Aaron

How much evidence comes up during public consultations

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The Commission runs a lot of public consultations. You can follow them here.  Running public consultations make sense. Officials can get access to evidence that they may have missed.  I’ve always liked the process. It is  a means to address the Hayekian problem of knowledge. Officials can source information from hundreds of milllions of European … Read more

When you don’t need a lobby plan

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  Rewatching David Axelrod and Karl Rove’s excellent Masterclass on campaigning, I was struck by the wisdom of Karl Rove: “First come the message and the theme. But, after you have agreed on what the message is, and what the theme is, you then need to sit down and write out a plan … If you … Read more

If you want to succeed in lobbying, plant some acorns

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If you are serious about influencing public policy decisions, you need to plant some acorns. You’ll copy the forester. You’ll plant a few ideas, or as we will call them, acorns, that can be harvested at the right time to influence decisions in the right direction. If you plant an idea, the seed needs to … Read more

Why do we need an 8th Environmental Action Programme?

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Yesterday, 14 October, the Commission adopted a flurry of environmental proposals.  The 8th Environmental Action Programme, (link) came out at the end of the day. It reads as if it has been quickly assembled to help meet the ambitious political agenda to get proposals adopted by the College agenda.  What it lacks is a surprising … Read more