Brussels Part Two

I'll begin with two apologies. First, for the long time in between posts. Second, I am using a Belgian keyboard, which is slightly different than an American one, so this post may contain more than a few typographical errors.

Where do I begin? I am at the De Crop's home, resting after a long week studying lobbying in the European Union. As I mentioned earlier, our group has met with some very powerful players--and to add to that list, we spoke with a member of the European Parliament, Bill Newton Dunn; the public affairs representative for Microsoft in Europe; and a real-life tobacco lobbyist who must unfortunately remain nameless. (Direct quote: The only addiction that is evil is the government's addiction to the excise tax on cigarettes.) I won't bore anyone with the minutiae of our meetings, but I will discuss some conclusions I've drawn about the European Union.

First, contrary to the criticisms by the popular media and the Euro-skeptics, the EU is undoubtedly successful and will continue to rise in power this century. The quabbles and disagreements that came to the forefront last week in Brussels are an inherent part of the institution, and we should remember that the continent was at war 60 years ago, and marred by Communism for the latter half of the 20th century. The EU is not perfect, but neither is the American system of government, and the bold experiment to meld together 27 disparate nations for the common good is one that will be remembered in history.

Second, the lobbying apparatus in the EU is not better or worse (from an ethical standpoint) than the United States, it is merely different. In the U.S. lobbyist money plays a far greater role in influencing Congress and parts of the executive branch, however $$ does not tell the whole story. Constituent pressure, demonstrated through the popular election of representatives and Senators, plays an important role in influencing the government. This leverage is essential to lobbying in the U.S. and determines the tactics used and the targets selected. This leverage is largely missing in the EU and leads to a very different type of lobbying. Because members of the European Commission and the Parliament are often unanswerable to the public (because of apathy, the democratic deficit and bare-bones media coverage) many in the EU do not react to the same stimulants which drive members of Congress. Lobbying in the EU relies far more on information and education than on re-election financing and arm-twisting.

This seems like a good thing, but it is coupled with a very apparent shortcoming in the EU's lobbying apparatus. There is no registry for lobbyists in Brussels. This means that all information about lobbyists is not readily available to the public. (This reality makes our research here very, very difficult.) European citizens do not know much is being spent on lobbying efforts in Brussels, or even for who and what is money being spent. The system in the U.S. is admittedly imperfect, as the Abramoff scandal shows, but we are farther along in identifying illegal and unethical lobbying tactics than the Europeans. There have been no Abramoff-type scandals in the EU; is this because lobbying is cleaner in the EU, as all the lobbyists we met with claim, or are there no mechanisms to identify and deal with perpetrators? This is a question our research aims to answer, but I do not think an answer will be forthcoming.

Finally, I believe that trans-atlanticism, (the trade policy,not the Death Cab album) is embraced, obviously, by multi-national corporations like GE, but is not tolerated by politicians in the U.S. and Europe, and is especially loathed by citiens on both continents. Harmonization of standards and improved trade policies are beneficial to both of us in the long run, but trans-atlanticism is not without its hardships. Politicians and the public are unwilling or unable to see the big picture (mainly that India and China will loom even larger 50 years from now), but a firm, steady economic partnership with Europe is essential to the economic success of the U.S. this century.

I'm sure this topic isn't as fun to read about as my debauched nights in Brussels, but I think it's important to show that my trip does have an academic purpose and that my classmates and I are peering through the clouds of our hangovers and to make some important insights about the relationship between the U.S. and the EU.