Burson-Marsteller

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EU Insights

Lobbying Survey

Burson-Marsteller launches a Europe-wide lobbying report, based on a survey conducted in collaboration with Penn, Schoen & Berland (PSB).

More than 500 interviews were carried out by Penn, Schoen & Berland (PSB) on behalf of Burson-Marsteller between February and July 2009. Interviews were conducted either online, by phone, or face-to-face with politicians (both Members of national Parliaments and Members of the European Parliament) as well as senior officials from national governments and the European institutions.

Key findings included:

• Across Europe, 48% of political elites believe that lobbying makes a positive contribution to the democratic process.
• 64% percent of all respondents believed that lobbyists must be transparent – clearly identifing themselves and their interest is a pre-requisite by a majority of national and EU-level regulators a declaration of interest to meet with the lobby.
• Trade associations come out as the most effective lobbying group, followed by trade unions and companies.
• Top-tier traditional media remain key targets in any campaign. Digital media appear to out-perform traditional media, but the results suggest a vast majority of the digital sources for officials are online editions of newspapers, or established broadcasters.

Barroso II policy commitments

Burson-Marsteller Brussels outlines the policy commitments of the new European Commission.

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