For this edition and for the second year in a row, the participant students (from the Paris, Grenoble and Bordeaux Institutes of Political Studies, the School of Economic Warfare and the University of Paris X Nanterre) had the possibility to meet the Parliamentary sponsoring the competition. This year, Arnaud Leroy, socialist Member of Parliament of the 5th district of French expatriates (the Iberian Peninsula), received them at the National Assembly on April 14.
Lobbyists: “vectors of important information”
On this occasion, the students presented to the MP the problematics on which they are working at the request of the competition partners, i.e. Airbus Group, FEDEREC, Surfrider Foundation Europe and Transdev. For each of these subjects, Arnaud Leroy showed his expertise and gave some practical advices.
Then, Arnaud Leroy shared his own experience, as policy maker, of lobbying in France and in Europe, where he has worked during several years. He stressed the importance to “professionalize” this activity and “make it more transparent”. The observation made, he explained to students that lobbyists have become “vectors of important information” in a context where the State’s technical expertise tends to decline.
Collaborate, co-prepare, co-decide
To him, the dialogue with interest representatives is especially necessary as the production of laws requires more and more to “collaborate, co-prepare, co-decide” with the various stakeholders. The MP also stressed that lobbying is not limited to multinational representatives but also includes NGOs, consumer associations or residents… The role of parliamentarians is then to “filter” and “synthetize” positions of this heterogeneous set of interlocutors.
As a conclusion, Arnaud Leroy reminded to the students the importance to act in a transparent and efficient way for their future careers. For that, he gave them one last tip: a good lobbying strategy can be held in one email, as long as it contains useful information for parliamentarians and is sent at the right time. From there “the well-crafted files are landing well!”.
Award ceremony: Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Strengthened by these tips given by Arnaud Leroy, the students now have a few weeks to finish their works before the evaluation of the Jury, composed of the competition partners and professional lobbyists.
Best groups and best schools will be given prices during the Award ceremony, which will take place Wednesday, June 24, 2015.
For more information : www.concours-lobbying.eu