Source: European Values (2018)

Kremlin Friends: Do not feel threatened and are advocating for better relations with Russia, often regardless [of] what atrocities Moscow is responsible for. Often support Kremlin’s foreign policy objectives, such as stopping further sanctions under arguments related to appeasement or alleged business ties."

Source: EFCR (Authors: Susi Dennison and Pawel Zerka)

Published: February 2019

With anti-Europeans on their way to winning more than one-third of seats in the next European Parliament, the stakes in the May 2019 election are unusually high.

While there are significant divides between them on substance, anti-European parties could align with one another tactically in support of a range of ideas: from abolishing sanctions on Russia to blocking the EU’s foreign trade agenda, to pulling the drawbridge up against migration.

Source: ECFR February 2019

Source: The Best in Brussels Consultancies 2019

In January 2019, there were 291 Brussels public affairs consultancies on the EU Transparency Register. There are also 111 self-employed public affairs consultants in Brussels. A closer inspection of the 291 agencies showed that actually there are less than 100 consultancies of sufficient size and experience to offer a broad public affairs service offering. Indeed, many of the 291 firms on the register are not public affairs agencies at all.

Leading Mid-to-Large Consultancies

China commands a comprehensive and flexible toolkit. The CCP apparatus is geared towards building lasting leverage. Often, the Chinese side focuses on building relationships with political elites, scholars, or business leaders that “someday, some way, might become valuable” with a view to exercising pressure or courting favors. The Chinese leadership often waits to see whether the unfolding professional or private interests of its contacts might naturally align with Beijing’s.

Based on a speech ‘Between diplomacy and lobbying: the case of Russia-EU relations’ by  Pavel Kanevskiy Associate Professor of Political Science Lomonosov Moscow State University. Original text has been edited. 

Russian interest groups have been constantly learning how European policymaking works, using lobbying as an instrument of direct and indirect influence. Fusion of business and government often makes it difficult for Russian interest groups, foremost business, to exercise influence abroad independently.

At first glance, the proportion of lobbyists from outside of the European Union does not seem all that great: they make up just 9 percent of the entities in the Transparency Register and account for 11 percent of the overall spending.

The largest share of the non-EU money spent to influence Brussels comes from

Author: Taisiya Bekbulatova

Technically speaking, lobbying doesn’t exist in Russia. The concept, at least, isn’t established anywhere in the country’s laws, and the activity itself isn’t formally regulated in any way. There are, nevertheless, many people in Russia who earn a living by mediating between the country’s state and businesses, defending the interests of entrepreneurs and campaigning for the legislation they consider necessary. Some of these people use legal methods, while others- the so-called “fixers”- resort to money, connections, and even threats. 

Authors: Eugeny Roshkov, Yury Panasik, Pavel Melnikov (Kesarev Consulting)

The Constitution confirms the rights of citizens to associate to protect their interests and guarantee freedom of activity of public associations. The rights of the business community are not separately reserved in the Constitution.

In respect of cooperation with the state, citizens have the following rights:

Source: Politico

Though the number of French MEPs will rise from 74 to 79, France’s presence in the European Parliament’s two most powerful parties (EPP & S& D) is set to fall, and many senior MEPs are retiring.

Despite making up 15 percent of the EU’s population post Brexit, France is only expected to take 5 percent of seats held by the EPP and the S&D. According to Politico’s projections, only 16 French nationals out of 317 MEPs are likely to be represented in the EPP and the S&D, compared to 33 in 2014.