Steal ideas and solutions from those far smarter than you
Yesterday was a good day. I was having coffee with two young people whose opinions and insights I find very valuable. We digressed from the matter at hand and looked at what you really need to spot and defend or promote your political interests in the EU.
28 people can sort this out for you
As with all good things, the idea is elegantly simple. With around 28 good advocates in place, you can establish trusted relations with the 250 odd key decisions makers and influencers on your given area. When you need to move into defence or offence, the key decision makers and infleuncers will work with you, trust you and hopefully support you.
A 10 Steps Process to Winning
As we chatted, we chunked the process down. It came down to about 10 steps:
- Know the key decision makers and influencers (civil servants, politicians, political advisers, experts, key journalists) in Brussels and 28 (soon to be 27) Member States. This list is living and will alter over time.
- On your given issue(s), have a 1 pager laying in your filing cabinet, in case you are asked for your position. Harnessing events by dropping a solution on the door of the key decision makers has a surprising rate of success.
- Screen Parliamentary events. I follow the work of the European Parliament’s Environment. The debate reflects the mood of these key politicians. I even watch the meetings online in the evening. Having a sense of where they are on my issues helps me understand where they could go.
- Parliamentary Questions also flag what could be happening very soon. I have an idea that there is a 18 month time gap between the first flourish of parliamentary Questions to legislative action. Tracking what is happening in national Parliaments is a good indicator as well.
- Know who the key influencers are in each main Political Group. Political parties all tend to be quite hierarchical. Knowing who really makes the decisions is vital. It often is not who you think it is.
- Use plain english. Industry and NGOs are often united in one common curse. They can’t use plain english and instead descend into the never world of jargon. It really does not work so don’t try it.
- Use peer vindication. When you are preparing your 1 pager have some rock star experts who the key decision makers trust lined up to speak up on your behalf. I have also found celebrities a grand in.
- Do not put all your eggs in one basket, politically speaking. Winning votes and decisions – in Brussels – needs cross party coalitions. If you are wedded to just the right or just the left you may feel comfortable inside but you won’t win.
- Build trusted relationships with the key 250. That does not mean being their friends. It also means not going out of your way to insult them. They are likely to be their when the issue you are working on has been completed. If they trust you, they are going to call you in at a moment’s discuss and develop a solution.
- All this means is that you need 28 people on hand who have these skills and network across the EU. See them as trusted liaisons in 28 countries. Men and women trusted across the political spectrum on your given issue(s) who key decision makers and influencers reach out to.When your issue goes live, and preferably just before, you can walk in and resolve the issue before it gets worse, or alternatively, harness the moment, and get the laws in place you want.
Is this Too Much
If an issue is that important for you this is not hard to do. You can buy a solution of the shelf from a few lobbying firms. You can resource your company, trade association or NGO up to do this.
It is so simple, maybe it will catch on.