Rules of Lobbying: Rule 1 – Know the Procedures

I want to pass on a few decades (27 + years_  of observations and experience about what I’ve found works in lobbying.

Many of these Rules are about avoiding pitfalls of thinking that self-sabotage when it comes to campaigning and lobbying. These are ways to avoid fuzzy thinking, emotional outbursts and many other actions that steer people into the jaws of defeat.

I have a list of around 100. Some are obvious – don’t practice misogyny, 10 page letters sent late don’t work, being abusive to decision-makers does not work- and some less so. I’ll post about them over time.

The posts draw on the spirit of the Richard Templar’s Rules of series.

A few weeks ago I was able to thank Richard Corbett  – former British MEP – for teaching me the most valuable lesson of lobbying – really knowing the procedures to adopt and pass a law.

Back in 1997, when working for British Labour MEP, Anita Pollack, passing the first Ambient Air Quality Directive, we needed to get something done, and did not know how to do it. We asked the Chair of the Environment Committee, the legendary Ken Collins MEP, and he drew a blank. But Ken Collins told me to go and ask Richard Corbett, then a PES Group Adviser. Richard was one of the few people who knew the European Parliament’s rules of procedure (he went on to write them). He gave us the solution we needed. We got the what we wanted adopted and into law.

If you don’t know the rules by which laws and decisions are adopted and passed, you are flying blind. And, many lobbyists turn a blind eye to them. After all, most reason, knowing the issue is the most important thing, knowing the people involved, and the politics, but are not that bothered about the mechanics of the adoption and passing of the decision or law.

Knowing the procedures is knowing the correct map for the legislative journey. It shows you when and where to turn up, and what you need to bring along. Most people rely on the generic sketches of the legislative process. Those maps don’t reflect the territory. I liken it to driving down a motorway, at 180 km an hour, going in the wrong direction. That many people don’t land up where they want to get to, or have a spectular accident, is not a surprise.

What’s surprising is that the procedures are hiding in plain sight. I’ve had more success influencing Commission initiatives by mentioning to the Commission that somehow an important procedural step was missed. It leads to the file going back to the start or long delayed.

You’ll need to know a few sets of rules of procedure, or know where to find them. For me, it comes to: Ordinary Legislation, Secondary legislation – RPS Measures, Delegated Acts, Implementing Acts, Special Legislative Procedures, Negotiation Mandate, and the Rules of Procedure for a few Agencies (EFSA, ECHA).

The upside of not knowing the procedures is that you’ll be blissfully unaware of reality. You’ll ignore the sign posts and walk off the cliff. You can put defeat down to some nefarious forces. Your clients are likely not going to know, so you’ll be safe in your ignorance.  Sadly, the people making the decisions won’t compensate for your ommissions.

For me, there are some every procedural rules, that are often ignored, and at best lead to a waste of time and resources, and often your unknowingly embracing defeat:

It does take time to know to learn the basic procedures, and over time, and real world experience, you’ll learn more. If you are more convinced that a Tik Tok clip will change decision-makers thinking, my only suggestion is hire a Shepard in the form of a lobbyist who can get you through the legislative badlands. Left alone, you’ll likely fall by the wayside.

Commission’s Rules of Procedures, Working Methods, there is a more detailed internal Manual of Procedures for Commission Staff

Council’s Rules of Procedure and guide