I came to Brussels back in 1997 a wide eyes federalist. Soon afterwards, I landed up working for 2 excellent British Labour MEPs.
I was very lucky. I just worked on getting difficult pieces of legislation through quickly. First, I worked for Gordon Adam MEP on fisheries legislation. Then after that law was passed I jumped to work for Anita Pollack MEP on getting through the first Ambient Air Quality Directive. Channel 4 TV even made a fly on the wall documentary about this law.
By accident or design I have spent the next 18 years working on fisheries and environmental legislation. I have spent a lot of time dealing with the European Parliament.
21 Simple Things
- Avoid confirmation bias. I could never understand why industry wanted to go and meet Roger Helmer, the former conservative then UKIP MEP, or NGOs deal only with some hardened Green MEP. They just agreed with you. The only problem is that whilst they may reflect your own world view, it is unlikely going to help you win your vote.
- In case it is not clear, you are there to get support so your amendment is adopted. To be more direct, you need to get your amendment adopted in the final legislative text. Stop celebrating when your political clone of a MEP submits an amendment from the non-lead Committee. It only really counts when the amendment is sitting there in the OJ.Then you can celebrate.
- Not all MEPs have equal influence. If you are serious, look at http://www.votewatch.eu to find out the voting records of MEPs. And, if you are really serious about winning, commission VoteWatch Europe to do one of their excellent insight pieces on the key influential MEPs on your issue. You’ll learn lots and save the small amount of money you spent on spending time chasing dud leads.
- Know the voting rules. Know when you need a simple majority and when you need an absolute majority. On the Canadian Oil Sands comitology challenge, all it took was for the shifts from the Baltic, Bulgarian and Romanian MEPs to put the challenge 2 votes short.
- Know how each political group prepares their voting list. Each Group has a different process to agree a voting list. Know who decides it. Mrs Grossetête is key on how the EPP votes on environment issues.
- The most important power of the Chair of the Environment is the least understood. It is the power to place an issue on the agenda. Ken Collins, then Chair of the Environment Committee, placed Anita Pollack’s Air Quality dossier at the top of the agenda. It helped us get the file through in record time.
- The S&D Group have a tradition of loyalty to the Party. They stick to the voting list. Other Groups have a more fluid view. When the 5 Star MEPs sat in the EFDD Group, they seemed to follow the Green Groups voting lists on most matters. It is important you know how strong the Party tie is.
- Some personal political advisers are genuinely influential in their own right. Some MEPs designate their political adviser to take the file through adoption. If that’s the case, take the meeting with the assistant. They will be writing the report.
- Some of the Group Advisers set the agenda. I know of a Group Adviser on the Environment Committee to whom MEPs from other political groups ask for “lines to take”. If you can sway them, your job is a lot easier.
- It’s key you get in early. By early, I mean ideally before the Commission has even issues their proposal. Once files have been allocated, you’ll be asking for a meeting. If you turn up late, you need to ask yourself if you want to win or to loose.
- Take the time to make sure what you are calling for makes sense. It is not important that it makes sense to you. You could likely persuade yourself that gravity is a hoax, if the incentives were right. I mean will it make sense, both in writing and in person, to the MEPs you want to back you and switch their support to you.
- Don’t forget back home. Struan Stevenson MEP, an affable and decent conservative MEP, corrected his errant voting proposals on Blue Fin Tuna after his shadow Fisheries Minister learned of how Struan intended to vote. A 10 pm call cleared things up. Struan knew who had spoken to his shadow Minister.
- The very smartest thing the most effective firms, organisations and NGOs do is have a network of well connected, cross-Party, politically smart people in many of the 28 member states. These are the men and women who develop a good working relationship with national party officials, MPs, Ministers, their political advisers, and MEPs. Having a trusted voice to deliver a message is key.
- “Find out what influences them” is so obvious but so rarely done it is shocking. I know that citing biblical scripture is a more persuasive tool to influence a deeply religious politician than the specifics of an issue . Lawyers zone in on process issues. Talk to them about what interests them and not necessarily what interests you.
- Have the suggested text and amendments in your back pocket when asked. If an MEP asks for suggestions, send them immediately. Don’t wait for util your organisation has deliberated on the text. If they had it their way, they would only get around to sending the text until after the vote.
- Have your champion when it comes to the trilogues. Few good things happen at 2 pm in the morning with stale coffee to keep you awake. Late night political compromises don’t often land up well. It is important that you have one person in the room who sees your interests as their own. They need to keep an eye out for you.
- One night stands may get you what want once but will often leave the other party resentful when you don’t remember them. In politics, it is best to have long term relationships, that transcend political lines.
- If you are really smart, you will seen as font of useful information, that you provide without promoting.
- Thankfully Brussels is not sullied by Political Action Committees. Your best chance of success is well reasoned and persuasive case that speaks to your audience.
- Work with the media to pre-suade your audience. I found a story by George Monibot led to a spark of new support from MEPs across the political spectrum. Coverage in low circulation political weeklies has a suprsinly positive return.
- Be pleasant and civil. Treat any meeting as a civl conversation. Avoid posturing and hectoring. Mirror their language and concerns, Your job is to persuade and not to piss off.