EU Advocacy Training

Teacher(s)

Andolfatto Thimotée-Hubert Jéromine; Denis Benjamin; Verheecke Lora;

Language

English

Main themes

This training is a hands-on course that familiarizes students with the practice of advocacy and lobbying in the EU. Through real-life cases, students learn the rules, practices and strategies that are key to successfully approaching EU policy-makers. 

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

understand a complex political topic currently discussed at EU level understand, summarise and defend a specific policy option on that topic identify the key actors and present a strategy for advancing that position at EU level.

Content

The aim of the course is to familiarise students with the wide spectrum of advocacy and lobbying practices at European level. Starting with an overview of the EU institutions and their role in the decision-making process, various examples and practices will be presented to students, often by actors themselves.
The course is made of three distinct parts.
Part 1: Designing and implementing an advocacy strategy

• Introduction (basic concepts, institutions and processes);
• Lobbying and advocacy seen from institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, Council);
• Green NGOs: lobbying and advocacy strategy;
• How do industry lobbyists work? The examples of the automotive and rail supply industries;
• Trade unions in the EU bubble: negotiate, influence, mobilise;
• Influencing the EU from its margins: what strategies for grassroots or radical movements ?

Part 2: EU lobbying and gender equality

• All policies are gendered, introduction to the topic of gender mainstreaming, with a focus on lobbying for women’s rights and gender equality with an intersectional approach.
• Case study: Campaigning for women’s and gender equality  during the 2024 EU elections
• Learn to think strategically about campaigning/lobbying during the pre & post EU elections period and explore the key opportunities to do so

Part 3: Corporate lobbying

• Lobby tour in the EU quarter
• Case study: Corporate lobbying on the Chemicals Sustainable Strategy
• Presentation and discussion on the role of the EU Ombudsman
• Debate on the impact of corporate lobbying on EU democracy

Teaching methods

The course will mix different teaching methods. Lectures will be kept to a minimum to give priority to interactive seminars, case studies, debates with players, a visit of the lobby offices in the EU quarter and practical exercises.

Evaluation methods

Each part of the course will be subject to a specific evaluation and a mark. The three marks, weighted according to the number of hours in the corresponding course part, will be added together to give a single mark for the entire course.
As far as Part 1 (50 % of the final mark) is concerned, students will prepare an advocacy strategy on a topic of their choice. The strategy will be prepared in groups made of 2 to 3 students. Additional guidelines sketching the specific content and format expected for their advocacy strategy will be communicated at the first class.
For Part 2 (25% of the final mark), students will be required to complete two individual graded exercises in class. The first one will be a short answer and multiple choice questionnaire test assessing their understanding of gender mainstreaming as well as women’s rights and gender equality in the EU. The second will be a practical exercise on key campaigning actions on a specific topic. Further details will be communicated in due course.
Part 3 (25% of the final mark) will be concluded by a critical essay in which students provide a critical analysis of the lobby tour.
Attendance is compulsory as no written material will be distributed.

Other information

Presentations and guidelines documents will be uploaded on the Moodle platform.
The use of generative AI is only tolerated for the purposes of editing, translating and presentation designing. This limited use of AI must be specifically and clearly identified in the text. The use of generative AI to produce text will be considered as an attempt at fraud and punished accordingly.
All work is a personal production. Students are expected to comply scrupulously with the rules and good practice regarding citation, referencing and avoidance of plagiarism. Students are expected to know and understand these rules and practices. Any breach of these rules may result in academic and/or disciplinary action for plagiarism and/or irregularity, in accordance with the General Study and Examination Regulations.

Online resources

https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/home/home.do
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/
https://howtheyvote.eu/
https://eige.europa.eu/
https://genderbudgeting.eu/
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/femm/home/highlights
https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brussels-playbook/
https://womenlobby.org/IMG/pdf/ewl_manifesto_-_lobbying_kit_digital.pdf
https://womenlobby.org/IMG/pdf/ewl_manifesto_-_english.pdf
https://www.edf-feph.org/publications/gender-mainstreaming-toolkit/
https://feps-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/FINAL_DIGITAL_21.6.22_How_just_and_how_equal.pdf
https://www.ftm.eu/files/the-eu-files

Bibliography

Comte, Jean, Au coeur du lobbying européen, Presses Universitaires de Liège (PUL), 2023
Dialer, Doris, Richter, Margarethe, Lobbying in the European Union : strategies, dynamics and trends, Cham : Springer, 2019, xi, 459 p.
Harris, Phil, Bitonti, Alberto, Lobbying in Europe : public affairs and the lobbying industry in 28 EU countries, London : Palgrave MacMillan, 2017, XXIX, 368 p.
Horel, Stéphane. Lobbytomie. Comment les lobbies empoisonnent nos vies et la démocratie, La Découverte, 2018
Klüver, Heike, Lobbying in the European Union : interest groups, lobbying coalitions, and policy change, Oxford : Oxford university press, 2013, xvii, 278 p.
Laurens, Sylvain, Bureaucrats and Business Lobbyists in Brussels. Capitalism’s Brokers, Routledge, 2018
Witteman, Lise, Who’s Watching Brussels? Why the EU Deserves Better Watchdogs, Follow the Money, 2024

Faculty or entity

> IEEB