest opponents asked “One journalist

wrote that the government has so much money, and the other has absolutely different numbers - what is the real amount, how great is the liquidity you have on your accounts?” and I said “Dear friend, go to our website and you will see it all online.” This was back then an enormous change.

The one thing I always say when I discuss, for example, EU beneﬁciaries,

enjoy it when there is an open battle - I am clearly an “open political batefﬁcient working in closed circles, and democracy has never excluded this

possibility for dealing with sensitive negotiations. However, this is not my personal strength. My strength is to present, to ﬁght for ideas openly and

to debate with everybody. I am always ready to answer whatever questions there are. I am personally always quite happy to work transparently. Termin e 105x140.qxd

06.05.2008

17:13 Uhr

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which is a very indicative debate, is: Some politicians do not understand

yet that the information is in the air anyway. If you try to hide something, it will come out anyway. Bill Clinton has said to somebody who proposed

to him to have a secret operation, “What can be secret in the United States?” Everything will sooner or later become obvious.

Thus, my concept is always to just make everything as obvious and as open

as possible, which at the same time means that one can avoid witch hunts, and have a certain working peace respected. In my practice as Finance Min-

www.medienforum.nrw.de

ister, that was very important. I would say “We are working towards changes of tax codes or laws, but this is not mature yet. However, when we prepare

our draft, I will immediately publish it.” And everybody accepted this, because it was done openly and transparently from the beginning.

Another important point regarding the disclosure of information, and

of ﬁnances in particular, is to always put it in the right context. Some

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people want to have very detailed information about everything made public. But often, the real question is how to assess this information. If

we look, for instance, at mission expenditures and hotels, we can ask how much was paid for a hotel on someone’s mission to New York. To

assess this information, however, you need know the rules, you need to

know that other countries are different and you must also understand

the situation. When, for example, a foreign relations commissioner at-

tends the United Nations annual meeting in New York in September, prices for hotels are terribly high. You can not take this information out

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of context. In these particular cases, it is in my view the auditor’s role to control this. If you have some suspicions that someone uses their

money badly, then you should ask or suggest that an auditor checks it, and if there is a violation of rule, this must be made public. EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

20. medienforum.nrw 152008 — Koelnmesse, Rheinparkhalle June 9 — – 11,

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY

Facts & Figures Stakeholder Groups SEAP

EAPC

The Society of European Affairs Professionals

The European Association of Political Consult-

standards of professionalism and self-promotion

of IAPC, the International Association of Political

ants was founded as a subsidiary organisation

(SEAP) was established in 1997, in order to create

Consultants. Founded in 1996, it is one of the old-

affairs. Their code of conduct emphasises integrity, transparency and ac-

est lobbying organisatgions in Europe, and counts 68 individual lobby-

with 260 member organisations - and for its opinion that a distinction

shops. It views its function in terms of creating networking connections,

curacy. SEAP is notable for its size - it is the largest such group in Europe, should be made between lobbying activities related to the Commission, and those related to other EU institutions.

ists and political consultants as its members, rather than larger lobbying both within the lobbying community and between lobbyists, institutions and regulatory boards.

EPACA

ALTER EU

The European Public Affairs Consultancies’ As-

The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Eth-

when it comes to inﬂuence and clout, despite

coin to organisations such as SEAP, EPACA and

ics Regulation is working on the ﬂip side of the

sociation is EPACA’s main competing association, being a relatively young Association (founded in

EAPC. Rather than promoting the interests and

2005) and having a much smaller membership (of around 33 organisa-

professional strength of the lobbying industry, its members (numbering

might well also have something to do with the fact that it can be con-

too far beyond the reaches of transparency. ALTER-EU demans that the

tions. EPACA’s smaller size may be due to its recent foundation, but it

sidered more stringent than SEAP, requiring that interest groups identify themselves by name and company, as well as declaring their interests.

1996

around 140) are concerned with making sure that lobbyists don’t step

EU puts forward formal legislation with enforcable rules for lobbyists, and an improved code of conduct for Commission ofﬁcials.

Adoption of Ford’s Re-

port. This introduces a system of per-

manent passes for those wanting to enter Eurpopean Parliament frequently

in view of supplying information. Those with a pass sign a code of conduct.

1992

1995

1996

19 July 2005

Barroso com-

The Alliance for

up a register of

parency and Ethics

mits to setting expert groups advising the

commission.

Lobbying TransRegulation (ALTEREU) is created.

1997

1995

22 May 1997

Glyn Ford MEP appointed to present proposals on lobbying in the Eu-

Society of European Af-

appointed to draw up a report on the declaration of Members’ ﬁnan-

is founded.

ropean Parliament. At the same time, Jean-Thomas Nordmann MEP is cial interests.

— 16 —

2004

fairs Professionals (SEAP)

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photos: archive (4); European Parliament (2); private; archive

for all those with a working interest in European

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY

Brussels vs. Washington 35,000

15-20,000 Estimated number of lobbyists

Estimated number of lobbyists

2,600

Estimated number of interest groups estab-

Average number of

Photos: Pierre Guevar; www.ﬂickr.com; European Parliament

lished in Brusssels

lobbyists per mem-

70%

ber of Congress

535

Percentage of lobbyists rep-

20% 10%

4570

resenting corporate interests

$2.8 BILLION

Percentage representing regions, cities, international institutions

1995

Percentage representing NGOs

Number of lobbyists accredited to the European Parliament

Members

of Congress

Estimated overall spending on federal lobbying

The Lobbying Disclosure Act is passed, requiring lobbyists to register semiannual reports of their activities

2006

The Jack Abramoff scandal inspires the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act

9 November 2005

Initiative, outlining three aspects of transparency

ment adopts a report

8 May 2008

23 June 2008

Commission launches the European Transparency

The European Parlia-

The European Com-

in the EU in its Green paper: 1. Transparency and

on new lobbying

date for the launch

Interest Representation, 2. The Commission’s minimum standards for consultation and 3. The Publication of Data on Beneﬁciaries of EU Funds.

2004

2005

28 January 2005

2006

rules, calling for a

common mandatory public register.

mission’s target

of the voluntary

2007

2008

21 March 2007

1 April 2008

lic register for all interest representatives

fairs adopts Stubb Report on the de-

The European Public

Commission suggests a voluntary pub-

EP Committee on Constitutional Af-

Association (EPACA)

working to inﬂuence decisions taken in EU

velopment of the framework for the

Affairs Consultancies holds its ﬁrst general assembly.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

institutions.

activities of interest representatives.

— 17 —

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY

Facts and Figures

Lobbying across Europe There are no rules or regulations, no lists or reg-

isters, not even a code of ethics, in the French National Assembly concerning lobbyists. However, only those lobbyists who have been invited (given special cards) by the President and other senior parliamentarians may have access to the Salon de Paix, and enjoy the heated debates of the Members of the National Assembly. Deputies are prohibited from using their position and status towards any means apart from their public duties. Organisations that would like access to the Senate must ﬁrst apply to the Presidency of the Senate. The General Secretariat of the Presidency may authorise access to the Palais (the seat of the Senate) and to the corridors of the Salle des Séances (the Chamber itself).

HUNGARY

Since September 2006 people interested in

lobbying are to be registered. Reports must be sent in every three months detailing target MPs, objectives, means used and a list of names of employers of lobby groups. Sanctions are applied. 9 months after the Act was in place only seven cases were reported, highlighting problems with the regulations; the word “lobby” still has negative connotations, reluctance looms over the revelation of the relation between decision maker and lobbyist, the authority do not have the right to investigate every case, and, unlike the European Union Rules of Procedure, the MP is not obliged to reveal if he is interested in a decision.

ITALY There are no speciﬁc rules regard-

ing lobbying in Italy. Lobbyists have access to the

Senate although not to the speciﬁc committee conference rooms. There is a shortage of lobbyists and the word “lobbying” harbours negative connotations. Numerous attempts at regulating lobbying during the 1980s were made and proposals tabled in 1987, 1989 and 1992, never yielding results. In May 2004 a convention was held in which the President of the Chamber of Deputies said it was necessary to get over the lack of trust of the relationship between these and government bodies.

— 18 —

GERMANY

The Bundestag is the only house of par-

liament in the EU member states which has speciﬁc rules set out for interest groups and lobbyists, who are required to register if they wish to make themselves heard. The register is published twice a year and within it groups must specify their name and seat, who is on their board of directors and management, their sphere of interest, the number of members in the group, and the address. Invitations might also be sent out.

DENMARK

There are no formal rules or leg-

islation governing the regulation of lobbyists in the Danish parliamentary system, but there are a number of established practices, amounting to a de facto recognition of interest groups. Interest groups, which lobby Standing Committees of the Folketing, must have their names recorded in the archives. In April 1991, rules were adopted whereby the public has access to all written material from the Folketing, including petitions to committees. There are also rules concerning the admittance of delegations permitted to address Standing Committees.

The United Kingdom does not have any speciﬁc rules

and regulations, or a register, concerning lobbyists and their activities. Nevertheless, in 1994, two seperate associations of Parliamentary Lobbyists announced self-imposed codes of conduct as an exercise in self-regulation. Despite this, in 1997 the third Nolan Report was issued as a result of a fall in public confidence in MPs. In the report, it was recommended to ban MPs from selling their services to lobbying firms because it reduced their authority. Because MPs are not full-time employees, it is necessary to keep track of their consultancy agreements and payments. It seems that in the UK, unlike “the continent”, the suspicion lies in the government officials, and not in the lobbyists. EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photos: www.ﬂickr.com; www.sxc.hu

FRANCE

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY

European Parliament Transparent lobbyism regulation for all by dr ingo friedrich

Since its competencies have expanded,

representatives outside the EU institutions such as professional lobbyists,

increased considerably. Currently the

municipalities of Member States, parties and churches are not considered

lobbying in the European Parliament has number of lobbyists in Brussels is estimated at about 15 000. They attempt to

inﬂuence Parliament’s decision-making processes by lobbying its Members and their assistants, political group staff and also ofﬁcials working in the secretariats

of the parliamentary committees.

Despite its often negative connotation, lobbying plays an essential role

in the decision-making process of democratic systems. By allowing any kind of public or private interest representatives to contribute to the legislative process, it offers the opportunity

for an open and pluralistic dialogue. Lobbyists also pro-

vide decision-makers with highly valuable expert knowl-

edge. In their legislative work, Members of the European

Parliament are often dealing with very detailed and technical questions. Concrete information from lobbyists helps them to make qualiﬁed choices.

However to guarantee the beneﬁts of lobbyism, all

kind of interest groups must have equal access to decision-makers. Therefore clear and transparent rules are

needed to regulate the admission of lobbyists to the European institutions and their employees. Responding to

as lobbyists as they are granted a speciﬁc status by the Treaties. A COMMON REGISTER

To promote transparency but also to keep the bureaucratic burden for

lobbyists at a reasonable level, the Parliament’s proposal supports a common register between Council, Commission and Parliament. In 1996 the

European Parliament has already introduced a register for lobbyists in its premises. All registered lobbyists have to sign the Code of Conduct, which

includes a commitment to act in accordance with high ethical standards. Currently, 5000 registered lobbyists have regular access

A common mandatory register for lobbyists and a “legislative footprint” to make the in�uence of interest representatives more transparent

the “European Transparency Initiative” launched by the Commission, the

to the building, committee meetings, conferences and hearings.

According to the Stubb report, the new common register

is mandatory for all lobbyists asking for access and it will include a common mechanism of expulsion as well as a

common code of ethical behaviour. In order to guarantee also ﬁnancial transparency, lobbyists will have to provide

full ﬁnancial disclosure when registering. For a profession-

al consultancy, this could mean revealing the turnover of its lobbying activities and the relative weight of its main

clients. NGO’s and think-tanks will have to disclosure their overall budget and the main sources of funding.

The aim is to develop an efﬁcient but also user-friendly register to pro-

European Parliament has prepared a report on the “Development of the

fessionalize the relations with lobbyists in the European institutions. A

European institutions”. The Stubb report, named after the original rappor-

Council and Commission is supposed to discuss the details of a common

framework for the activities of interest representatives (lobbyists) in the teur, the former ﬁnish MEP Alexander Stubb, was adopted in plenary the 8 May 2008. This report aims to improve the Parliament’s transparency regarding lobbyists and proposes the introduction of a so-called “legislative Photo: European Parliament

companies’ in-house lobbyists, NGOs, think-tanks etc. However, regions and

working-group, consisting of high-ranking members of the Parliament, register until the end of this year.

footprint”. In order to disclosure which knowledge and interests have been

about ingo friedrich

an indicative list of registered interest representatives who were consulted,

Parliament, is at present Quaestor and Member of the Bureau of the EP.

incorporated, the rapporteur may, on a voluntary basis, attach to its reports and had signiﬁcant input during the preparation of the document.

In its report, the Parliament also wants to deﬁne a general framework for

lobbyist activities in the European institutions. By doing this, it has adopted a broad deﬁnition of lobbyists including all public and private interest EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Ingo Friedrich, MEP since 1979 and former Vice-president of the European

As Member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, he succeeded Alexander Stubb as rapporteur on lobbyism when Mr Stubb was nominated Minister of Foreign Affairs in Finland in the beginning of April 2008.

— 19 —

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY

Opinion Lobby transparency debate at crucial stage by paul de clerck

Since 2005 we have seen a vivid debate

does this contradict common sense, it renders the register useless for

pean level. The coming six months will

be crucial in inﬂuencing whether this debate will lead to real improvements

or merely result in cosmetic changes. On May 8 the European Parliament will vote on a resolution on lobbying, and soon after the Commission will launch

exposing ‘conﬂict of interest’ or ‘revolving door’ cases. The Commission

Euro or even more. Thus a small lobby activity of an NGO could be in the same category as a huge lobby campaign orchestrated by PA ﬁrm Hill

& Knowlton, which, again, makes the information meaningless. Lobby transparency campaign organisation ALTER-EU advocates ranges of 10,000 Euro for ﬁnancial reporting.

its voluntary register and code of conduct for lobbyists. When Commis-

CORPORATE DOMINATION IN EU ADVISORY GROUPS

the need to make lobbying in Brussels more transparent. He understood

to address the issue of corporate domination in EU advisory groups. Al-

sioner Kallas opened the debate three years ago he was outspoken about that citizens’ conﬁdence in Brussels’ decision-making

was low after the Dutch and French no-votes. Kallas expressed little conﬁdence in the existing voluntary codes

of conduct of the lobby industry and he stressed that in order to avoid US-style lobby scandals, we need to know who is lobbying on behalf of whom on what issues, and how much money is involved.

Since then a lot has happened. PA ﬁrms, led by EPACA

and SEAP, successfully lobbied against strong transparency rules. They argued that lobbying in Brussels was already transparent, so there was no need to act, and cam-

paigned ﬁercely against a mandatory registration system.

Yet when the Commission announced a voluntary system,

though it is ofﬁcial Commission policy to give all different

Commission advisory groups have become simply a platform for big companies to feed their interests into the EU decision making process.

they threatened not to sign up if they would be required to give a rough estimation of how much money is involved in their lobby work. MAJOR SHORTCOMINGS

Many of Mr Kallas’ colleagues echoed their arguments and he had to

back down. When the Commission finally announced its system in 2007, it fell short of what is needed. First of all because the new registration system is a voluntary one so lobbyists who want to stay in the dark can continue to do so. Many law firms, think tanks, PA firms and trade

associations have already expressed that they do not feel obliged to sign up, so the register is likely to fail.

The voluntary lobbying transparency register may have other major

shortcomings. The Commission seriously considers launching a register which won’t even include the names of individual lobbyists. Not only

— 20 —

Furthermore, the Commission did not introduce any concrete measures

stakeholders equal treatment, business is dominant in Brussels, representing 80% of all lobbyists. Ofﬁcial Commission advisory groups, such as High Level Groups, have

become simply a platform for big companies to feed their interests into the EU decision making process. Last month ALTER-EU unveiled a study of 44 Expert Groups which play

an important role in advising the Commission in the early stages of policy development. We found that 64% of the groups in our sample were dominated by industry.

Not a very positive picture. Fortunately this April the AF-

CO Committee of the European Parliament adopted a re-

port that calls clearly for a mandatory registration system,

including the names of lobbyists and meaningful ﬁnancial information. The EP also calls for equal access for all stakeholders and proposes effec-

tive sanctions, including removal from the register, in case of misbehaviour. Since both the Parliament and Commission ultimately wish to establish a joint register, Parliament is in a position where it can push the Commission

back on track and ensure that the transparency initiative is more than lipservice and lobbying in Brussels becomes truly transparent.

about paul de clerck

Paul de Clerck works for Friends of the Earth Europe and ALTEREU, a coalition of NGOs, trade unions, academics and consultancies campaigning for lobby transparency.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photo: private

about lobby transparency at the Euro-

LOBBYING & TRANSPARENCY

Opinion An opportunity to build trust with the EU citizen by josé lalloum

The European Commission has, for a long

Affairs consultants to its register, it has to take steps to protect the com-

municate with the EU citizen, but with

Or make the system mandatory. Finally, the notion of “money equals inﬂu-

time, made tenacious attempts to comlimited results. In all fairness, it has not

been helped in this mission by Member

States who have often used the European project as a scapegoat, praising it for certain successful initiatives but blaming

‘Brussels’ when this helped justify domes-

tic difﬁculties. With the European Transparency Initiative, the Commission is

likely to miss an opportunity to go just one step further than its attempts to communicate: the initiative could provide an opportunity for trust to be built

with the citizen; indeed it could provide the basis for a reputation-building exercise in which the roles and interactions between the EU

institutions and those it administers are clariﬁed. The ETI deals with three aspects: transparency of EU funding, improving the way the Commission consults interested par-

ties, and its relationship with interest representatives. But

the ﬁrst two chapters are only dealt with by the European Commission as a very small part of the ETI. The largest part

of the text does not deal with the way the Commission operates, it deals with ‘others’, i.e. interest representatives.

Do we, European Public Affairs consultancies, have an is-

ence” with which the Commission is currently playing is a very dangerous

one, and one for which the potential effect on citizens has not been prop-

erly considered. This notion is simply false on the Brussels scene. Of course you would be better served with an experienced Public Affairs consultant

than without. This has a price, but this price is the smallest fraction of what lobbying activities actually represent in time, effort, expertise, man-hours and budget. This notion is comparable with the idea that there may be

good lobbyists and bad lobbyists — basically those who wish to save the

planet and the others. This black and white view is dated, to say the least. In the 21st century, successful interest groups and organisations have ac-

Financial disclosure will impact commercial operators in a di�erent way to corporate o�ces or NGOs.

quired a societal consciousness, and are formulating their commitment on environmental and social grounds, often in partnership with NGOs.

We have entered the era of sustainable lobbying, where

our actions are deﬁned by a long-term vision. As consult-

ants, we aim to help the legislator strike the right balance between various interests, and build Europe in a consen-

sual way. Our communication lines are open with the

Commission to make the ETI both robust and workable for

consultancies and other interest representatives. EPACA

sue with transparency? On the contrary. We consider that transparency in

will pursue its constructive approach on this issue, despite lobbying cam-

have for a long time developed and reﬁned a code of conduct, which has

lack transparency. The value of lobbyists and lobbying has consistently

our dealings with the European institutions is our license to operate. We served as a model for the European Parliament’s own code. We have even

taken it a step further by forming a Professional Practice Panel, composed of wise men whose role is to judge cases of complaints brought before

EPACA. So why is the debate focusing on consultants? Simply because

the ﬁnancial disclosure aspect will impact commercial operators such as

consultants in a different way to corporate ofﬁces or NGOs. If ﬁnancial disclosure means making public the commercial agreement between my consultancy and my client, then I am being requested to disclose commer-

Photo: private

mercially sensitive nature of the information it asks registrants to disclose.

paigns mounted by so-called ‘anti-lobby lobbies’, whose true motivations been underlined throughout this debate. We want this notion to cross the boundaries of the ‘Brussels’ microcosm, to reach the EU citizens. European

institutions should remain open, and interest groups’ input should be fa-

cilitated. In the end, decision-makers will make their own informed choice on the basis of information at their disposal, information which operators

will have to validate and make relevant to ensure sustainability in the dialogue between the legislator and interest representatives.

cially sensitive information, an act which would often breach conﬁden-

about josé lalloum

competitors who may have chosen not to register. In fact, because of the

Consultancies Association. A founder and partner of LOGOS Public Affairs,

tiality agreements, and which would most certainly be to the beneﬁt of

voluntary nature of the register, it is not clear yet if I have more to lose in registering or in not registering. If the Commission wishes to attract Public EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

José Lalloum is the Chairman of EPACA, the European Public Affairs he has been active in Brussels since 1991.

— 21 —

STRATEGY & PRACTICE

Websites Commissioners Online The US election campaigns are a recent example of how powerful the use

ple and the issues which matter to them. The Commissioners’ websites are

and citizens, who often use the internet as their ﬁrst source of information.

actions and policies. In order to remain truly transparent, they must not

of online tools can be in politics, especially in reaching out to young voters

European Commissioners are appointed and do not need to ﬁght elections, but they are nevertheless the individual faces of what is sometimes seen

as a large and anonymous institution. As such, they become an anchor for public enquiry and identiﬁcation, creating a connection between the peo-

their representation of themselves to the world, along with their opinions, only make information available, they must make it easily accessible.

European Agenda has taken a look at some Commissioners’ websites, judging them on a variety of criteria, such as clarity, ease of navigation, personalisation, interactivity and innovation.

Most Innovated

Potočnik’s role as Commissioner for Science and

T MOS IVE T OVA INN

Research is reﬂected in his site’s innovative open-

ing page, designed like a messy researcher’s desk.

This approach is fun, if a little difﬁcult to navigate.

However, once you have mastered the unique yet

confusing site-design, you can ﬁnd a plethora of

useful links and well-edited video, shedding light

on the Commissioner’s work and background.

Janez Potocnik

Comprehensive Information

Not the most well-designed site, but almost any piece of information can be

accessed fairly easily on the President’s website, with links, and press releases

and videos galore. But those wanting a closer look at the man himself are

also not disappointed – multiple photo galleries show Barrosso in all his roles,

from sportsman to statesman. A little more interactivity might be an asset.

Joe Borg

Maritime Touch

The Fisheries Commissioner’s website is nicely designed and laid out, with a

maritime touch. Borg’s agenda, press releases and speeches are up-to-date

and easily accessible. With a “personally speaking” column available, this

site avoids the problem of having to keep a blog constantly up-to-date.

— 22 —

Jacques Barrot

Needs Modernizing

As Barrot changes his role in the Commission, it seems it is time for his web-

site to undergo some changes, too. Let down by shoddy graphics work and a

lack of cross-browser compatibility, the website experience is not what you

might call streamlined. It would also be nice to see an up-to-date Agenda,

and consistent language use from one translated version to the next.

Stavros Dimas

Green Designs

Commissioner Dimas’ website reﬂects his commitment to the Environment

in its green theme, and animated photos of world climates. However, the

pretty pictures are also backed up with useful information, all of which is

easy to ﬁnd, relevant and handily archived. Dimas also keeps an informative,

if slightly impersonal, blog, which readers are welcomed to comment on.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photos: European Commission; archive

José Manuel Barroso

STRATEGY & PRACTICE

Franco Frattini

Looking Good

Wants Your Input

a closer look. Focusing more on visuals than other websites, it includes an

links appear at the bottom of every page, creating a great deal of cumbersome

Frattini has left the Commission, but his website is still available, and worth interactive team picture, as well as an extensive picture gallery. The website also offers two age-group speciﬁc quizzes on childrens’ rights.

Danuta Hübner

Dalia Grybrauskaitė’s website is easy enough to navigate, though unnecessary

scrolling. The site is notable for its ‘Discuss!’ area, which poses questions on topics of interest and invites the general public to share their views.

Meglena Kuneva

Interactive Map

Web Chat

sion site, and suffers a bit from much repetition in the ‘News’ and ‘Agenda’

va’s site, which a design that is not exactly cutting-edge just yet. However,

Hübner’s website closely matches the overall look and feel of the Commis-

sections of the site. However, its saving grace is an interactive map of Europe, which shows where the Commissioner for Regional Policy has visited.

Andris Piebalgs

“Let’s work together on it!” appears to be the slogan Commissioner Kuneshe is taking steps in the right direction, hosting a web-chat on safety at Christmas, in a user-oriented ‘Your Space’ section of the site.

Viviane Reding

Needs More Energy

Back to Basics

as if much energy has been put into its design. However, it has lately been

sioner for Information Society and Media. An unusual colour scheme dis-

The Energy Commissioner’s website is very text-focused, and does not look

moving in the right direction with a blog that has received quite a few users’ comments, which it would be interesting to have answers to! Photos: European Commission; European Parliament; archive

Dalia Grybrauskaite

Viviane Reding’s website is surprisingly sparse, given her role as Commistracts one from the text-box laden webdesign, but does little to add interest. Navigation is confusing, but could be effective with a little less repetition.

Androulla Vassiliou

Margot Wallström

Starting Out Right

Ease of Use Issues

prisingly polished, considering her short time in ofﬁce. Slick graphics, clear

newer tools such as a blog, its design and navigation are not as userfriendly

The brand-new Commissioner is off to a good start, with a site that is surnavigation and links to Web 2.0 features such as the Commission’s YouTube page give the site a modern look and feel.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Whilst the Communication Commissioner has a friendly look and some

as could be expected. With an approach more targeted to the needs of different users groups (e.g. in the Q&A section) it might set a better example.

— 23 —

STRATEGY & PRACTICE

Toolbox More than face value A closer look at the possibilities of personality websites by harald felling

eing part of the complex structure of webpages

than an online CV and certainly more than an online version of copied print

tions inevitably have the distinct character of

is putting a number of banners on the pages diverting the users to exter-

known as europa.eu, the commissioners’ secpersonality pages: the person is at the centre

because other designated spaces cover the structures of DGs; topics and portfolios are accessible through directories; other institutions and agencies address similar issues.

At the same time, these personal spaces are

places for campaigning. Being appointed, the guardians of the treaties do not depend directly

on an electorate’s favour. However, their faces are the only faces by which the remote power named

‘Brussels’ can be identiﬁed. The challenge in on-

line communication now is the reconciliation of proactive agenda setting and satisfying basic user needs. This is not only a matter of subtle wording

and placement of popular claims. On the web, more than elsewhere, it is also a matter of the use of technology. DON’T OMIT THE ESSENTIALS

There are some compulsory elements in a website of a political ofﬁcial:

material. Campaigning is surely legitimate. A common mistake made here

nal sites. Doing this means missing an opportunity: The authenticity of the

politician’s personal priorities should be utilised to communicate policies: here is a person, for instance, who wants people to eat more healthy food

or who believes tax harmonisation must be high on the agenda. Focusing solely on personal issues and leaving policies to others does not fulﬁl the requirements of a good personality site.

Blogs can be effective communication tools in putting an issue on the agenda. But they can be just as detrimental if they are not maintained

properly — a good example of the pitfalls of l’art pour l’lart use of inter-

net communication. Blogging, of course, is not a bad idea. It addresses essential objectives of online communication: transparency, participation and up-to-dateness. On the other hand, too many details of last

night’s dinner can jeopardise an otherwise intended image as a committed ﬁghter for the good cause. To be effective, blogging requires sustainability and a clear content strategy.

A PLEASANT INTERFACE — USABILITY COUNTS

A slim and easy navigation makes a personality website by far more

an introduction to the ofﬁce itself, its mandate and its function in the

accessible than a large number of navigation nodes. On a politician’s

and some information on the personal proﬁle. It adds to the authenticity

points of access on a welcome page, e.g. mandate and portfolio, current

political system, the ofﬁce holder’s tasks and staff, contact information if the person and their ofﬁce are clearly kept apart and represented in different sections.

Getting in touch with people can be as simple as letting them know

what you do every day. A calendar gives a good idea of the person’s priori-

ties and whereabouts. A history of the institution and a timeline of predecessors will cover a good deal of the audience’s need for background

information. Commission President Barroso’s “Story so far” translates this idea nicely with embedded video and redundant access ways.

This basic content is indispensable as it is what most users are looking for

when visiting a politician’s space. Turning an average website into a very

good one takes a bit more: interaction, services, entertainment: simple animations and playful formats do not only appeal to children but can gener-

website, three essential content categories can be sufﬁcient as ﬁrst-level issues, personal background.

Making it look good is key. In person-centric websites the imagery and a

pleasant overall web design are even more important than elsewhere. All

the more surprising is the widespread negligence of this crucial element.

The challenge in online communication now is the reconciliation of proactive agenda setting and satisfying basic user needs.

ally be used as illustrations of complex political processes.

Good design can make the same content much more accessible, usable,

PERSONAL COMMITMENT AND CAMPAIGNS

The government portals of Austria and Malta owe a good deal of their

Having the basics in mind, a political personality website should be more

— 24 —

attractive and compelling. A simple yet powerful trick is the use of icons. reputation to their subtle user guidance by intuitive navigation icons.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

STRATEGY & PRACTICE

Rich Internet Applications like AJAX can enhance the user experience

signiﬁcantly. Free text searches can suggest results upon entry of the ﬁrst letters of a word. But as the audience of political websites is very

diverse and not necessarily familiar with the latest technologies, these features should only be used where there is a clear added value. For instance, AJAX facilitates personalisation by letting users choose items

they want to be displayed or hidden on a certain website. This, however, is not always necessary on ofﬁcials’ personal pages if they offer other customisable features like RSS.

In the accessibility department, an absolute must is cross-browser

compatibility. Making the website accessible with all its features to the

most popular browsers is indispensable, especially for representatives of an institution which promotes open source and competition. But there is more to web accessibility than satisfying the peculiarities of Internet

Explorer, Firefox and Opera. Other important web accessibility standards

are support of mouse-free use and text-to-speech software-friendly versions for visually impaired users.

Angela Merkel in one of the videos produced exclusively for her website..

AT YOUR SERVICE

Citizen services are not a genuine feature of personality sites. Embed-

ding related services on the site, however, adds a lot to the credibility of the citizen-centric paradigm. Service oriented architectures (SOAs) are on the rise. The idea behind them is interoperability and loose coupling

of services to enable a new orchestration, on-demand integration and reusability of government services.

Intuitive and reasonable placement of links to related institutions,

organisations, policy ﬁelds and services are much more effective than extensive link lists. Where possible, data base integration should be provided, related services should accompany articles and news items.

Personality sites are also a convenient vehicle to enter an issue-speciﬁc

dialogue. On Europa, the technology for citizen consultations is already in place and used occasionally. Linking them to the Commissioners’ sites

Photos: ]init[/The Press and Information Ofﬁce of the Federal Government, www.elysee.fr

and portfolios will probably intensify over time.

The line to proper eGovernment is ﬁnally crossed with the inclusion of

e-petitions: On the websites of Gordon Brown and of the German Parlia-

Accessibility: Nicolas Sarkozy’s website has an in-built screen-reading function.

ment, people can start and support petitions on any issue. TECHNOLOGY — WAYS AND MEANS

Web 2.0 is not reserved exclusively for video portals and community

sites. Raising users’ awareness for particular topics or services from the

toolbox 1 online campaigning

start of their visit can be achieved by features like most popular topic

 Blogs covering current issues to raise awareness

be represented in the classic navigation bars and can still be accessed

 Easy navigation

lists or tag clouds. This way, not every content or service item needs to quickly.

Videos of events, visits or speeches are a good means to get your mes-

sage across. A video archive is helpful. But what really encourages the user to watch is highlighting current content and placing it prominently on the homepage.

For the use of video, there are some simple rules. One of them is: keep

it short. Users are not enthusiastic about lengthy lectures. A brief message, coverage of the person’s work and meetings can, however, be a

strong tool to show their commitment and priorities. Essential for state-

of-the-art video is also the support of multiple video standards: Flash, EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

 Current pictures

 Short video clips providing information  Forums

 Games which illustrate the issues

 Interactive illustrations of complex issues  Mobile applications

 Accessibility & interoperability  Online petitions

 Data base integration

 Linking to relevant issues and information elsewhere on the Internet.

— 25 —

STRATEGY & PRACTICE

Windows Media, but also mp4 which is interesting for portable devices.

The use of Flash — both for animations and video - is especially useful

in an EU context to explain the political process. People are not familiar

with the bodies and players in the game. An interactive animation can make people explore the facts and ﬁgures. A good practice case is Esto-

nia’s ofﬁcial portal where Flash videos are used to explain eGovernmentservices (http://www.ria.ee/xroad/presentation/).

Votings are becoming more and more popular as they do not only

Gordon Brown’s ofﬁcial site lets visitors sign or create petitions from scratch.

Embedding related services on the site adds a lot to the credibility of the citizen-centric paradigm. Service-oriented architectures are on the rise. project the visitors’ opinions but can also emphasise the prominence

of an issue. This makes them attractive for use in topical campaigns. Another tool gaining in popularity is the e-magazine. E-magazines are

sometimes mistaken for mere collections of PDFs with a ﬂip-through function. Better versions like “vorne.” magazine of the German Ministry of the Economy (http://www.bmwi.de/BMWi/Navigation/Service/

vorne.html) combine written, audio and video content with animated illustrations, adding considerable information value. GIVING POLITICS A PERSONAL PROFILE E-magazines in political communication: Much more than just ﬂip-through PDFs.

EU politicians sometimes struggle with the indifference of the public.

The gap can only be closed by the actors themselves and their person-

Basics

 Professional proﬁle  Organisation chart  Calendar

 History: Timeline  Good design

 A powerful search engine Interaction

 Data base integration  Flash animations  Virtual tours

 Citizen services: e.g. daily live chat for citizen inquiries  Video and audio Publications

 Topical and personal newsletters  Electronic Publications

— 26 —

alities. Competing ideas, differences, conﬂicts and emotions constitute

much of politics’ appeal to citizens. The importance of the personal inﬂuence on political websites is growing. Much of the public involvement

in the American presidential race and in last year’s election campaign in France has taken place online. This illustrates the impact of good per-

son-centric web portals. What sets these campaigns ahead of many less successful online ventures is their greater awareness of the dynamic

nature of a web presence. Much of the above can be summarised as maintenance and innovation issues.

In a nutshell, personal commitment as a credible source of policy mak-

ing takes a personality website to a level beyond plain web presence. Interactive features, embedding of external services and consistent

innovation readiness for better service provision and accessibility top off a sophisticated contemporary approach to digital communication through political personality websites.

about harald felling

Harald Felling is Executive Director of ]init[. The company provides IT and Internet solutions to the German

Government, the Chancellor, the Federal President and to

NATO, among others. Currently, ]init[ develops SEMIC.EU,

the Semantic Interoperability Centre Europe, for the European Commission.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photos: www.number-10.gov.uk, German Ministry of Economics and Technology; private

toolbox 2: must-haves on personality websites

STRATEGY & PRACTICE

Regulatory Developments Consumer Protection At the Forefront of the EU Political Agenda by catherine gilliard

n spring 2006, the European Commission developed a strat-

sion is considering proposing a maximum harmonisation instrument, which

consumers. This strategy came in the aftermath of the rejec-

out by the EU. Consumer groups will undoubtedly argue that this approach

egy to reconnect with European citizens, as the champion of

tion of the EU Constitution in France and the Netherlands which, analysts agreed, demonstrated a lack of engagement

of the European Union with its citizens, and a general feeling

would no longer permit member states to apply rules stricter than those set

will lead to a race to the bottom on consumer protection. However, such an approach will also provide certainty for business across the EU.

of malaise towards it The new focus on consumer protection

consumer markets scoreboard

sion created the position of a European Commissioner for

Market Watch: a process which will investigate the performance of mar-

took up her post, she has successfully increased the proﬁle

this process is the Consumer Markets Scoreboard which will be published

became most visible in January 2007 when the Commis-

Consumer Protection. Since Commissioner Meglena Kuneva of consumer issues at European level, ﬁghting for enforce-

ment of consumer protection legislation and the role of the consumer in retail markets.

eu consumer strategy & collective redress

In March 2007, the Commission adopted a new Consumer Strategy for

2007-2013. The Consumer Strategy constitutes the overarching framework

In January 2008, the Commission announced the launch of Consumer

kets in different sectors from the perspective of the consumer. Crucial to

on an annual basis and will screen three aspects of the internal market: the performance of consumer markets across the economy, the degree of integration of the retail internal market and the consumer environment in the member states’ national markets.

roaming regulation

Prioritising consumer protection has also had consequences for many

for consumer policy in the coming years. It has three objectives: to em-

sector-speciﬁc EU policies in the past two years and is likely to continue.

from risks and threats where appropriate. The Strategy stresses the impor-

caps the amount that mobile operators can charge for services in another

power consumers, to enhance consumer welfare and to protect consumers

tance of the consumer to the EU internal market, a theme which was de-

veloped further in the Internal Market Review adopted by the Commission in November 2007. In the Consumer Strategy, the Commission announced

that in 2008 it may propose initiatives on collective redress. The Commission is still assessing whether it wishes to establish one harmonised EU mechanism, or an ad hoc settlement system but stresses that it is keen to avoid the pitfalls of the US system.

review of eu consumer protection legislation

Together with its Consumer Strategy, the Commission also adopted a re-

view of the EU consumer protection legislation (eight directives known as the Consumer Acquis). The aim of this review is to give consumers the same

rights wherever they are in the EU. It is expected that the Commission will adopt a Framework Directive at the end of 2008. One aspect of the review of

EU consumer protection legislation addresses the degree of harmonisation in the consumer protection directives. The current directives operate on a

principle of minimum harmonisation, that is member states may adopt more stringent rules in their national laws than are speciﬁed in the directives, leading to an inconsistency of approach between member states. The CommisEUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

One prominent example is that of the new EU Roaming Regulation, which EU country. This was adopted just before the 2007 summer break and was

accorded high priority by the EU Council and European Parliament, as both institutions were aware that this provided a visible example of a policy de-

signed to create a positive image of the EU to the EU consumer. The case of the Roaming Regulation shows that promoting consumer interests is

no longer conﬁned to the traditional areas of consumer policy. Indeed, consumer protection has become an increasingly important overarching

policy which policy makers hope to harness to revitalise citizens’ enthusiasm for the European project.

about catherine gillard

This section on EU Regulatory Developments is contributed by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, an international law ﬁrm with ofﬁces in Europe, Asia and

the US. Its EU public affairs practice advises clients from

a range of sectors on EU legislation and policy. Catherine

Gillard is based at Freshﬁeld Bruckhaus Deringer’s Brussels ofﬁce.

— 27 —

STRATEGY & PRACTICE

New Study Investing in Transparency Investors join NGOs in pressing for information on corporate public affairs

by julia harrison

ransparency in public affairs is no longer solely

holder value.” If a member company is at odds with the stance of its

ducting public affairs activity themselves. Ac-

sell continues. Fund managers are also increasingly keen to ensure that

a concern for NGOs or even for companies con-

cording to a report, Coming in from the cold: Public affairs and corporate responsibility, by

think-tank SustainAbility, charity WWF and

trade association, it ought to stand up and say that it doesn’t agree, Rus-

there are no conﬂicts of interest between the public affairs activities of the companies within their portfolio.

Brussels consultancy Blueprint Partners, it is

INVESTORS TAKE AN INTEREST

ment community. The report surveyed fund

vestors? Partly it is a result of the increasing regulatory pressures surround-

representing some $500m of funds under man-

struggle with increasingly complex and multi-jurisdictional environments.

a growing concern for the mainstream investmanagers and investors in the City of London agement.

Sixty-ﬁve percent of the fund managers inter-

viewed said that they consider public affairs ac-

tivities when assessing corporate performance. In addition, nearly half of the survey respondents considered that public affairs activities will become more important to them in the next two to three years.

So what is causing this surging interest in corporate lobbying among in-

ing business and the sheer volume of legislation now in play as companies

But it is also a response to some quite radical changes in society. Today’s so-

ciety is exercising greater scrutiny on sustainability while corporate value in intangible assets such as brand and reputation has become ever more important. These developments taken together mean that soft non-ﬁnancial issues have a strong impact on business performance.

Advances in technology have drastically changed our habits around

“We look at company lobbying activity in order to see if there is consist-

seeking and consuming information. The internet has enabled large

pushing via their lobbying presence. It is an input for how we asses the

bying for, often creating groups of very vocal stakeholders. In addition,

ency between what management is saying externally and what they are quality of a management team,” said one fund manager.

Ironically there is still not enough information available

from companies. The overwhelming majority of the investors questioned felt that their information needs about

corporate public affairs were not met with 83% saying they wanted to know more about what companies do to represent their interests vis-à-vis policy makers. INVESTOR DEMANDS ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS

What are investors looking for when they evaluate

public affairs? To begin with, they want to know that

a ﬁrm is ensuring that its long-term interests are pro-

tected. “It would be remiss of companies not to lobby

parts of civil society to ﬁnd out more easily what companies are lobpublic policy processes are shifting signiﬁcantly. Online

Transparency avoids the reputational pitfalls posed by the ‘cloak and dagger’ actions that investors are so concerned about.

consultations, petitions and blogs allow a wide variety of participants including NGOs, businesses and even indi-

vidual citizens to engage directly in shaping public policy. This new range of tools for contributing to policy devel-

opment is powerfully changing whose voices are heard — in favour of civil society.

CSR TO EMBRACE PUBLIC AFFAIRS

At the same time, shifting business models mean that

most large enterprises now resemble networks more

than rigid hierarchies. As companies grow their sphere

of inﬂuence, they must closely watch the ramiﬁcations

on certain occasions if they think their interests are being damaged by

of their actions. The corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda is now

ment at the Universities Superannuation Scheme, the second-largest

and support to trade associations have become more than ever the ob-

a particular policy,” says David Russell, joint head of responsible investpension fund in the UK. Some investors also want to assure themselves that corporate lobbying is in the interest of the sector as a whole.

Investors equally seek the conﬁdence that corporate government rela-

tions are consistent with wider communications. “Inconsistency,” says

Russell, “creates a reputational risk that can, if exposed, damage share-

— 28 —

enlarging to embrace public affairs. So companies’ government relations ject of civil society’s interest. Transparency about public affairs has taken on unprecedented urgency.

As corporate actions are scrutinised more closely, public affairs activi-

ties are moving up in the corporate agenda. This means government

relations turn into a critical and strategic business function to be manEUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

STRATEGY & PRACTICE

The result is that industry representatives need to engage with the

wider public to a much greater extent. Behind the scenes meetings with

policy makers alone cannot sufﬁce as a strategy. Convincing a larger public of industry positions also requires more active engagement with the media to amplify messages: Creative and innovative communications campaigns have become crucial to successful public affairs.

Government relations practitioners, be they in-house or in consul-

tancy, must also take their commercial understanding of business they represent to a new level. They have to focus more strongly on creating

shareholder value through their work in the political game. The lesson of REACH and many other dossiers in Brussels is that often industry can only exert inﬂuence by embracing legislative change and setting the agenda.

The increased importance of public affairs on the corporate agenda

means that lobbyists will be asked for more measurement and evalu-

Investors ask for more information about corporate public affairs

ation of their activities. “Companies must become much more sophisaged, aligned and measured alongside other company activities. They are now part of overall business performance.

ticated and adept at gathering information on all types of corporate

public policy activities across the company and in different regions of the world,” demanded an asset manager. New methodologies need to

be developed that capture quantitative and qualitative aspects of lob-

EFFECTS ON THE DAY-TO-DAY PRACTICE

This new environment has profound implications for the everyday

practice of public affairs, in Brussels as much as elsewhere. Transpar-

bying. Public affairs professionals need to be prepared for more probing questions about the value they add to the business.

ency cannot just be a “tick-the-box” activity, but must be at the heart

IMPROVED REPORTING ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS

position of Brussels actors, but also increases the chances of building

ment relations. Coming in from the cold showed that 74 per cent of re-

by the ‘cloak and dagger’ actions that investors are so concerned about.

public affairs activities. This demand is hardly surprising, given that busi-

of lobbying strategy. Transparency doesn’t just strengthen the political alliances and being heard. It also avoids the reputational pitfalls posed Clear lines must of course be drawn to protect genuine commercially

sensitive situations and commercial conﬁdentiality must be catered for within clear frameworks.

Transparency requires increased information about corporate govern-

spondents were in dialogue with corporates to ﬁnd out more about their ness reporting about lobbying activities has been relatively weak so far.

The 2006 Global Reporters Survey of Corporate Sustainability Report-

ing, compiled by SustainAbility, UNEP and Standard & Poor’s, shows that

reporting on public affairs activity was the second weakest amongst 29 reporting criteria considered. But the situation is improving: the same

study found that the average indicator for the quality of public affairs

Public affairs and corporate responsibility today and tomorrow

bling the 2004 results.

So what precisely do investors want to know? Some were looking at

Today

Tomorrow

ﬁnances behind lobbying activity and demanded “less hiding behind

Key stakeholders

NGOs and CR activist-

Investor-driven

ager “more visibility for what companies stand for and how they are

Business case for

Reputational risks

Future value protec-

Governance

Tactical—distributed

Strategic—subject

Reporting

Focus on detail of key

Focus on overall PA

linking PA and CR Photos: www.dreamstime.com; private

reporting was up from a score of 0.8 to 1.7 (out of four), more than dou-

driven

to businesses

policy positions

trade associations”. But overwhelmingly, as expressed by one fund man-

promoting these positions.” Certainly for public affairs practitioners it

tion

to board oversight

governance

and

objectives and key

seems that the demand from investors for clarity, openness and consist-

ency will only increase and that those successful in the ﬁeld in the future will embrace it with open arms.

about julia harrison

Julia Harrison is Managing Partner at Blueprint

Partners, a leading public affairs and communications consultancy in Brussels.

policy positions

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

— 29 —

STRATEGY & PRACTICE

Books of the month career

strategy Christos Bezirtzoglou

Hal Malchow

Political Targeting

Succeeding in the EU Oral Examinations

Predicted Lists LLC, Washington DC

FFPE, Brussels (Jan 2008)

(2008)

This book is designed to prepare candi-

Political Targeting offers a new ap-

Examinations process. It covers the prin-

assessment of the value of voters. It

dates for the somewhat tricky EU Oral

proach to campaigning, through the comes with a spreadsheet program

ciples, techniques and methods involved

in the exams in order to equip candidates

which helps estimate the values of

with the relevant knowledge to pass the

each voter, calculate costs and efﬁciencies and even prepare prelimi-

test. The book is aimed speciﬁcally at

candidates preparing for the ﬁnal exams

for entry into the EU civil service, applying for jobs at EU-related organisa-

nary budgets. It works as a deﬁnitive guide book to the new tools and re-

tions and wanting to gain a more comprehensive knowledge of EU issues.

search surrounding successful campaigning. Hal Malchow offers insight

and conﬁdence steadily. It is a concise must-read for anyone taking the

the forefront of statistical modelling and data mining techniques and di-

The book contains a series of progressive chapters, building knowledge

EU Oral examinations. You can buy this book at The European Bookshop in Brussels: www.libeurop.be

fiction

and experience from the Washington DC political arena. He has been at rect mail campaigning for many years.

policy Khaled Hosseini

Stephen Velychenko

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Ukraine, the EU and Russia — History, Culture and International Relations

Riverhead; 1 edition (May 22, 2007)

Palgrave Macmillan

It‘s difﬁcult to imagine a harder ﬁrst act to follow than The Kite Runner, a debut

novel by an unknown writer about a coun-

A myriad of specialist authors survey the

gone on to have over four million copies

legacy of Russian rule. This book reviews

try many readers knew little of, which has

Ukranian-EU relationship in light of the

in print worldwide. But when preview

and examines not only existing policies,

copies of Khaled Hosseini’s second novel,

but also the long-term underlying inter-

A Thousand Splendid Suns, started circulating at Amazon.com, readers reacted

relationships between national identities, loyalties, political/cultural orientations and

with a unanimous enthusiasm that few

political trends. Topics covered include: ‘Ukraine: EU Member or a Second

those readers said, A Thousand Splendid Suns is more so, bringing Hos-

Trapped between ‘East’ and ‘West’’ by M.Riabchu and ‘The EU‘s Impact on

seini‘s compassionate storytelling and his sense of personal and national

tragedy to a tale of two women that is weighted equally with despair and grave hope.

— 30 —

Belarus?’ by S.Velychenko, ‘Ambivalence or Ambiguity? Why Ukraine is

Democratic Transformation in Ukraine’ by I.Solonenk. Stephen Velychenko

is a Research Fellow, Chair of Ukrainian Studies and CERES Associate at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Photos: archive

of us could remember seeing before. As special as The Kite Runner was,

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

PEOPLE

Who gets your bet? Irish website gives odds on likely candidates for Permanent EU President position The big buzz in political circles these days is the newly-created position of Permanent President of the European Council, active from 2009. Everyone is talking about who might get the job, touting big names, but European Agenda is looking at some perhaps more unusual suspects. The Irish betting website Paddypower.com provides odds on prime contenders. While George Bush offers the daring bettor high proﬁts, we feature some more likely candidates.

01 Bertie Ahern (IE)

Paddypower odds 01 02

Photos: www.marco-urban.de; EP 2007

power has newcomer to the race Bertie

Bertie Ahern

Ahern as its top pick; the Irish Prime

2-1

Minister has also received the backing of Polish PM Donald Tusk. Though dogged

Jean-Claude Juncker

by shady ﬁnancial dealings, Ahern has

3-1

the beneﬁt of a successful former EU

3-1

adopting a European constitution.

02 Jean-Claude Juncker (LU)

Tony Blair

Guy Verhofstadt

Aleksander Kwasniewski

Gerhard Schröder

Angela Merkel

Former Prime Minister of Luxembourg

9-2

Juncker is the connoisseur’s choice—a low-key problem solver. Having served two

terms as President of the Council, and being

8-1

involved in many European and Internation-

al projects, you might think Jucker has had his time, but perhaps experience will be the

10-1

deciding factor.

03 Anders Fogh Rasmussen (DK)

12-1

With his own Facebook page, and described by

Silvio Berlusconi as Europe’s best looking leader, Danish PM Rasmussen is quite the glamorous

12-1

09 10

Silvio Berlusconi

Nicloas Sarkozy

Al Gore

Presidency, reaching an agreement on

Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Jacques Chirac

We shouldn’t be surprised that Paddy-

public ﬁgure. A ‘compromise candidate’, without the incendiary power of some, he could be just

the ticket. But will his opt-out from the Euro be

16-1

enough to bring him down?

...and three of the most talked about:

25-1 33-1

500-1

Tony Blair

George Bush

International presence,

1,000-1

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

www.paddypower.com

Jose Manuel Barroso

Angela Merkel

Former UK PM with anti-Europe reputation

President of the EC, a man who knows what

among the contend-

he has to do

The

only

woman

ers, but unlikely to give up her currentpost

— 31 —

PEOPLE

Personnel Changes Institutions

Tajani to join Commission MEP ANTONIO TAJANI has been officially nominated to succeed Franco Frattini as Ita-

ly’s member of the European Commission. As Jacques Barrot has been taking over Frattini’s

Justice, Freedom and Security portfolio, Tajani is set to take up Barrot’s old seat as Transport

Commissioner. Tajani has been a Member of

the European Parliament since 1994 for the Forza Italia party and previously worked as a

journalist and spokesperson for Berlusconi. Meanwhile, Franco Frattini moved back to Italy as Foreign Minister in Berlusconi’s gov-

Antonio Tajani

Jacques Barrot

Institutions

ernment.

Institutions

Stubb as Finnish Pelly to join EIF as Radermacher to Foreign Secretary new CEO oversee Eurostat Finnish Government

European Investment

EuroStat

Nationality: FI

Chief Executive Ofﬁcer

Director General

Fund

Nationality: UK

Languages: FI, SV, EN, Alexander Stubb

FR, DE

Start Date: 04.04.2008

Chief Statistician,

Richard Pelly

Languages: EN, FR

Start Date: April 2008

Nationality: DE Walter Radermacher

Languages: DE, EN, FR Start Date: May 2008

ALEXANDER STUBB, MEP since 2004, has been

RICHARD PELLY has been appointed as Chief Ex-

WALTER RADERMACHER will ensure the overall

he has been a Counselor on Institutional Affairs

His most recent position was at Pall Mall Capital,

as Chief Statistician and Director General. In his

nominated Finnish Foreign Secretary. Previously at the Finnish Permanent Representation to the EU. He has been an adviser to the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, and was a member of the Finnish negotiating team

for the IGC 2000, which led to the Nice Treaty. While at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Helsinki, he was involved in negotiating the Amsterdam Treaty. Most recently he was the Parliaments Raporteur on the activities of interest

representatives — his report was adopted by the Constitutional Committee on 1 April.

— 32 —

ecutive Ofﬁcer at the European Investment Fund.

where he focused on Debt Advisory mandates. From 2005 to 2007 he was Managing Director

of Structured Asset Finance at Lloyds TSB Bank, where he forged a 160-strong team providing project, property and asset ﬁnance on a global

basis. Richard Pelly has an Honours degree in Psychology from Durham University, a Diploma from

the Institute of Bankers and has obtained an MBA

with distinction at INSEAD Fontainebleau. In 2003, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Honours List for Services to the Community in Hungary.

strategic guidance and management of Eurostat new position, Walter Radermacher will assist in

developing the European Statistical System and improve the programming and evaluation of

statistical products and services in support of EU policies. Currently, Mr Radermacher is President of the German Federal Statistical Ofﬁce (Statistisches Bundesamt). He has held a wide variety of posts at

the German Statistical Ofﬁce during his thirty-year career there and has chaired the UN Committee on Environmental–Economic Accounting.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photos: European Parliament; private; European Parliament; private; Frank Hennig

Foreign Minister

PEOPLE

Institutions

Zangl heads DG-ECHO

Institutions

New Romanian RP

Peter Zangl will lead the ofﬁce in charge of

coordinating the EU’s humanitarian action as

Romanian

2001, Mr Zangl has been Deputy DG for Infor-

sentative

Director-General for Humanitarian Aid. Since

Permanent Repre-

mation, Society and Media. Prior to that, he

Nationality: RO

was a Director at the External Relations DG in charge of policy for the Middle East and South

Mediterranean, and a Director at the Em-

MIHNEA MOTOC has been chosen as the next Per-

Programming DG. He began his career at the

nian Government. Before moving to Brussels, Mr

Commission in 1978 as an economist with the

Economic and Financial Affairs DG. Mr Zangl worked as Directorate General for Budgetary Affairs during which time he was in charge of

European Commission

Director-General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) Nationality: DE

Languages: DE, FR, EN

the establishment and execution of the Com-

munity budget, before directing the European Social Fund and Resources Management. He studied Economics at the University of Rouen

Start Date: 01.04.2008

and at the University of Cologne.

Institutions

King head of Mandelson’s Cabinet

Start Date: 21.04.2008

ployment and Social Affairs DG. He has also

served as Director at the Budget and Financial Peter Zangl

Languages: RO, EN, FR Mihnea Motoc

Institutions

Whelan Head of Kroes’ Cabinet

manent Representative in the EU for the RomaMotoc was Permanent Representative of the Romanian government in the United Nations, playing a part in the Security Council for a year. Motoc

was Secretary of State for European Integration and Multilateral Affairs in the Ministry of the

Exterior of the Romanian government during enlargement. He has been Ambassador of Romania

in the Netherlands after dedicating many years to the Ministry of the Exterior in his country.

TICKER

Jens-Peter Bonde, President, EUDemocrats

+++Juan Fraile Canton, MEP, European Parliament +++ Hanne Dahl, MEP, European Parliament +++ Per-Ove Engelbrecht, Director

Investment, Innovation and SMEs, DG Enterprise DG External Trade

European Commission

Nationality: UK

Neelie Kroes

Head of Cabinet

Head of Cabinet of

Languages: EN, FR Julian King

Start Date: 01.02.2008

Anthony Whelan

Languages: EN, FR, IT, NL Start Date: 01.03.2008

PETER MANDELSON has appointed JULIAN KING

ANTHONY WHELAN has been appointed Head

string of top jobs in the British Foreign and Com-

for Competition. Mr Whelan studied Law at

as new Head of his Cabinet. Mr King has held a monwealth Ofﬁce (FCO). He took up the position of Secretary to HM Ambassador in 1987. He was later Private Secretary to the Permanent UnderSecretary of State and then Counsellor (Enlarge-

ment) at the UK Representation in Brussels. Photos: private

Nationality: IE

In 2004 he worked as Counsellor and Head of Chancery, UK mission in New York.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

of Cabinet of Neelie Kroes in the Commission

Trinity College Dublin and Cambridge Univer-

sity and is a qualiﬁed Barrister. Before joining

the Commission at the Court of Justice of the European Commission in Luxembourg, he was a

Public Law lecturer in Dublin. He worked for the

and Industry +++ Marti Grau i Segú, MEP,

European Parliament +++ Pierre-Michel Joana, Special Advisor to EU High Representative

Javier Solana, Council of the EU +++ Gert Jan

Koopman, Director, DG Enterprise and Industry

+++ Maurici Lucena, Chairman of the ESA Council, European Space Agency +++ Florencio

Luque Aguilar, MEP, European Parliament +++

Salvador Domingo Sanz Palacio, MEP, European

Parliament +++ Irene Souka, Deputy Director-

General for Personnel and Administration, European Commission +++ Juan Esteban

Verastegui, Head of Mission, EU SSR GuineaBissau +++ Marek Wozniak, Head of Polish Delegation, Committee of the Regions +++

legal service between 2000 and 2006, before joining the Cabinet of Neelie Kroes.

— 33 —

PEOPLE

Associations

De Greef for EuropaBio

NGOs

Beger at Amnesty Brussels

EuropaBio

Secretary General

Amnesty

Languages: EN, FR, NL

Director

Nationality: BE

International

Start Date: 01.07.2008

Nationality: DE

WILLY DE GREEF has been appointed Secretary General of EuropaBio. He is a plant biologist with Willy De Greef

Languages: DE, EN, FR Nicolas Beger

Start Date: 01.04.2008

extensive experience in tropical crop breeding

Dr NICOLAS BEGER has been appointed Direc-

biotechnology. Involved in setting up biotechnol-

placing Dick Oosting. Previously Director of the

and in technology transfer related to agricultural

ogy policies and regulations both at European and International levels, he has represented both private and public sector organisations.

tor of Amnesty International‘s EU Office, reEuropean Peace Building Liaison Ofﬁce (EPLO), Nicolas has a background in cultural theory and

European law and politics. In addition to teach-

ing at universities in New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands he has published in the ﬁelds of

Mazzucchelli replaces Krell

pean politics, and conﬂict prevention.

New President of Cable Europe

EUREC Agency

President

Nationality: IT

Languages: NL, EN,

Secretary General

FR, NL

Start Date: 01.04.2008

Manuel Kohnstamm

retary General. PAOLA MAZZUCCHELLI moves to

resenting Europe’s leading cable operators at Ca-

as Scientiﬁc/Technical Project ofﬁcer at the Joint

Research Centre of the European Commission In-

stitute for Energy. Previously, Ms. Mazzucchhelli worked as Secretary General of EUROGIF.

bero as President of the Industry Association rep-

Nationality: DE

Languages: DE, EN Herbert Heitmann

Start Date: 25.04.2008

HERBERT HEITMANN has been re-elected Presi-

Since 2005, he has led Liberty Global‘s government

cation Directors at this year’s General Assembly

Public Policy & Communications at Liberty Global. affairs, external relations and communications. He is also a member of the board of Telenet NV.

Karoline Holländer, President, EuroDoc +++ Christopher Marcich, President & Managing Director EMEA, Motion Picture Association, +++ ++ Elizabeth Mestheneos, President, AGE +++ Alexander

Natz, Head of Brussels Ofﬁce, German Pharmaceutical Industry Association +++ Jacques Wirtgen,

— 34 —

President

ble Europe. Mr Kohnstamm is Managing Director,

TICKER

General Manager, GreenFacts

EACD

Start Date: 01.04.2008

MANUEL KOHNSTAMM is to succeed Manuel Cu-

Brussels from the Netherlands where she worked

Heitmann President of EACD

FR, DE

The EUREC Agency (the grouping of Renewable Energy Centres in Europe) has appointed its new Sec-

Associations

Nationality: NL

Languages: IT, EN, Paola Mazzucchelli

poststructuralist theory, gender/sexuality, Euro-

Associations

dent of the European Association of Communimeeting. Mr Heitmann is Senior Vice President

of Global Communications at SAP AG and as such leads all communications activities for SAP

stakeholders around the globe, including inves-

tors, customers, partners, employees, and the general public. He has a wide experience in the

public and private sector, from research and development at Procter & Gamble (P&G) to a political advisory role in Germany’s parliament.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photos: Veldeman photo brussels/www.photoreportages.be; private (2); Ruud Taal/Capital Photos; Peter Vogel/SAP AG Walldorf

Associations

PEOPLE

Companies

Renner Head of EnBW in Brussels

Companies

Tacke joins CocaCola

Director of European Public Policy

EnBW Holding

Coca-Cola Company

Google

Representation

fairs Manager

ment Relations

Head of Brussels

European Union Af-

Nationality: DE Andreas Renner

Companies

Nationality: DE

Languages:

Start Date: 01.03.2008

Director of GovernNationality: UK

Languages: EN, FR, DE Nikolaus Tacke

Start Date: 01.03.2008

Languages: EN, FR, NL Simon Hampton

Start Date: 14.04.2008

ANDREAS RENNER, newly responsible for the

DR NIKOLAUS TACKE has joined The Coca-Cola

SIMON HAMPTON will be leading Google’s Pub-

track record in Public Administration. He joined

ager in Brussels, strengthening Coca-Cola’s Euro-

after ten years with AOL Europe & Time Warner

Brussels Representation of EnBW, has a long

EnBW in 2006 as Head of Regenerative Ener-

gies and has in the past occupied the posts of Head Mayor of Singen and Minister for Labour

and Social Affairs in the German State of Baden-

Württemberg. Mr Renner studied Public Administration in Constance and went on to work for Stuttgart Regional Council and in the BadenWürtenberg Economy Ministry.

Think Tanks

Nies succeeds Defraigne at Ifri

Company as new European Union Affairs Man-

pean Public Affairs team. In this position, Tacke

will work with EU institutions and stakeholders, especially in the areas of health and environment. Tacke comes from a European Govern-

ment Affairs position with the biotech company

Monsanto, which he joined in January 2006. Before that, he was managing the Berlin ofﬁce of the international PR agency Manning Salvage & Lee.

lic Policy team as of April 14. He joins Google Brussels where he worked as director of Public

Affairs, having previously been involved in lobbying at Belgacom, where he established the company’s lobbying operations. Before that he spent

3 years working for the Commission, initially in Task Force Enlargement, and then in DG External Relations as an Administrator in the Unit for Relations with the USA.

Think Tanks

From IFRI to Madariaga On the invitation of Javier Solana, President of

the Madariaga Foundation, Secretary General of the EU Council and High Representative for the CFSP, PIERRE DEFRAIGNE has joined the

Ifri Brussels

Madariaga Europe Foundation as Executive

Director

Director. Defraigne thus leaves his post as Di-

Nationality: DE

rector of EurIfri (Institut Francais des Relations

Languages: EN, FR, RU Susanne Nies

Internationales in Brussles). With degrees in

Start Date: 01.04.2008

Researcher SUSANNE NIES has replaced Pierre

Defraigne as Head of Ifri (French Institute of

both Politics and Economics, Defraigne went

on to work as Attaché to the Cabinet of the Pierre Defraigne

for Pascal Lamy, European Trade Commissioner,

viously worked in the Boell Foundation and

Photos: private

isty Berlin. Nies has a PhD in Political Sciences,

Madariaga Europe Foundation

as well as a diploma from the London School of

Nationality: BE

Slavistics and Romanistics from Bonn University

Economics (Economics of the European Union). She teaches at Sciences Po Paris. EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

for the Commission, which he served for 35 years, working his way up to Chef de Cabinet

International Relations) Brussels. Nies has prehas held a research position at the Free Univer-

French Interior Minister. He then went to work

Executive Director

and later Deputy Director-General in DG Trade. He has published extensively on trade and European governance.

Languages: EN, FR

Start Date: 31.03.2008

— 35 —

OUR HEART BEATS EUROPE

Pleon is European Consultancy of the Year – Holmes Report Pleon is Europe’s leading communications consultancy, creating and implementing strategies for private and public sector organisations around the world. The Agency has 33 branded ofﬁces with more than 1,000 employees in 16 European countries and associate agencies in ten countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Amsterdam Beograd Berlin Bonn Brussel-Bruxelles Bucuresti

Budapest Dresden Düsseldorf Frankfurt Genéve Genova

Graz Hamburg Innsbruck Kyiv Klagenfurt Leipzig

Linz London Milano Moskwa München Paris

Praha Roma Salzburg Stuttgart Tiel Warszawa

Wien Zagreb Zürich

Public Affairs Contacts Brussels: Cornelius Winter, European Practice Group Leader Public Affairs +32 (0) 2 213 40 40, cornelius.winter@pleon.com Peter Lochbihler, Business Director +32 (0) 2 213 40 42, peter.lochbihler@pleon.com www.pleon.com

BEYOND COMMUNICATIONS

Gala

Photos: archive; Andreas Herrmann/Stadt Aachen; Horst Wagner/www.eup-images.com; www.albrecht-noack.com; Andreas Herrmann/Stadt Aachen

PEOPLE

Brussels & EU Event Highlights

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

— 37 —

PEOPLE

Friends of Europe

Shell Energy Scenarios April 7, 2008—Bibliothèque Solvay Royal Dutch Shell’s energy scenarios are intended to help energy experts and thought leaders around the world anticipate the evolution of global energy sup-

ply and demand. The 2008 energy scenarios that were discussed at the high level panelchart two plausible ways in which the globe’s sources and uses of energy may evolve over the next half-century.

Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Claude Turmes, MEP

Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive, Royal Dutch Shell

Giles Merritt, Friends of Europe, and Jeremy Bentham, Vice President Global Business Environment, Royal Dutch Shell

Vitor Gaspar, Director General of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA), European Commission and Fatih Birol, Chief Economist, International Energy Agency (IEA)

Hanns-Seidel-Foundation & Centre for European Studies

Enlargement Debate April 8, 2008—Representation of Baden-Württemberg Focusing on enlargement, this conference discussed the challenge of

effective consolidation as well as the future terms of the enlargement process. Commissioner Olli Rehn, Gordan Jandrokovic, Croatian

Minister of Foreign Affairs and

European Integration and Matja

Šinkovec, State Secretary at the fairs were among the participants.

— 38 —

Wilfried Martins, EPP President

Alain Lamassoure, MEP

Photos: Friends of Europe; Hanns-Seidel-Foundation

Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Af-

Olli Rehn, European Commission; Ingo Friedrich, MEP; Gordan Jandrokovic, EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008 Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration

PEOPLE

International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen

Charlemagne Prize May 1, 2008—Aachen

German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel was awarded this year’s Charlemagne

Prize for her outstanding contribution to overcoming the crisis of the EU and

in recognition of decisions pointing the way to the advancement of the European uniﬁcation process. The award ceremony on May 1 was attended by

Wolfgang Schüssel

numerous heads of states and high ranking European polititians.

Jose Manuel Barroso Nicolas Sarkozy applauds Angela Merkel

European Patent Ofﬁce

European Inventor of the Year May 6, 2008—Ljubljana Every year the European

Photos: Andreas Herrmann/Stadt Aachen; European Patent Ofﬁce

Patent Office joins up

with the European Commission‘s DG Enterprise

and Industry to honour

some of the continent‘s

European Inventors of the Year 2008

brightest minds as the

European Inventors of the Year. The third Eu-

ropean Inventor of the Year awards took place in

Ljubljana on 6 May 2008, on the evening of the ﬁrst day of the European Patent Forum.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Alison Brimelow, EPO President; Andrej Vizjak, Minister for Economic Affairs of Slovenia; Biserka Strel, SIPO President; Günter Verheugen, Vice President of the European Commission

— 39 —

PEOPLE

EWEA

European Wind Energy Conference March 31- April 3, 2008—Brussels Expo

The European Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition (EWEC) 2008, held in Brussels in

March, welcomed a record 6,000 participants from 82 countries. EU Energy Commissioner Piebalgs and Research Commissioner Potočnik were present, and discussions at the conference centred on the European Commission’s proposed Renewable Energy Directive.

Portuguese Economy Minister Manuel Pinho, MEP Britta Thomsen and EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs during the VIP Exhibition Tour Angelika Pullen (GWEC) and Arthouros Zervos (EWEA and GWEC President) at the celebrations marking 100 GW of installed wind capacity worldwide

Delegates networking at the Conference Reception

State of Hessen

Annual Reception May 7, 2008—Cercle Royal Gaulois Prof Dr Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament, was the guest

of honour at the Annual Reception of the

Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament

Hessian Prime Minister and the Hessian

European Minister this spring. More than

400 guests attended the event, among

them Commissioners, Members of the European Parliament, Ambassadors and Cabinet

EU-Commissioners Viviane Reding and Günter Verheugen

Roland Koch with Commissioner

—Charly 40 — McCreevy

Hessian Prime Minister Roland Koch talking with MEP Werner Langen (left) and Dr Andreas Georgi, Dresdner Bank

Dr Andreas Georgi, Hessian European Minister Volker Hoff, and EU Commissioner Leonard Orban

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photos: European Wind Energy Association; State of Hessen

Members of the European Commission.

PEOPLE

EACD

Katharina von Schnurbein and Claus Sorensen discussing the challenges of political communications

European Communication Summit

Jan Hol, Océ; Karoline Kamerbeek, Philips; Jan Driessen, AEGON

April 24-25, 2008—Hotel Le Plaza The European Association of Communication Directors (EACD)

held their annual meeting of Communication directors and pro-

fessionals to consider the key trends within the communications industry today, and to engage in discussion over its future development. At an evening gala on April 24, it honoured the European Central Bank as an institution that effectively communicated the European Idea with the European Communication Award.

EACD President Herbert Heitmann, SAP

CSR Experts: Isabel Borgas, Sonaecom; Marianne Barner, IKEA; Elfrieke van Galen, KLM

Joannes Thuy, EUROJUST; Walter Gschließer, Thompson Reuters

Elisabeth Ardaillon-Poitier with the Award for the European Central Bank

EACD Managing Vice-President Florence Ranson,EFB, and moderator Karin Helmstedt congratulated

Photos: www.albrecht-noack.com

At the Award ceremony

Mark Hamilton, KPMG; Charlie Nordblom, Volvo; Frank Weber;

Jeff Archambault, Euro Disney EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

At the Gala reception

— 41 —

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FOOD & CONSUMER PROTECTION

Photos: European Commission (2); www.dreamstime.com; European Commission

FOOD PRO & CON Traffic light food labelling

OPINION Food labeling rules

OPINION Helping consumers to make choices

IN FOCUS Novel foods

IN FOCUS Food crisis

EVENTS The food agenda for 2008

SPE C

Food Labelling

Pro and Con

stakeholder views

meps on traffic light food labeling

Food Crisis

Events

a global challenge

this years food line up

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

IAL

— 43 —

��

European Profile

��

FOOD & CONSUMER PROTECTION

Traffic-light food labelling Pro & Con Green light for labels

Traffic-lights mislead

by mep glenis willmott, pes, uk

by mep horst schnellhardt, epp-ed, germany

The existing Europe-wide food label-

The labelling of foodstuffs has under-

Commission has proposed new front of

in addition to the sales description, in-

ling rules are out of date. The European

gone signiﬁcant change in recent years,

pack labelling which includes details of

gredients, caloriﬁc value and informa-

percentages and recommended daily al-

tion about the content of allergens are

lowances however, I do not believe the

to be declared. This is a lot of informa-

proposals go far enough. I would support

tion. But does it lead to a better nutri-

the mandatory use of the ‘trafﬁc-light‘

tion? Given the multitude of food con-

system which is currently being used in

the UK by many supermarkets and man-

declaration of ingredients on a label can

ufacturers. I would like to see this approach adopted across Europe.

only have an informative value. It cannot serve as a basis for establishing

typical shopper takes only four seconds to decide whether to buy a prod-

early age, through upbringing and education.

Research conducted by the Food Standards Agency in the UK shows the

uct after picking it up from the shelves. We need front of pack labelling to

healthy eating habits. Healthy eating is only possible when acquired at an

An attempt to label foodstuffs on the basis of trafﬁc-light colours is coun-

be clear and easy-to-understand if we want to help people make healthier

terproductive. Such a method presumes that fats, saturated fats, salt, sugar

show whether the level of each nutrient is high, medium or low. Exten-

concentration of one of these nutrients are to be labelled with a red point.

choices. The ‘trafﬁc-light’ system is just that — red, amber or green to sive and scientiﬁcally robust research, carried out with shoppers in the UK

over a period of three years and involving ﬁve different studies, has shown

that red, amber and green colour coding is key to helping consumers make healthier choices. The research showed that 90% of consumers were able to correctly assess the levels of fat, sugar and salt in individual foods using

and calories can be easily estimated and labelled. Products holding a high

A green point on the other hand would stand for a low concentration. Whilst so far labelling has been extensive and detailed, this system is the opposite extreme. Classifying foodstuffs as simply being “good“ or “bad“ — green or red — is a simpliﬁcation.

There is no scientiﬁc justiﬁcation for evaluating foodstuffs in these sim-

trafﬁc-light colour coded signposts. Using the same test less than 50% of

ple terms. On the contrary, what is important is the right mix of nutrients.

age GDA label (guideline daily amount). Furthermore the research showed

has not brought any positive results in countries such as the United King-

consumers assessed the products correctly with a monochrome percentthat only 3% of consumers preferred a monochrome percentage GDA option compared to 95% who preferred a trafﬁc light colour coded scheme.

It is for these reasons that I have come to the conclusion that the use

of the trafﬁc light system motivates people to think about what they are

buying. I think the rest of Europe could beneﬁt fromit too. 56m healthy life

years were lost in 2000 as a direct result of major nutritional risk factors

The trafﬁc-light concept is therefore rejected by many nutritionists, and it

dom. Any consumer solely eating products with a green label would suffer from malnutrition after a short while. Therefore, such a system could even

lead to health damages! Far from providing objective information, the trafﬁc-light concept impedes a greater understanding of the complex relationship between different nutrients, therefore misleading consumers.

People are different and have different needs. Food with a green label

and in 2005 adult obesity in the EU was a massive 15.7%. All this leads the

is not automatically the best for an older person or a rather underweight

is 40.5b Euros a year. Additionally, the international obesity taskforce es-

sequence would be an unjustiﬁed discrimination of products which are

Commission to estimate that the cost to society in purely economic terms Photos: European Parliament

sumed by any person in one day, the

timates that 25% of children in the EU are obese. This ﬁgure is shocking

and makes clear that what we need a system for food labelling that can

girl, for example. The trafﬁc-light sends out the wrong signals. The conhighly valued by consumers.

Against the background of the individual and culturally different eat-

help people make healthier choices for themselves and their children. I

ing habits and needs of consumers, as well as their different situations

displayed with the trafﬁc light system and there already exist many good

key to a healthy and balanced diet lies exclusively in upbringing and

believe that it is possible to combine both the requirement for GDAs to be examples of this in the UK. EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

in life, the trafﬁc-light concept is unfounded and highly misleading. The education.

— 45 —

FOOD & CONSUMER PROTECTION

Opinion Review of the European food labelling rules Views of the retail sector by noëlle vonthron

abelling and consumer information are issues of ut-

and help them adopt healthier eating habits. Though the objective is to

shop with retailers who provide them with the prod-

ling alone will improve consumers’ eating patterns or their lifestyles. The

most interest for the commerce sector: consumers will ucts and services they want, and product information is an important part of a retailer’s marketing strategy to attract and retain the loyalty of customers.

As the closest link to consumers, retailers play an

be applauded, it is also a quick-ﬁx measure: one can doubt that label-

example of the United States speaks for itself: more than a decade of exhaustive mandatory nutritional information, but the number of obese and diabetic people is still increasing!

Yet, the most irritating aspect is not so much the intention of seeking

important role in informing and educating them

a quick-ﬁx solution but rather the lack of conﬁdence in the voluntary

belling is just one. Experience has indeed shown that,

proposal indeed seems to ignore the commitments made by these sec-

through many forms of communication, of which ladepending on the type of information, some commu-

nication methods are more appropriate than others. Moreover, labels can only contain a limited amount of

information, therefore labelling nowadays is no longer the only route for

communicating information to consumers. This is the challenge faced by

the European Commission in its proposal for a Regulation on food information to consumers.

RECONCILING CONSUMER NEEDS AND INDUSTRY DEMAND FOR FLEXIBILITY: A DIFFICULT TASK

Since the late 70s, consumer demand and marketing practices have

changed signiﬁcantly: consumers always want more detailed informa-

tion, while foods have become more complex to label because of the growing demand for convenience food. There is thus a real necessity for reviewing the current EU food labelling legislation by meeting consumers’ needs for simple, legible and understandable labels and the industry’s demands for ﬂexible rules that can adapt to the changing market.

However, one could wonder if the Commission proposal can achieve

the aim of simplifying the current food labelling rules. Far from identify-

efforts put forward by food retail and the food industry. The legislative tors to the EU Nutrition Platform, coming at a time where comprehensive nutritional information is progressively being implemented by a majority of big players in the market. Although recognising a nutrition labelling system based on the guideline daily amounts (GDAs), by making the

industry’s voluntary efforts mandatory the Commission simply removes

any incentive for food business operators to continue to be proactive in providing their consumers with the best adapted information.

Let alone making nutrition information mandatory, the Commission has

also decided to have it on the front of the package, as this is seen — it says

— as having the greatest potential impact on consumer buying decisions. But no label will ever tell consumers how to shop for a balanced basket of products if the basics of nutrition are unknown. Furthermore, too much

front-of-pack nutritional information (6 elements according to the proposal) will lose the aim of at-a-glance information designed to help consumers

make a quick healthy choice. The real question is whether public educa-

tion is initiated to help consumers read the labels! Nutrition education and campaigns on healthy living are fundamental to raising consumers’ awareness and making them change their lifestyles in the long-term.

ing the essential information that should constitute the mandatory food

ISSUES AROUND THE LEGIBILITY OF THE LABEL

posedly for the sake of consumer information. The question is posed: is

ibility of the label, by imposing a minimum print size of 3 mm for all man-

information on the label, the proposal adds a layer of requirements, supthe consumer able to understand all this information?

MANDATORY NUTRITION LABELLING HELPING CONSUMERS TURN TOWARDS HEALTHY DIETS?

First of all, the Commission is proposing to make nutritional informa-

tion mandatory on nearly all processed foods. The intended aim is for Eu-

ropean citizens to better understand the composition of different foods

— 46 —

The draft Regulation also tries to solve the difﬁcult question of the leg-

datory information, with the additional obligation to have a signiﬁcant contrast between the writing and the background. While food business

operators fully support the Commission’s objective that labels must be easily visible and clearly legible, this new requirement totally lacks the nec-

essary ﬂexibility to adapt to the various types of packages. Systematically increasing the font size on all labels will require widespread labelling and packaging changes, resulting in important costs for businesses. It will also

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

FOOD & CONSUMER PROTECTION

lead to a substantial increase in the size of food packages, going against all the efforts requested by DG Environment for reducing packaging waste.

eu nutrition labelling

A minimum font size ﬁnally risks seriously affecting community trade:

because of the internal market and increased cross border trade, today

labels are often multi-lingual. For complex processed foodstuffs requiring a long list of ingredients, a minimum font size of 3 mm will make it

impossible for operators to continue putting several languages on one same package, thus limiting their circulation in Europe.

To avoid such negative impact on the environment, on community

trade and on costs for businesses, EU guidance would be rather welcome. And let’s not forget that complaints from consumers on the visibility and

legibility of labels are often a reﬂection of poor enforcement of the exist-

Looking out for the good and for New systems are introduced across

should be addressed before developing further labelling rules!

With new EU regulations, several

ing rules: appropriate and proportionate enforcement of existing laws

A CHANGE OF REGIME FOR NON-PRE-PACKAGED FOODSTUFFS?

Another concern is that the shift in legal instrument from a Directive to a

Regulation will result in all the mandatory requirements also becoming di-

the bad

the Union

methods of displaying nutritional

presenting it in a way that is legi-

information are involved on all non-pre-packaged products.

Colour-coding information and

ble and accesible is an issue across national barriers.

rectly applicable to non-pre-packaged foodstuffs. Today, the Member States

have to adopt detailed national rules concerning the manner in which the

mandatory requirements are to be shown for foodstuffs sold unpacked. This is explained by the fact that non-pre-packaged foodstuffs (as well as

foodstuffs packed on the sales premises) have little impact on the internal market, hence are under the competence of the Member States.

The adoption of a Regulation will reverse the regime by making all the

rules directly applicable to non pre-packaged foodstuffs unless a Member State decides to exclude some or all of them — with the exception of al-

lergens, which should always be mentioned. This shift would add considerable burden on food business operators: providing the same information as for pre-packaged foodstuffs would be extremely difﬁcult, taking

into consideration the diversity of products concerned and the variety of

Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs)

ing foodstuffs prepared at the point of sale or packed by retailers at the

amounts of certain ingredients against actual amounts in the food.

their recipes. The commerce sector would be seriously affected regardpoint of sale. As there is no consequence for the internal market, retailers

Already in place for many products, GDAs reference the recommended

advocate for the current rules not to be changed.

PROTECTION OF THE INTERNAL MARKET IS A MUST!

Ensuring the smooth functioning of the internal market has always been

a main goal of European food labelling legislation, together with informing and protecting consumers. As we have seen, some provisions may hamper community trade or at least make it more difﬁcult. This might also be the

case with the new system conceived by the European Commission to leave

Member States with increased ﬂexibility at the national level: the latter

Legibility and language

or additional forms of expression of the nutrition declaration. This move

labels which are larger and multilingual are required.

would have the possibility of adopting national schemes for presentation

was desired in particular by those Member States in which innovative nu-

trition labelling systems in use are ones which they want to keep. Although

these innovative systems may beneﬁt consumers in a single country,

about noëlle vonthron

Europe, hence creating a clear threat to the single market. For this reason,

for EuroCommerce, which represents retail, wholesale and

there is also a risk that they lead to a proliferation of national schemes in Foto: private

Questions of legibility will arise if EU regulations mean that uniform

the commerce sector expresses reserve about the system conceived by

the Commission and will be actively present during the discussions leading to the adoption of this important review of legislation. EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Noëlle Vonthron is Adviser on Food Policy and Consumers international trade across Europe and champions the free and open markets for business and the consumer.

— 47 —

FOOD & CONSUMER PROTECTION

Opinion Helping consumers to make choices Food and Drinks Industry implements voluntary nutrition labelling scheme by mella frewen

ranks. Ongoing independent monitoring, to be presented to the next obes-

computer, instead of labouring in ﬁelds. Rather than

adopting GDAs for their products.

Most of us now spend our days in ofﬁces behind a walking or riding our bikes, we sit in cars — or at least

ity platform meeting on 2 July, seems to suggest that many SMEs are also This successful uptake of a scheme that was never compulsory shows

in a train carriage or bus. As a society our eating habits

that it is the right system for Europe. Not just for the food and drink com-

Together with other factors, such as people’s cultural

ers it was designed to inform. The reality is that we are successfully offering

have changed as well.

and economic environments and genetic dispositions,

this has resulted in growing weight-related diseases. 82% of people surveyed for the latest European Commission Eurobarometer survey on health, food and nutrition thought there were more overweight adults in

the EU today than ﬁve years ago. Almost all — 95% - thought there had been an increase in the number of obese children. More than a third of

panies who have embraced it so wholeheartedly, but also for the consummore information on the nutritional content of food and drink products to help consumers make food choices suited to their individual needs.

Consumer research published this year in the UK — where GDA label-

ling is used on more than 50% of all retail packs — shows high levels of awareness of the scheme among shoppers who are increasingly using this nutrition information to make better informed food choices.

Europeans asked said they felt overweight. 36% said they do not undertake

JOINT INITIATIVES OF STAKEHOLDERS

get a lot of physical activity through their work.

we realised the extent of the obesity problem we acted fast and responsi-

OBESITY PLATFORM

and MEPs preparing to deliberate a regulation on the provision of food in-

any physical activity through sport or other leisure activities, and only 19%

Three years ago the European Commission took action to tackle these

public concerns head on. The Commission’s Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health was launched to ﬁnd solutions to some of the

problems highlighted by the Eurobarometer. Under the platform, industry has worked through a thoroughly modern alliance of local and national governments, NGOs and other interest groups.

CIAA was among the ﬁrst organisations to join the platform, commonly

known as the obesity platform. We recognise that there is a problem and that diet is one of the many factors of the problem. We also know that we can contribute to the solution.

One of the most ambitious commitments made by industry was our vol-

untary nutrition labelling scheme. The scheme is based on internationally accepted and scientiﬁcally derived Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) and aims to help consumers to choose a balanced diet as part of an overall

healthy lifestyle. CIAA adopted the scheme in July 2006 on a purely voluntary basis. By the end of 2009, at least ten of the biggest food and drink

companies in Europe will be using the labelling system on 100% of their products. Other large companies are not far behind. Even small and me-

dium-sized EU food and drink companies are now starting to join their

— 48 —

The food and drink industry can state with absolute certainty that once

bly - and delivered results much faster than legislation could. Governments formation to consumers must remember that a lot is happening without

legislation. Obesity cannot be defeated overnight, and cannot be defeated by the food and drink industry acting alone. There is general consensus

that the causes of obesity and diet-related illnesses are many. As the Com-

mission is in the process of introducing a number of initiatives targeting improved health and nutrition, Europe’s food and drink industry calls on all stakeholders to set ideology aside and focus on what works best — joint

initiatives of government, industry and other stakeholders that simultaneously target the multi-factorial factors that lead to obesity.

about mella frewen

Mella Frewen took up the position of Director General of the Confederation of the food and drink industries of the

EU (CIAA) on 1 July 2007. She has worked in the Agri-food sector in Europe for 20 years and was previously Director

for Government Affairs - Europe & Africa for Monsanto and

International Relations Director for Cerestar, Europe’s biggest starch producer.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photo: private

ver the past hundred years, our lives have changed.

FOOD & CONSUMER PROTECTION

Novel foods Taking a look at some of the novel foods approved for EU consumption in recent years by sarah roberts

Novel foods are deﬁned foods and food ingredients that have not been used for human consumption to a signiﬁcant degree within the European Community before 15 May 1997. Rules for the authorisation of novel foods are laid out in the EC Regulation of January 1997. Under this legislation, only 14 novel foods were passed as safe for EU consumption by 2004, out of 53 applications. While the EU

regulation for novel foods is currently under review with the aim of simplifying the regulatory proc-

ess and improving the competitiveness of the European food industry, we have taken a look at foods that have been tested and authorized by the EU for consumption in Europe. You can ﬁnd the winners below, and in an EU member state near you, if you feel brave enough to try a bite.

Noni juice: the “super juice”

Noni juice was regulated as a novel fruit juice

in 2003. The drink comes from the fruit of the

noni tree, which grows in the volcanic soil of the South Paciﬁc island of Tahiti. The raw fruit

contains high levels of antioxidants which

boost the human immune system and provide energy. Noni juice is now sold worldwide.

Saskatoon berry: banned “Canadian cranberry”

The UK banned the Saskatoon berry in 2005, after suggestions that it was a “novel

food”, but Germany disagreed. The fruit is

High pressure pasteurisation: sanitised smoothies

Salatrim: designer fat

be prepared using a “novel” preparation

ﬁve calories of fat per gram. Alas, the fat

Fruit drinks containing milk products can method: high pressure pasteurisation. EU

Photos: archive; www.ﬂickr.com; www.dreamstime.com (2); archive

approval was gained in May 2001.

Salatrim was designed as a low-calorie al-

widely exported to Japan and the USA, but has no history of consumption in Europe.

ternative to saturated fats, containing only

can’t stand up to being fried and is mainly used in chocolate and ice-cream products.

Roundup ready maize: GM corn Genetically modified with the

Roundup Ready gene, it has a high tolerance to herbicides and was declared ﬁt to eat in 06.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

— 49 —

Food Crisis A global challenge EU policy makers have to react to rising food prices on the global market by beatriz gamboa

On the 22nd of April, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel,

are left to one side, decreasing food supplies and making them dear.

raising the budget to 283.25 million in 2008. This response from the Eu-

policies are to blame for the food price crisis, and although he sees the

ropean Union to the worsening world food crisis has, however, left many questions unanswered. The ongoing increase in food prices has caused

riots in numerous countries including Haïti, Mexico, Egypt, Morocco, Sen-

egal, Uzbekistan and the Philippines, leading to a variety of opinions as

Nevertheless, not everyone in the Commission agrees that the bio-fuels

rise in food prices as a “worldwide humanitarian disaster in the making,” Commissioner Michel also said in Strasbourg that we should not expect food prices to go back down.

Standing not so far behind is the CAP. In order to keep up with the aims

to what the cause might be. We can point the ﬁnger at an increase in oil

for bio-fuels and create greater agricultural productivity at the same

change and consequent poor harvests, or at speculation on commodity

genetically modiﬁed crops. This has of course received mixed reactions

prices which in turn increases the costs of production, or at the climate markets, or even at the growing demand for meat in rapidly developing

countries. But food prices are also on the up in Europe, leaving many to rethink the Union’s latest bio-fuels policies as well as the forever challenging Common Agricultural Policy.

The EUs bio-fuels policies were an attempt at leading the world’s ﬁght

against climate change by pursuing the goal that by 2020, 10% of trans-

time, it would be necessary to augment the use of biotechnology and as on the one hand it would push down the prices of food but at the same time yield potentially unhealthy products, a problem for a Europe

dealing with an increasingly obese population. Besides, the CAP’s focus on international import and export means that national food security is pushed aside.

The humanitarian aid may have increased substantially, but one can-

port fuel would be made up of bio-fuels, such as bio-ethanol and bio-

not ignore that the cheap selling of surplus products to African coun-

a whole new market for what could be an alternative to oil, in this case,

which direction the EU will go: whether this crisis will lead to a rethink-

diesel. With an upsurge in oil prices, production costs increase, creating bio-fuels. Farm products begin to compete with oil and farmers rather

sell their products at a higher price as bio-fuels. Meanwhile, foodstuffs

tries cripples their national food production sales. The question now is in ing of the bio-fuels’ future as crops are being diverted to fuel instead of food, or whether there will be yet another reform of the CAP.

Photo: www.dreamstime.com

announced a further 117.25 million euros to go to humanitarian food aid,

FOOD & CONSUMES PROTECTION

FOOD EVENTS 2008 27.11.08 – 28.11.08

CIAA Congress 2008

11.06.08

Efficient food labelling in fighting obesity In the context of the proposal of the European

Commission for a Regulation on the provision of food information to consumers, MEPs Magor

Csibi and Mr. Jules Maaten will organise a public hearing to explore the different possibilities

of food labelling and their efﬁciency in ﬁght-

ing against obesity. The hearing wants to offer

MEP Jules Maaten

an opportunity for an open debate with a wide

range of stakeholders to have a better view of

the interests at stake and ﬁnd the best solutions for the consumers. ALDE Group

Brussels, European Parliament Jean Martin, CIAA President

Exploring the “The Food and Drink Industry in the 21st Century”, this con-

gress will tackle issues that are ‘top-of-mind’ for the industry as well as day-to-day challenges faced by consumers. In parallel sessions – Generat-

03.06.08

Savoury Snack Summit

ing Growth, Serving Consumers and Respecting the Environment, attend-

This conference discusses issues of concern to the

tant topics and engage in interactive debates with high-level speakers

agenda including health, nutrition, communica-

savoury snacks industry. It covers a wide ranging

ees will be able to access the latest available information on these impor-

tion, product reformulation, advertising, labelling,

from the European Institutions, consumer organisations, science, press

process contaminants, mycotoxins, and environ-

and industry.

Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries in the EU (CIAA) Brussels, Autoworld

government, NGOs and other bodies will present

best practice solutions and strategic insight into industry-focused issues. European Snack Association (ESA)

27.05.08 Photos: archive; European Parliament; www.dreamstime.com; archive

mental sustainability. Top speakers from industry,

Brussels, Radisson SAS Royal Hotel

Chocolate Biscuit and Confectionery Products in a 21st Century 27.05.08 – 30.05.08 This conference will bring Fruit and Vegetable Summit together senior operational and corporate affairs manag-

The Fruit and Vegetable Summit 2008 aims to as-

legislators for expert pres-

ists, public health practitioners, fruit and vegeta-

ers, government ofﬁcials and

semble over 500 international high-level special-

entations and discussions

ble industry representatives and decision-makers

along three central themes:

to further clarify the mechanisms through which

Innovation in the Confection-

ery Industry; Information to

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

ease risk reduction and to strengthen the knowl-

Consumers; and Meeting the

edge base on the most appropriate and effective strategies to increase

CAOBISCO

EGEA & IFAVA

Lifestyle Challenges. EU Health Commissioner Androula Vassiliou

fruit and vegetable intake may contribute to dis-

Brussels, Renaissance Hotel

fruit and vegetable intake. Paris, UNESCO

— 51 —

Adapting to Change Making Europe a Prosperous Labour Market 11-12 June 2008, Brussels

�

www.employmentweek.com

How is Europe’s labour market coping with the pressure of a globalised economy and demographic change? 1,000s of EU employment stakeholders will meet in Brussels to discuss: • Flexicurity • Life-long learning • Enterprise • Active ageing • Youth & employment • Managing change • Diversity • Competitiveness • Mobility & migration

JOIN THE DEBATE: REGISTER TODAY AND SAVE

€255*

www.employmentweek.com *Before 16th May

Advisory committee:

Speakers include: • European Commission • Volvo • Business Europe • Adecco • European Economic and Social Committee • La Poste • PriceWaterhouseCoopers • Dublin Foundation

AGENDA

AGENDA 14.04. – 25.05.2008 Green Week 2008

Congress of Europe 60th Anniversary

06.03.08 – 06.06.08

23.05.08 – 24.05.08

Photos: Messe Berlin; European Parliament; European Commission; Thierry Monasse

Employment week 11.06. – 12.06.2008

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

European Council 19.06.08 – 20.06.2008

— 53 —

AGENDA

WEEK 19.05. – 25.05.2008

23.05.08 – 24.05.08

Congress of Europe 60th Anniversary location

the hague, netherlands host

european movement

The European Movement is organ-

Slovenia; the President of the Eu-

anniversary of the Congress of Eu-

Barroso; President of the European

ising the celebration of the 60th rope in The Hague. This event will

bring together the EU Institutions and Civil Society by allowing European citizens to directly address

key EU politicians with their con-

cerns about, and recommendations for, Europe’s future. The Presidents

of the EU institutions and main

European political parties will be

present. Participants will include: Janez Jan š a, Prime Minister of

— 54 —

Photos: Miguel Lopes; private; Dirk Hol; Tom Maelsa; European Parliament

1948 - 2008: Building the Europe of the Future Together ropean Commission, José Manuel Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering; Secretary-General of the Council of

the European Union, Her Majesty, Beatrix the Queen of the Nether-

lands (TBC); Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of

the Netherlands (TBC); Secretary

General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis and the President of the EESC, Mr Dimitris Dimitriadis.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

AGENDA

19.05.08 – 20.05.08

Reality Check on EU Bioenergy targets location

brussels, belgium host

agrinergy, ecologic, ceps

There is growing public debate about the potentially negative impacts

of the European biofuel

targets, which have been

analysed and described

19.05.08 – 20.05.08

22.05.08 – 23.05.08

European Maritime Day Conference

Communicating Europe

On the 20 May, Europe

location

brussels, belgium

will celebrate its first

ever Maritime Day. Its

host

european commission

aim is to highlight the

contribution that oceans and seas make to help-

by many recent studies. Centre of the concern

ing Europe meet the challenges of a globalised

from agriculture, forestry and waste for producing

take place in Brussels which will be opended by

is that the substantial rise in the use of biomass

energy can result in negative ecological impacts, changing land-use patterns, socio-economic impacts and additional GHG emissions.In the light

of these recent developments in bioenergy policy,

location

brussels, belgium host

assembly of european regions

This best practice con-

ference on “Europe: So close yet so far?”, will

take place on May 22nd and 23rd in Brussels at

the representation of

the German Bundesland

world. For this occassion, a two day congress will

Hessen in presence of Commissioner Hübner and

Joe Borg and EP Green Paper Rapporteur Willi Pie-

ence is to discuss how regions can contribute to

cyk, and include a ministerial panel with Radovan

Žerjav, Slovenian Minister for Transport; Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French Secretary of State for European Af-

fairs and João Mira Gomes, Portuguese Secretary of

AER President Riccado Illy. The aim of the conferbringing Europe closer to its citizens. The conference will also look at success stories of regional

communication on Europe and identify key criteria for suc-

State for Maritime

cessful regional

Affairs. The event

communication.

will close with a

And ﬁnally there

broadcast of the

will be a debate

signing of a Joint

on how the re-

Tripartite Declara-

gions, media, and

tion by EP President

Europe

Pöttering, Council President

Reevaluating bioenergy targets

Photos: www.dreamstime.com; archive; European Commission; European Parliament

tive with experts and stakeholders from science, administrative bodies and NGOs. Three working

groups will focus on the topics of International

tribute to communicate the Lis-

President Barroso

the future of Europe’s bioenergy production and

use from a socio-economic and policy perspec-

Jansa,

and Commission

this conference will provide a forum to discuss

Direct

Centres can con-

bon Treaty to the

in Strasbourg.

citizens. Commissioner Danuta Hübner

MEP Willi Piecyk

further events

Dimension of EU Bioenergy Policies; Technolo-

+++ 19.05.2008–20.05.2008 CEPOL Governing Board Meeting, Slovenian Presidency of the European

Bioenergy policy – implementation and best

19.05.2008–20.05.2008 FT Business of Mobile, Financial Times, Brussels +++ 20.05.2008 Research Col-

gies and pathways of bioenergy production, and

practice on regional level. The outcomes of the conference will result in science based recommendations for further policy making. birthday of the week

loquium 2008: Environmental Liability Law, Institute for European Studies, Brussels +++ 20.05.2008

Working group on transport, Council of European Municipalities and Regions, Brussels +++ 20.05.2008–

23.05.2008 Meeting of the Heads of SIRENE Ofﬁces Slovenian Presidency of the European Union, Brdo +++ 21.05.2008 „Wine -Tradition - Quality“: Revision of the EU Legislation on food labelling and nutrition labelling, European Parliament +++ 21.05.2008 10:30–14:30 Public Seminar on Results of USDI Sur-

19.05.1952 Joe Borg

Commissioner European

Commission

Nationality: MT

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Union, Brdo +++ 20.05.2008 Waterloo Leadership Experience, The Conference Board, Waterloo +++

vey & Business Conﬁdence Questionnaire American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium, Brussels +++

22.05.2008 Bepolux business lunch, Bepolux, Brussels +++ 22.05.2008-23.05.2008 COGEN Europe An-

nual Conference, The European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration, Brussels +++ 24.05.2008 BJA Golf Coup, Belgium-Japan Association & Chamber of Commerce+++ Parliament: Monday AGRI.FISH

Session Tuesday AGRI. FISH/PSC

Committees

Groups

Wednesday PSC/EYC/ COREPER II

External Parliamentary Activities Thursday EYC/ COREPER II

Friday Saturday COREPER I

Sunday

— 55 —

AGENDA

Photos: European Parliament; www.marco-urban.de; European Community 2007; archive; European Parliament

WEEK 26.05 – 01.06.2008

27.05.08

EESC 50th Anniversary Celebration location

brussels, belgium host

european economic and social committee

On 28 May 2008, the European

Pöttering, and Luc van den Brande.

will celebrate the 50th anniversary

debate on the future of Europe

Economic and Social Committee

of its ﬁrst plenary session with a series of high-level debates and

cultural events. The commemorative plenary session will hold a de-

bate between current EU leaders, former EESC presidents and young

Europeans from all countries and different organisations; notably

on how to involve the future generation in the EU project. Celebrations will be opened by a welcome by José Manuel Barroso, Hans-Gert

— 56 —

This will be followed by a major and the Year of Intercultural Dialogue, including former Commission President Jacques Delors, the

Italian writer Erri de Luca, Martin Rogard, Director France Dailymotion, Pat Cox, former President

of the European Parliament, the

young enterprises founders Karoli

Hindriks and Susanne Justesen, and Nana Mouskouri. The evening will be closed by the launch of a book on the EESC’s history.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

AGENDA

27.05.08

Carbon Caputure and Storage location

brussels, belgium host

friends of europe

Friends of Europe in partnership with the

Bellona Foundation and

the European Platform for Zero Emission Fos-

sil Power (ZEP), with

28.05.08

29.05.08

Improving Access to Financial Services location

brussels, belgium host

european commission

The 2008 Robert Schuman Lecture

The conference will present and discuss

the results of a study commissioned by the European Commission on „Financial services

the support of the UK CCS Association and the

provision and prevention of ﬁnancial exclusion“

roundtable on Carbon Capture and Storage to

carried out by Réseau Financement Alternatif

CO2 Capture Project (CCP), will hold a high-level

lead an open and informative debate on many

of the questions still hanging on the future of

CCS. With EU Commissioner Andris Piebalgs; Frederic Hauge, The Bellona Foundation, Nor-

way; Jerzy Buzek MEP, Rapporteur on the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan); Graeme Sweeney, Executive Vice President for Future

Fuels & CO2, Shell International; Olivier Appert,

and political announcement . The study was

location

brussels, belgium host

the lisbon council for economic competitiveness

The Chief Economist of

the International Energy Agency and world

renowned energy ex-

pert Dr Fatih Birol looks at the energy and cli-

mate-change related challenges the world

faces, and presents the

(Brussels), the University of Bristol (Personal Fi-

IEA’s strategies, including the stabilisation of

(Department of Economics, business and Sta-

What would it take to cap CO2 emissions at an

nance Research Centre), the University of Milan tistics) and the Warsaw School of Economics (Center for Financial Services Market Research

and Institute of Social Economy). With Commissioners Spidla and McCreevy.

CO2 emissions at 450 parts per million by 2030. acceptable level? What are the related energy

developments? What are the technologies in-

volved? How much will it cost and how will we

ﬁnance it? And what are the implications for domestic and external development policy?

Chair of ETP-ZEP and CEO of the Institut Français

du Pétrole; Chris Davies MEP, Rapporteur on CCS

and Mark-C Lewis, Managing Director, Global

Photos: Georges Boulougouris/EC; Thierry Dauwe/European Community 2005; COR; Photo European Parliament

Company Research, Deutsche Bank.

Dr Fatih Birol, Chief Economist and Head of the Economic Analysis Division, Internation Energy Agency

Commissioner Charlie McCreevy

further events 26.05.2008, EPC annual conference - Debate on the ‘State of the Union’, European Policy Centre +++ 26.05.2008 Competition And Innovation Policies: Getting The Balance Right, Friends of Europe, Bibliothèque Solvay+++ 26.05.2008 11th European Health Forum Gastein - Values in Health: From Visions

Debate with Andris Piebalgs

to Reality, European Health Forum Gastein +++ 26.05.2008 EU Gulf Cooperation Council, Slovenian

Presidency of the European Union +++ 27.05.2008 Reception, The Federation of European National

birthday of the week

Collection Associations (FENCA) +++ 27.05.2008 European Neighbours’ Day, CECODHAS - European 28.05.1945

Bernadette Bourzai MEP

Vice-Chairwoman of Committee on

Agriculture and Rural Development

Nationality: FR EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Liaison Committee for Social Housing +++ 27.05.2008 Chocolate Biscuit and Confectionery Products in a 21st Century Balanced Diet, CAOBISCO Association of the Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries of the EU +++ 28.05.2008 CAMSS Info Day, IDABC +++ 28.05.2008 Liberal Breakfast : “The EU after the Treaty of Lisbon”, Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit +++ Parliament:

Session

Monday GAERC. PSC

Tuesday GAERC PSC

Committees

Groups

Wednesday COREPER I + II

External Parliamentary Activities Thursday Competitiveness Counci l PSC

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

— 57 —

AGENDA

WEEK 02.06 – 08.06.2008

03.06 - 06.06.08 location

brussels, belgium host

european commission dg environment

Behind the problems of climate

ment-related features and events,

sources and pollution exist the un-

exhibition, providing exposure for

change, the scarcity of natural rederlying issues regarding production, consumption and waste dis-

posal. Many people are unaware of the speed at which we are using up our natural resources, and that

we are producing waste at a far

faster rate than that at which we can turn it back into a useful resource. Green Week 2008 will take

a closer look at the potential for us-

ing natural resources sustainably, focusing on waste management, sustainable consumption and production. Amongst other environ-

— 58 —

Photos: European Parliament (2); archive; European Parliament; European Commission

Green Week 2008 Green Week will host a 60-stand a huge variety of ‘green’ practices

and initiatives. There will be forums and discussions on subjects

as sustainable food consumption, deforestation in developing coun-

tries, and the eco-friendly products

of the future. With Stavros Dimas, Commissioner for Environment; Meglena Kuneva, Commissioner for Consumer Protection; Günter

Verheugen, Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry; Janez Po-

dobnik, Slovenian Minister of the Environment.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

AGENDA

03.06.08

NATO in the Next Decade location

brussels, belgium host

security & defence agenda (sda), konradadenauerstiftung

This year’s conference

will begin by focusing on the impact of globalisation on NATO’s future

partnerships, as well as

the impact of new secu-

rity threats on the scope of the alliance. The sec-

02.06.08

03.06.08 - 04.06.08

EDC2020 Project Launch Conference location

brussels, belgium host

european association of development research and Training Institutes

The European Charter for Small Enteprises

The kick-off conference of

the EDC2020 (European Development Co-opera-

tion to 2020) project – an FP7 funded project investigating key emerging

issues regarding the Eu-

ropean development co-

location

bled, slovenia host

european commission and the slovenian presidency

The annual Charter conference provides a forum for business organisations and policy mak-

ers from more than 40 countries to learn from each other the best ways

to facilitate operating in

operation – will be held

a business environment for small enterprises.

curity strategies and doctrines, taking national

Residence Palace in Brussels. This event will look

their most successful SME policy measures in

centrate on transatlantic differences within the

development to energy security, democracy and

ond session will assess

the pursuit of future se-

disparities into account. The ﬁnal debate will con-

on 2 June 2008 at the IPC

at issues ranging from new actors in international political development, European development policy and climate change. What effects will emerg-

ing actors such as China, India and Brazil have on European thinking about aid instruments, modalities and organisation of the European aid system?

What might climate change mean for current and

future policies in areas such as agriculture, trade,

At the conference, the Charter countries present

areas such as internationalisation, reducing administrative burden and teaching entrepre-

neurship at schools. In addition, expemplary

case studies and e-government activities will be discussed. Key-note speakers include Andrej Vizjak, the Slovenian Minister of the Economy and

Heinz Zourek, Director-General of DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission.

disasters and risk reduction and humanitarian as-

sistance? Is the energy security imperative driving Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Secretary General NATO

NATO alliance, particularly those concerning mili-

a heightened focus on development or undermining the latter?

tary methodology. The event will bringtogether high-level speakers to discuss these topics as well as other, ongoing challenges for NATO including

the resurgence of Russia and international ter-

Photos: European Commission; archive; Dasa Zumer/Bobo; European Parliament

rorism. Speakers include Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Secretary General, NATO; Lazar Comanescu, For-

eign Affairs Minister, Romania; Pieter De Crem,

Andrej Vizjak, Slovenian Minister of the Economy

European Development Co-operation

Defence Minister, Belgium; Vecdi Gonul, Defence

Minister, Turkey; Bogdan Klich, Defence Minister,

Poland and Jan Kubis, Foreign Affairs Minister, Slovak Republic amongst others.

02.06.2008 - 03.06.2008 European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) Seminar, Slov-

enian Presidency of the European Union +++ 02.06.2008 - 05.06.2008 16th International Road Fed-

eration World Meeting 2009, International Road Federation (IRF) +++ 02.06.2008 - 06.06.2008 16th

birthday of the week

European Biomass Conference and Exhibition - from Research to Industry and Markets, European 03.06.1951

Satu Hassi, MEP

Vice-Chairwoman

Committee on the

Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Nationality: FI EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

further events

Commission +++ 03.06.2008 FAEP AGM Dinner in Brussels, European Federation of Magazine Pub-

lishers (FAEP) +++ 03.06.2008 Talk in Brussels, Deutsche Telekom +++ 03.06.2008 - 04.06.2008

OECD Forum 2008 “Reform to Perform”: Towards a more prosperous, stable and sustainable future, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe OSCE +++ Parliament:

Session

Monday Eurogroup

Tuesday ECOFIN/ PSC/ COREPER I

Committees

Groups

External Parliamentary Activities

Wednesday Thursday Friday COREPER Environment TTE/ I + II Counci/JHA PSC/JHA

Saturday

Sunday

— 59 —

AGENDA

WEEK 09.06 – 15.06.2008

11.06.08 – 12.06.08

Employment Week 2008 brussels, belgium host

tarsus group

Employment Week offers employ-

rope’s labour market, adapting to

the chance to exchange views with

for ensuring growth and competi-

ment stakeholders around Europe over 1,000 employment professionals and to hear what European of-

ﬁcials, notable public ﬁgures, trade unions, non-governmental organisations, business leaders and other experts are saying about today’s employment trends, challenges

and opportunities within the EU. The focus will be directed upon

today’s most talked about employment issues, including globalisation and demographic change. As

these forces put pressure on Eu-

— 60 —

change is an essential component

tiveness. Employment Week 2008

will focus on issues including: Mo-

bility & Migration, Active Ageing, Youth & Employment, Flexicurity, Active Inclusion and Diversity. With

Photos: European Commission (2); archive

location

Vladimir Spidla Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Nikolaus van der Pas, Director General, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal

Opportunities, European Commis-

sion; Pamela Passman, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Europe.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

AGENDA

12.06 –13.06.08

11.06.08

15.06.08

Sbmp CSR Conference MICROSOFT EU SME European Wind Day Day & Investor Summit location In the fast-moving Discover unlimited powlocation brussels, belgium host

sbmp

worlds of business and

media, new concepts are quick to take hold

of the collective im-

agination. Since the advent of the 21st century, no one idea has become as relevant to a com-

This 4th EU SME Day,

location

brussels, belgium

held in conjunction with

Microsoft’s 5th Annual

host

microsoft

European Investor Summit, brings together Europe’s best small compa-

across europe

er during the European Wind Day 2008, on 15

host

european wind energy associaton

June, across European

regions and cities. This is the chance to learn more

about wind energy, and

pany’s livelihood as Corporate Social Responsi-

nies and entrepreneurial stars of the future with

support one of the main solutions for the loom-

the stakeholder’s well-being is more important

The aim of the Day is to drive a practical, results-

Energy Association (EWEA), organiser of the event,

bility. Business is entering a new era in which than ever for mutual growth and success. Combined with the drastic environmental changes

which are affecting our planet, this has created a new landscape in which corporations must

policy makers, academics and venture capitalists.

oriented action plan for a successful high-growth entrepreneur model in Europe, and demonstrate

a range of successful innovation and partnership

models in action. Topics will include Investment Opportunities for High Growth Entrepreneurs

ing climate and energy crisis. The European Wind

believes that European citizens should have the chance to make their voices heard in today’s en-

ergy game. In the wake of last year’s success, the European Wind Day 2008 offers the possibility to

in Europe; Driving the policy agenda to ensure

Europe‘s prominence in the global Entrepreneur

market; Better Regulation for Europe; How a risktaking culture improves Europe‘s market for leading business.

Étienne Davignon, President of CSR Europe European Wind Day

adapt to survive. These issues and more relating to the burning talking point that is CSR will

discover how wind turbines work, how much en-

be discussed at the School of Business, Media

ergy wind can deliver in Europe, and many more

and Politics (SBMP)’s upcoming conference. The

distinguished line-up of speakers will include,

fascinating facts about this clean and inﬁnite source of energy.

Jan Figel

among others, Vladimír Špidla, the European

Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, as well as Dr. Björn

Bloching of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

Photos: Marc Ravet; European Commission (2); private

and Étienne Davignon, President of CSR Europe.

further events 09.06.2008 European Social Fund Conference on ESF Contribution to Inclusion of Young People in the Labour Market, Slovenian Presidency of the European Union +++ 09.06.2008 Euro-

Shavouot 2008, European Jewish Community Centre +++ 09.06.2008 - 12.06.2008 ESBA‘s 10th Anniversary Small Business Exhibition & Event, European Small Business Alliance +++ 10.06.2008

- 11.06.2008 European Conference on Guidelines for Population Level Management Plans for

birthday of the week

Large Carnivores, Slovenian Presidency of the European Union +++ 10.06.2008 - 11.06.2008 Pro10.06.1971

Giusto Catania MEP

Member of Commit-

tee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Nationality: IT EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

cedure before the European Court of Human Rights, Academy of European Law +++ 10.06.2008 - 12.06.2008 Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy, Premia +++ 11.06.2008 ALDE public hearing “Ef-

ﬁcient food labelling in ﬁghting obesity”, ALDE Group in the European Parliament +++ 11.06.2008 - 13.06.2008 6th Experts Forum on New Developments in European State Aid Law 2008 +++ Parliament: Monday EPSCO

Session

Committees

Tuesday PSC/ EPSCO

Groups

Wednesday PSC/ COREPER I

External Parliamentary Activities Thursday COREPER II/TTE

Friday TTE

Saturday

Sunday

— 61 —

AGENDA

WEEK 16.06. – 22.06.2008

19.06.08 – 20.06.08

European Council brussels, belgium host

european council

On June 19th, the European Coun-

of climate change on internation-

second and ﬁnal time under the

issues will be picked up again,

cil will meet once again, for the

Slovenian Presidency. As the Slov-

enian Presidency draws to a close, it can well be imagined that top-

ics on the agenda at the Council

Meeting will focus on some of the Slovenian Presidency priorities, particularly the Lisbon Treaty and Climate Change. At the last

Council Meeting, discussion was

focused largely around issues such

as the use of economic instruments in increasing the usage of

eco-friendly goods, and the impact

— 62 —

al security. It is likely that these along with further discussion of

the implementation of the 07-09

Photos: Thierry Monasse (2); Bor Slana/Bobo; archive

location

Energy Policy for Europe, and the need for synergy between climate

change and biodiversity policies. Other issues which are likely to

be addressed include policy action in response to the turbulence of

ﬁnancial markets and modernising labour markets. Another key

topic will be discussion of progress

made in reaching UN Millennium Development Goals.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

AGENDA

18.06.-20.06.08

ACI EUROPE Annual Congress

17.06.08

18.06.08

Launch Conference of SEMIC.EU

EU Accession Conference with Croatia

location

This 2008 forum for

location

The Slovenian Presi-

host

must attend event for

host

Union is hosting this

paris,france aci europe

luxembourg

chief executives is a

slovenian presidency

the airport industry.

Traditionally attracting up to 450 senior level

dency of the European

event in Luxembourg. As the importance and

location

brussels, belgium host

european commission/ idabc

The Semantic Interoper-

ability Centre Europe will

be launched during the conference “Interconnecting Europe”. EGov-

directors from International airports, govern-

influence of the EU in

the ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Annual Con-

grows, the international

introduce their projects to their peers in a poster

has evolved into a key

tablishes an open repository for interoperability

ment bodies, associations, suppliers and more,

international politics

gress & Exhibition addresses the most topical

representation of the EU

and challenging issues facing the airport sec-

tor. Participants include Dominique Bussereau,

task of the Presidency.

Secretary of State, to the Minister of State,

The EU has relations with countries in all the

regions in the world, and is committed to

fostering such relations

Gordan Jandroković Foreign Minister Croatia

for mutual beneﬁt, and

the creation of a global

arena for discussion of issues of increasingly

transnation importance. On the basis of the EU

ernment representatives

from all over Europe will

session and in a panel discussion. SEMIC EU esassets. The project offers coaching services and opportunities for exchange of ideas and best

practices. It creates a central resource of interoperability solutions produced by and provided to

European eGovernment projects. Participants include Karel de Vriendt, European Commission; Jan Timmerman, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom

Relations, Netherlands; Dr. Wilfried Bernhardt, German Federal Ministry of Justice.

Commitments vis-à-vis third countries, each

Presidency organises several meetings with different non-EU countries and regions at a variety

of levels. Meetings with third countries can be organised either in Troika format or at the level

Louis Gallois, EADS

Minister of Ecology; Louis Gallois, EADS; Peter

Hartman , KLM; Jean-Charles Decaux, JC Decaux

Airport; Wesley Peterson, Expedia; Pierre Graff / Aeroports de Paris; Kerrie Mather, Macquarie

Airports; Daniel Calleja, European Commission;

of Summits, which are attended by Heads of State and/or Government from all 27 EU Member states. This particular conference will continue to take progress further towards the goal of Croatian Accession.

David McMillan, EUROCONTROL. In addition, the Photos: private; archive; www.presseportal.de; European Parliament

2008 ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards are pre-

New platform for cross-border data exchange

further events

sented to airports for excellence and achieve-

16.06.2008 EU - Israel Association Council, Slovenian Presidency of the European Union +++ 16.06.2008 -

cluding retail, security, operations, facilities and

+++ 17.06.2008 Interconnecting Europe - Launch Conference of the Semantic Interoperability Centre Europe,

ment across a whole range of disciplines inmuch more.

17.06.2008 Korea-EU Cooperation Forum on ICT, European Commission - DG Information Society and Media European Commission Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs +++ 17.06.2008 - 18.06.2008 FESE Convention 2008, Federation of European Security Exchanges +++ 18.06.2008 - 19.06.2008 Eurobat

birthday of the week

Forum 2008, The Association of European Storage Battery Manufacturers +++ 18.06.2008 - 20.06.2008 22.06.1953

Meglena Kuneva

Commissioner for

Health & Consumer Protection

Nationality: BG

South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse Conference (SEEC), Slovenian Presidency of the European Union +++18.06.2008 - 20.06.2008 Conference of conclusion of the Leonardo da Vinci of project EUREVINQ, Representation of Rhineland-Palatinate +++ 19.06.2008 Governing Council and General Council meeting of the ECB, European Central Bank +++ 19.06.2008 ELDR Leaders Meeting, ELDR Party Parliament: .

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Monday

Session

Committees

Tuesday

Groups Wednesday

External Parliamentary Activities Thursday European Council

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

European Council/ JHA

— 63 —

BRUSSELS INSIDER

Sports in Brussels Work out your agenda! This summer, forget networking over cups of coffee in stuffy conference rooms, escape the air-con and get outside! Try to work your agenda into your

work-out, play football with your boss, or chuck a rugby ball at the Vice-President. We have listed the top networking sports events this summer from long distance running to Frisbee on the beach. Brussels shakes off the suit this summer and gets in touch with nature: Join the throng - no more excuses!

Value Added Golf

The Value Added Golf team organises

cups and trophies for companies and their guests across a range of courses

including Golf du Chateau de la Bawette

in Lavre and Golf Club Pierpont in Villers. www.valueaddedgolf.eu

Blueprint Touch Rugby Competition 7 May - 27 June, Hockeyclub Oranje

The Blueprint summer Touch Rugby tournament brings together teams of six players to compete for the Blueprint Rugby title. Games are held each Wednesday evening followed by a barbeque and drinks, making

this the perfect place to network. Participating teams will include EU institutions, business and sporting clubs including the European Commission and the European Parliament.

6-8 June, Hofstade Beach Belgium

Network, catch some rays and a frisbee at the Frisbee Tournament this summer. 80 players will compete. www.jetsetultimate.be/beach

— 64 —

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photos: archive

JETSET goes Beach—Summer Frisbee

BRUSSELS INSIDER

20 km Run — 20 km de Bruxelles 25 May, Brussels

Pit - Stop

Brussels 20km marathon. The race will kick off at 3pm at the esplanade

You want to network, you really do, but you absolutely HAVE to

Over 25,000 runners will take to the streets of Brussels for the annual of Cinquantenaire Park, with the ﬁrst 2km being a “warm up” jog. Runners, who range from 12 year olds to powerful pensioners, have four

hours to ﬁnish the circuit. Many corporate companies run the 20km in teams, making the Brussels marathon a great place to network. www.20kmdebruxelles.be/

5 - 7 September, Paddock Club

watch the Formula 1... go to the Paddock Club and watch the drivers on a track they claim to be their favourite. The Formula 1 Paddock Club has enjoyed such a good reputation in the sporting world that

it is well known for big companies to host special meetings there with their best clients while enjoying the races.

Photos: archive (2); www.ﬂickr.com

Where to watch the Euro Cup...

Euro Cup 2008 7 - 29 June

How do you feel about cramming into a dark pub on a hot summer afternoon with a cold beer, to shout at your favourite players as your team competes against your colleague’s? In one corner we

have Fatboys, with 15 TV screens in total, one outdoors. In the other corner we have O’Reilly’s, with a mere 10 TV screens, 2 terraces, one on the second ﬂoor, and right in front of the Bourse.

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

— 65 —

BRUSSELS INSIDER

To run, or not to run? The 20 km of Brussels

7 Reasons to Run

If all your press releases and

media campaigns have failed to deliver results and effective media coverage, this is your guaranteed way to get

your name in the Belgian media. The ranking of participants is published in the Belgian Newspaper “Le Soir”!

WEATHER WISE

Knowing Brussels it’ll

be cold and very wet.

YOUR CHANCE Your

colleagues

don’t think you’re

1 2

MULTI-TASK

Only people who have nothing

better to do run outside. At the gym, you can watch the Simpsons as you run the treadmill, work on your

BlackBerry, and have a video conference, all the while crunching your abs.

VOYEUR Why run

when you can watch your unhealthy, de-

NO WAY OUT

Apparently the mara-

thon is a good way to

Never have you stood a better

any good at your job. This is your

luded colleagues thinking they

motivate your employees. Great,

together with 25,000 other

tually good at something.

machine.

going to try to get you to run as

chance of catching pneumonia people.

MIRROR, MIRROR

chance to show them you’re ac-

HIDDEN TALENT As things stand, Belgium

This morning you made

won’t be getting a great deal of

naked in a full mirror. Enough

may be THE great undiscovered

the mistake of seeing yourself said - time ro run.

HINT Your partner just

gave you one of those

strange, rather expensive looking, heart-monitor devices you

strap around your chest. Stop smoking and get ﬁt!

— 66 —

medals at Beijing, and yet, you running talent of the century.

TRAINING DAY

The

can run further than the fax

ONE-MAN SPORT You, the road, and your

thoughts. If you had wanted to

Schopen-

hauer said that noise was

like a golfer, or a rugby player.

had his feet and toes riddled with

would be chasing after balls But you don’t, you run, ALONE.

day endurance race across the

those running around Brussels

Sahara.

SORE FEET

the most impertinent of all forms

Marathon des Sables , your six

a “team”!

do sport with other people you

stone to your ﬁrst marathon; the

20 km are only a stepping

so next year your head of unit is

SWING, DON’T RUN

With the Brussels Jazz mar-

athon and 450 musicians in town, frankly need their heads examined.

of distraction. He obviously never blisters.

YOU’RE TOO GOOD

20 km is for wimps, you only

run marathons. Why run the 20 km when on the very same weekend you can participate in a marathon!

EUROPEAN AGENDA 04/2008

Photo: archive

PRESS COVERAGE

7 Reasons to Shun