Yesterday, Daniel Guegen invited me to speak to some his College of Europe students. His students are fortunate. They have a master practitioner teaching them how most EU laws are adopted.
Daniel and the students asked me some challenging questions.
I’ll try and summarise my responses to some of their good questions. Maybe there is something useful here for others.
What are the most useful skills for a young lobbyist
I think the three most valuable skills for a lobbyist are:
1. The ability to communicate clearly and concisely in English
2. The ability to learn new issues
3. Like people
1. Can you communicate
Clear and concise spoken and written English is vital.
Like it or not, euro English is the functional working language of the EU. Despite the best efforts of the French government to roll the clock back, I don’t think this is to going to happen.
Yet, too many lobbyists seem to believe “why use 4 words when 40 will do”. They are wrong.
Recommendations
Mortimer Adler, How to Speak and Listen
Barbara Minto, The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing, Thinking and Problem Solving (2010 edition) – buy the 3rd edition direct from the author (here).
2. Can you keep learning
You are going to spend much of your professional life learning new things.
I recommend using the Feynman technique. I came across it in my 40s. I wished I had learned it sooner.
Recommendations:
https://www.fs.blog/2012/04/learn-anything-faster-with-the-feynman-technique/
3. Can you work with people
Lobbying is about dealing with people. If you don’t like dealing with people, go and do something else.
I think it is important to be congruent in your views. I don’t like bad mouthing someone in private if I am not prepared to do it face to face.
For reasons I don’t understand people can tell if you are being straightforward with them and know when you are faking it. If you are not a Party member, don’t claim to be. If you fake it, you will be caught out.
If I started over?
I think political campaigner and lobbying are about learning how laws are made. I have made many mistakes, but I have learned a lot of useful things from my mistakes.
When I started off, my then Professor recommended I go and work for the best people in my field. I think it is good advice.
If I started off again, I would go and work for the best-selected politician who would employ me and work on passing laws. In my late 20s I worked 80 hour weeks passing laws for 2 Labour politicians. I learned a lot. I then went to the Commission and did the same.
I think the best way to learn something is by doing it. Working with the finest craftsman who will train you is a great way to learn. The pay is not great and the hours long, but you’ll learn how to predict the outcome of a meeting within 2 minutes (usually 30 seconds), and through a few indicators know whether what your client wants is possible or not.
Can you just learn one or two procedures
A few lobbyists – and it is a few – will know their ways around:
1. How the Commission adopts proposals
2. How your area of policy adopts laws – for me that is REACH and Classification & Labelling and there is an established set of procedures and decision makers you need to know
3. Secondary legislation – 98-99% EU laws are adopted are secondary – you’ll be comfortable with delegated acts, RPS and implementing acts
4. Ordinary legislation
You’ll be comfortable with all 4 stages and have real learning (not book learning) experience of them all.
If you just know how to deal with ordinary legislation or only CLP and REACH you are at a handicap. You are missing most of the important stuff. In practice, it takes around 15 years minimum to get real-life experience in all. If this can be done quicker, let me know.