If you are serious about influencing European public policy you need to be based in the Brussels EU Quarter.
It makes as much sense to set up your US Federal public policy and lobbying HQ in Casper, Wyoming, as it is to set up your European lobbying and policy HQ in Vienna, London or Warsaw.
Whilst obvious, many organisations still do it.
I’ve moved from an office in the suburbs of Brussels to the EU Quarter. The positive impact is massive.
The old office’s main advantage appeared to be proximity to the motorways and a large supermarket (I kid you not). Excellent reasons to site an office but quite pointless if you are in the business of lobbying the EU.
Meetings with the Commission, MEPs, Member State officials, NGOs, press, and think tanks involved a laborious ride on the metro for 30 minutes each way.
The choice to move to the EU District was an obvious one to me. Still, many were against it. I guess they did not think their job was about influencing EU policy or decisions and instead was about something else.
The Case for the EU District
If you are serious about influencing European public policy, you can only be here. I’ve tried it living in the UK and working as a lobbyist using the many excellent information systems and phone. The truth is it does not work.
The obvious advantages are the ease of face to face meetings. You can’t tell if someone has bought your idea unless it is face to face. Of course, if you are a telepath and mind reader, you’ll be able to tap into those higher powers and likely do so from a difference.
Watching a Committee debate and vote in person tells you a lot more than watching it online or reading a report.
The real benefit comes down to an unplanned meeting with useful information shared or given or the impromptu meeting to discuss a solution. These information services and systems are excellent. They give you most of what you need. What they lack is the vital not public reasons and reasoning for a policy or decision, or at least until after the event. That can only be gleaned from face to face meetings or calls. It allows you to pass by, unplanned, and provide a solution.
Yes, much of this can all be done by skype, phone, or email. But, the vital human interaction, that is key to work of a lobbyist, can still (for the time being) only be done face to face. Trust, the vital ingredient depends on looking someone in the eyes. Snake oil salesmen find it hard to pass this test.
The Case against the EU District
A rational reason is that these organisations have perfected the mystical art of telepathy from great distances. They transmit ideas through the ether over great distances. Mixed with mind-reading, you get to know if your ideas you transmitted have been taken up.
If you are not in the business of influencing European public policy and decisions, it is best to stay away from Brussels. If you are, the choice where you need to be is obvious.