1. Agenda Setting

The political agenda is agreed by the parliament and government but can be shaped by NGOs, or groups of NGOs, through campaigns and lobbying for issues, needs and concerns. New policy initiatives are often the result of influence of the campaigns of NGOs. During this step NGOs aim to influence decision-makers on behalf of a collective interest and act in a way that is complementary to political debate.

Contribution of NGOs

When talking about sovereignty, a distinction can be made between formal and effective sovereignty. Whereas formal or de jure sovereignty has to do with a state’s supreme legal authority over its own decision-making, effective or de facto sovereignty concerns a state’s practical capacity to control its own affairs. Also sovereignty can be subdivided into three dimensions, which are state, constitutional and popular sovereignty. State sovereignty refers to a state’s legal capacity to take decisions within its territorial jurisdiction without being subject to external constraints.

Under a contingency lobbying contract, as opposed to a flat fee or hourly compensation arrangement, the lobbyist is paid only if the governmental decision he or she is attempting to influence is resolved in favor of the client.

Lobbying of the European Union (EU) needs to become more transparent and open to public scrutiny. EU policy-makers should therefore collect and disclose comprehensive information on who influences whom in the EU decisionmaking process to ensure a level playing field for all interest representatives and thus balanced legislative outcomes. It will help to ensure that legislation has the public interest at its heart and that the risks of corruption, conflicts of interest and regulatory capture are reduced.

The purpose of this Questionnaire is to allow CSOs and other organisations to take stock of their advocacy capacity and identify ways in which that capacity could be strengthened.

This Questionnaire provides an opportunity to determine 1) Areas you’re satisfied with, 2) Areas you’re relatively happy with, but could strengthen and 3) Areas that for you are a priority to strengthen. This should help guide your plans to strengthen your advocacy capacity and consider educational programmes that would be most beneficial.

Doing the Ground Work

Please rate the following questions on a scale of 1-5 : (1) poor, (2) fair, (3) good, (4) very good and (5) excellent

1. The representativeness of the Parliament

Advocacy is a deliberate process of influencing those who make policy decisions (key words – influencing, deliberate, policy makers, policy decisions). Advocacy is used to influence the choices and actions of those who make laws and regulations and those who distribute resources and make other decisions that affect the well-being of many people. It involves delivering messages that are intended to influence thoughts, perspectives and actions of leaders, politicians, policy makers, planners and others in authority.

The European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) is an international Brussels-based non-profit organization with a pan-European membership and 24 years of experience.

ECAS’s mission is to  empowers citizens to exercise their rights and promotes open and inclusive decision-making through the provision of high quality advice, research and advocacy, as well as capacity building to civil society organisations.

Levels and opportunities for, individual citizen participation in policy making differ considerably across countries in the European Union. All countries provide at least a basic level of information on issues which can be accessed by the individual. Similarly, all make efforts to consult citizens during the policy making process, although some are more pro-active about this than others (e.g. some simply provide feedback mechanisms on the internet, while others actively seek to obtain citizens’ views through opinion polls and other mechanisms).

The European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning (EUCIS-LLL) is an umbrella association that gathers 39 European organisations active in the field of education and training, coming from all EU Member States and beyond. Currently these networks represent more than 50 000 educational institutions (schools, universities, adult education and youth centres, etc.) or associations (involving students, teachers and trainers, parents, HRD professionals, etc.) covering all sectors of formal, non-formal and informal learning.