On Tuesday 15 April 2014, during the last plenary session in Strasbourg before the European Parliament elections an overwhelming majority of MEPs (646) voted in favour of a mandatory Transparency Register by 2016 ('Calls on the Commission to submit by the end of 2016, a legislative proposal for the establishment of a mandatory register).

In the meantime and in order to encourage lobbyists working with the EU institutions to sign up the EU's Transparency Register, the EP introduces the following measures:

Dans un contexte économique et social déprimé qui fragilise l'Union européenne vis-à-vis de ses citoyens et à l'heure où les enjeux identitaires se réveillent et alertent les opinions publiques, le scénario d'un renforcement des partis d'extrême droite au Parlement européen prend corps et apparaît comme une éventualité de plus en plus crédible.
 

For every issue, there are stakeholders that are either with you, against you, or somewhere in between. In public policy advocacy work moving an opponent into a neutral space may be as valuable as moving an ally closer to you.

Categorization

Leading Allies: You need to actively support them, nurture them, encourage them, provide feedback to them

Active Allies: They agree with you and are fighting alongside with you. You need to identify them, contact them and empower them.

In public policy advocacy work, there's almost always someone opposed to whatever it is you're doing. Even if your goal is something everyone can agree on, there will be those who disagree with your methods for achieving it. When your opposition starts fighting your efforts, it's best to be familiar with what tactics they might use to do so and how you and/or the group you represent might most effectively respond.

The Ten ‘D’s

The Index here below breaks down the EU 28 into three groups. Groupe I: Countries that are most friendly towards Russia, Group II: Countries that neither friendly nor unfriendly towards Russia, and Group III: Countries that are the most unfriendly towards Russia. The purpose of this Index is to provide a rough guide to the views across Europe on Russia.

Groupe I : Most Friendly Countries towards Russia (in descending orders) Doves

AALEP has formally developed a Competency Framework for public policy advocates. Competency in public policy advocacy is the foundation of our profession. In a dynamic and rapidly changing world, a public policy advocate’s knowledge and skills must be continuously expanded to meet increasing complex problems and issues and to enhance the value added by public policy advocacy work.

Competence is the ability to perform the tasks and roles expected of a professional public policy advocate, whether newly qualified or experienced, to the standards expected by employers and the general public . Statements of competence are typically developed through a comprehensive practice analysis .

Competency is a specific behaviour whereby a professional applies knowledge, skills, and/or professional values in a work environment; the behaviour can be defined, demonstrated, observed, and assessed.

Based on  “Sustainable Governance Indicators” (SGI) project. Bertelsmanns Stiftung.

The SGI explores the extent to which citizens, NGOs and other organizations are endowed with the participatory competence to hold government accountable to its actions (“executive accountability”).

For several years now, AALEP has sensed the need to become more involved in quality control measures in the field of public policy advocacy. As an illustration is AALEP's Executive Certificate in Public Policy Advocacy. AALEP delivers practical, hands-on approaches to the REAL practice of public policy advocacy.

Following the European elections in May 2014, the EU institutions will have to rise to the dual challenge of delivering better results in a more democratic way and reconciling increased differentiation with the need for a closer Union.