Lobbying in Brussels is bipartisan. That’s different from DC. There even dating seems to be based on Party affiliation.
In Brussels, lobbyists need, more than ever, to work across political divides.
I wanted to test my hunch by looking at the data.
The political leadership of Europe’s governments has changed since President Juncker was nominated Commission on June 26 2014, to today when EU leaders meet to nominate his successor.
Europe’s political map is more diverse.
European Council
June 26 2014 (link) May 28 2019 (link)
EPP 12 9
S&D 10 5
Indpendent 2 2
ECR 1 2
Liberal 3 9
European Parliament
The need to work across parties has been a mainstay in the EP.
- The four mainstream pro-European Groups: EPP, S&D, ALDE/Renaissance, and Greens – 504 MEPs out of 751
- Right wing anti-EU nationalists and populists: 171 MEPs
It makes no sense to confine yourself to lobbying only those whose you agree or carry the same Party card.
That confines you to influencing things at best only at the margins, if at all.
Setting yourself up to fail – politically speaking – by just working with fellow travelers seems at best pointless.
Update
A good piece in the FT on 27 May on the fluid membership of Europe’s political leaders (link).