During the time when a proposed piece of legislation is with the Parliament, from receiving the proposal to the Parliament's adopted report, there are many different influences acting on the path the Parliament takes with regard to the issue. Besides all the many people working on it inside the Parliament and in other EU institutions, MEPs are lobbied from all sides including:

• individuals, especially constituents
• businesses and firms with an interest in the outcome
• non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with an interest in the outcome
• professional lobbying organisations hired to lobby on behalf of organisations or firms

Lobbying
The amount of lobbying, and who does the lobbying, varies from one issue to the next. This depends on factors such as who the interest groups are and how controversial the issue is.

Sometimes all MEPs are lobbied on an issue. For example, before a vote on a proposal regarding copyright laws, Jean and most other MEPs received an inordinate number of emails and letters, mainly from authors, artists, and librarians. Sometimes the lobbying is more targeted, not extending beyond the Rapporteur and other MEPs who work particularly on that issue. This is likely for more specialised topics.

Most lobbying is in the form of letters and emails, but sometimes organisations arrange meetings with an MEP to explain their view-point and what they would like to see in the Report (particularly with the Rapporteur).

There is no way of measuring the real influence of lobbying, but there is no doubt it does have an effect. It does this by:
· - informing MEPs about the opinions of their constituents and European citizens in general
· - pointing out new angles and arguments on a subject
· - bringing a particular report or proposal to someone's attention

Sometimes it is the sheer volume of lobbying on a particular issue that has an effect, while on other occasions just one letter can make a difference.

Back to top