The Belgian lobbying scene

Ghent University Faculty of Arts and Philosophy

The Belgian lobbying scene My internship at Whyte Corporate Affairs

Laura Moerman

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Multilingual Business Communication

Promotor: Prof. Dr. Geert Jacobs Academic year 2008-2009

TABEL MET BESCHRIJVING VAN DE STAGE

Bedrijf

Stagebegeleider

Afdeling

Taken

Whyte Corporate Affairs nv/sa Clos Lucien Outers Gaarde 11-21 B-1160 Brussel

Joris Bulteel

/

Stakeholder mapping, copywriting, vertalen, trainingen bijwonen, press clippings, media monitoring Onderzoeksproject over public affairs Meewerken voor klanten Desk research voor klanten en prospects

02/738.06.20 – [email protected]

Stageperiode Talen tijdens de stage NL 27/04/09 FR ENG 29/05/09

The Belgian lobbying scene My internship at Whyte Corporate Affairs

Laura Moerman

Preface

This thesis is the final project for receiving the title of Master in Multilingual Business Communication at Ghent University. In the following pages, I will reflect upon my internship at the communication agency Whyte Corporate Affairs and upon the many things I have learned during the year that I studied Multilingual Business Communication. After four years of merely theoretical schooling, my motivation to start this program, was to learn more about business life. Not only would the MTB program offer me a bridge to the labor market, it would also give me the chance to brush up my language skills. Much of the skills that I have acquired during this year, were practiced during the five weeks of my internship. Because I know that none of this would have happened without the help of some people, I feel it is appropriate to use this space for expressing my thanks to those people. First of all, I would like to thank Whyte Corporate Affairs and its staff for my internship. Special thanks to Joris Bulteel and Eveline De Ridder for giving me the chance to work there and learn more about corporate communication and public affairs. I would also like to express my gratitude to Laura, Evi and Cathy for being ready to answer my questions and supporting me when needed. The entire team has definitely been a source of motivation and inspiration for me. Profound gratitude goes to my parents, for their many words of encouragement and their neverending believe in my competences. I want to thank my sister Ellen for reading this thesis and supporting me during this year and the previous years at university. I would also like to thank my friends, roommates and fellow students for the wonderful time I had during my student days in Ghent. Finally, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Luc De Bie, the coordinator of the program, for arranging guest lectures and company visits but most of all, for making order out of the MTB chaos. His many emails and reminders made it possible to stay organized during this busy year.

Ghent, June 2009

i

Table of contents Preface.......................................................................................................................................................i Table of contents ...................................................................................................................................... ii List of figures ............................................................................................................................................ v List of tables ............................................................................................................................................ vi

1

Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1

2

Whyte Corporate Affairs ................................................................................................................. 2 2.1 Company history ..................................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Services .................................................................................................................................... 3 2.2.1

Corporate communication .......................................................................................... 3

2.2.2

Public affairs ................................................................................................................ 4

2.2.3

Crisis management and issue management ............................................................... 6

2.2.4

Training ....................................................................................................................... 6

2.2.5

Additional activities..................................................................................................... 7

2.3 Corporate identity ................................................................................................................... 7 2.4 Client portfolio ........................................................................................................................ 8 2.4.1

AMP ............................................................................................................................. 9

2.4.2

Benelux General Secretariat ....................................................................................... 9

2.4.3

Bruxelles Formation .................................................................................................... 9

2.4.4

Flightcare................................................................................................................... 10

2.4.5

IBA ............................................................................................................................. 10

2.4.6

IKEA Belgium ............................................................................................................. 10

2.4.7

AB InBev .................................................................................................................... 10

2.4.8

IRE ............................................................................................................................. 11

2.4.9

Lanxess ...................................................................................................................... 11

2.4.10 Lorenz ........................................................................................................................ 11 2.4.11 Media Markt Saturn .................................................................................................. 11 2.4.12 Omnichem ................................................................................................................. 12 2.4.13 Sabena Technics ........................................................................................................ 12 2.4.14 Wolfers ...................................................................................................................... 12 2.5 Competition........................................................................................................................... 12 2.5.1

Akkanto ..................................................................................................................... 13 ii

2.5.2

Interel ........................................................................................................................ 13

2.5.3

Groep C ..................................................................................................................... 14

2.5.4

Other competitors..................................................................................................... 14

2.5.5

Whyte’s USP .............................................................................................................. 14

2.6 Future .................................................................................................................................... 15 2.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 16

3

2.7.1

Independent and Belgian .......................................................................................... 16

2.7.2

Services ..................................................................................................................... 16

2.7.3

Competitors .............................................................................................................. 17

2.7.4

Recent developments ............................................................................................... 17

2.7.5

Summary ................................................................................................................... 18

The Belgian lobbying scene ........................................................................................................... 19 3.1 Lobbying and public affairs.................................................................................................... 19 3.1.1

Public relations .......................................................................................................... 20

3.1.2

Public affairs .............................................................................................................. 21

3.1.3

Lobbying .................................................................................................................... 23

3.2 History of lobbying ................................................................................................................ 24 3.3 Lobbying activities ................................................................................................................. 25 3.4 Lobbying in Belgium .............................................................................................................. 28 3.4.1

Belgian political decision making .............................................................................. 29

3.4.2

Belgian lobbyists ....................................................................................................... 31

3.4.3

Belgian and foreign lobbying activities ..................................................................... 32

3.5 Recent developments............................................................................................................ 35 3.6 Research ................................................................................................................................ 36 3.6.1

Method...................................................................................................................... 36

3.6.2

Findings ..................................................................................................................... 38

3.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 42 4

My internship ................................................................................................................................ 44 4.1 Press screening ...................................................................................................................... 44 4.2 Research project.................................................................................................................... 45 4.3 Stakeholder mapping ............................................................................................................ 47 4.4 Crisis training ......................................................................................................................... 48 4.5 Press conference ................................................................................................................... 49 4.6 Other tasks ............................................................................................................................ 50 iii

5

4.6.1

Translation and copywriting ..................................................................................... 50

4.6.2

Desk research ............................................................................................................ 50

4.6.3

Media monitoring ..................................................................................................... 51

4.6.4

Attendance at a Parliamentary Commission ............................................................ 51

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 52 5.1 The internship ....................................................................................................................... 52 5.1.1

Professional experience ............................................................................................ 52

5.1.2

Personal experience .................................................................................................. 53

5.2 Multilingual Business Communication .................................................................................. 54 6

References ..................................................................................................................................... 56

Appendixes ............................................................................................................................................ 60

iv

List of figures

Figure 1: Whyte’s view on lobby and public affairs .................................................................................5 Figure 2: SWOT analysis for Whyte Corporate Affairs .......................................................................... 18 Figure 3: PR, PA and lobbying................................................................................................................ 20 Figure 4: Essential assets for lobbying, van Schendelen (1990) ............................................................ 24 Figure 5: Step-by-step plan lobbying, Groenendijk (1997) ................................................................... 26 Figure 6: Belgium, a federal state, composed of communities and regions ......................................... 30 Figure 7: Belgian lobbyists ..................................................................................................................... 32

v

List of tables

Table 1: Basic questions for PA activities, Pedler & van Schendelen (1994) ........................................ 22 Table 2: Methods and techniques of lobbying ...................................................................................... 27 Table 3: Extent of parliamentary lobby networks, Liebert (1995) ........................................................ 33 Table 4: The cross-partyness of parliamentary interactions, Liebert (1995) ........................................ 35 Table 5: Interviewees PA survey per language group ........................................................................... 37 Table 6: Interviewees PA survey per parliament .................................................................................. 37 Table 7: Survey question – Do you think that businesses communicate with you and provide information to you sufficiently? ............................................................................................................ 38 Table 8: Survey question – When businesses contact you and give you information, do you think that they do this in a timely manner?........................................................................................................... 38 Table 9: Survey question – Do you think that businesses are obliged to keep you directly informed about their activities, issues and other matters?.................................................................................. 40

vi

1

Introduction

Over the past few months, the economic landscape has drastically changed in many countries. The global credit crunch that we are currently witnessing, results in an endless list of closures, compulsory redundancies and bankruptcies. During these anxious days, companies are in need of clear solutions. To assure their future, they often have to rely on government measures. The recent story of Fortis shows that, during these volatile times, politics and economy have to join forces to strengthen the economic situation. In order to do that, a good contact between both parties is needed. Politicians need to look out for the economic actors in their country our region. But it is not only them that need to take action. The companies themselves also have to communicate proactively with the political field. Public affairs and lobbying activities have become more and more important. From 27 April to 29 May, I had the chance to work in the communication agency Whyte Corporate Affairs. The agency and its consultants have a profound expertise in public affairs. Because of its growing relevance in both political and economic spheres and because of the subject of my internship, I decided to write about lobbying in this thesis. In the following chapter, I will present the communication agency Whyte Corporate Affairs. I will touch upon the history, the corporate identity and core activities of the company. A representative share of its client portfolio will be presented as well. In order to know the position of Whyte Corporate Affairs in the market of communication agencies, a presentation of the biggest competitors will be given. Based on that information and on the aspirations of the company, a SWOT analysis will summarize this chapter. In the third chapter, I will provide some theoretical background about lobbying. The first part of this chapter consists of a literature review about lobbying and public affairs. Definitions, history and current trends and different sorts of lobbying activities are discussed in this chapter. To be able to compare the Belgian lobbying scene to foreign systems, first of all, the unique character of Belgian decision making is explained. After exploring the Belgian situation, the comparison with foreign lobbying scenes is made. In the second part of the fourth chapter, the results of a research I worked on during my internship will be presented and compared to the earlier presented literature findings. Chapter four deals with my internship and the tasks I fulfilled at Whyte Corporate Affairs. A short description of those tasks will be given. Each time I will explain what I have learned from doing those tasks and how the program of Multilingual Business Communication has helped me during my internship. Finally, in the conclusion I will reflect upon my internship and upon the many things that I have learned during the year that I have studied Multilingual Business Communication. I will make a critical evaluation of both aspects, the internship and the study program.

1

2

Whyte Corporate Affairs

In this chapter, the company where I did my internship, Whyte Corporate Affairs will be presented. First of all, a short presentation of the company history will be given. Since the communication agency is newly founded, the paragraph also contains information about the company name, the organization of tasks and the team of consultants. Secondly, an overview of all offered services will be given. In the third part of this chapter, more details are given on the mission statement and the corporate identity. After that, a short description of some of Whyte Corporate Affairs’ most important clients follows. The fifth part deals with competitors. Not only a description of possible competitors, but also Whyte Corporate Affairs’ unique position is discussed. After a sixth part on short and long term perspectives, the conclusion of this chapter will bring a detailed analysis of the company’s position. A SWOT analysis shows the strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities and threats of Whyte Corporate Affairs.

2.1 Company history Since Whyte Corporate Affairs1 was only recently established, the presentation of the company history will not be very long. The company was founded in September 2008 by four communication consultants, formerly working at Interel2. Its first activities from its headquarters in Auderghem started on 16 September 2008 (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2008, September 16). The four partners, Sandrine Agie, Joris Bulteel, Eveline De Ridder and Emmanuel Goedseels, decided to share the benefits of their many years’ experience within a new communications agency. They started the new agency, based on a modern approach to the field, the so-called corporate affairs approach3. This approach is an integrated view on how the agency wants to handle its issues. The corporate affairs approach combines corporate communication and public affairs into one single method (http://www.whyte.be). Whyte Corporate Affairs is an independent agency. In contrast to most of its competitors, Whyte is not integrated in a bigger company structure. The agency is led by the four partners, each of them covering one specific management field. Joris Bulteel is in charge of the corporate identity, business development and company logistics. Eveline De Ridder is responsible for IT, the website and other Internet applications. Sandrine Agie covers HR and all financial matters are handled by Emmanuel Goedseels (Robignon, E., personal communication, May, 2009). The name ‘Whyte’ was chosen because it is a contraction of the words ‘why’ and ‘white’. ‘Why’ stands for the company’s character to always think twice before taking action and ‘white’ stands for

1

Henceforth, the company name ‘Whyte Corporate Affairs’ will often be shortened to ‘Whyte’. Interel is a Belgian Public Affairs and Corporate Communications agency. Since it should be seen as one of Whyte’s major competitors, Interel will be presented more into detail together with the other competitors. See section 2.5. 3 A more profound explanation on the corporate affairs approach will be given in the paragraph that handles Whyte’s corporate identity. 2

2

clarity and straightforwardness. With this name, the partners wanted to express the true aim of the communication agency, which is the will to deliver high-grade and creative advice (http://www.whyte.be). Today, Whyte can offer its clients a full range of services within the fields of corporate communication and public affairs. As crisis communication is one of Whyte’s most important competences, the company has an operational crisis hotline, which enables a 24 hours a day and 7 days a week standby service (http://www.whyte.be). In only a few months, the company has grown to a ten-strong and perfectly bilingual team. All consultants have a certain expertise in communication. According to their content and scope, projects are dealt by small teams that consist of at least one of the partners and one or more senior or junior consultants (Robignon, E., personal communication, May, 2009).

2.2 Services According to the corporate affairs approach that Whyte wants to apply, all offered services should be seen as part of the bigger picture. Rather than storing one activity into one specific field of business communication, all activities should be interrelated with each other, in order to serve one common goal. Nevertheless, I find it interesting to present the different services more into detail. The following presentation will put the different services into classical fields of business communication. In the next chapter however, the corporate affairs approach that makes the combination of all those different services will be explained in detail. Many of the services that Whyte Corporate Affairs provides have a rather abstract name and are not that easy to conceive. In this chapter a short explanation per service or activity will be given, but later on in this thesis, concrete examples of my tasks at Whyte Corporate Affairs will be situated within the range of the services that are presented here.

2.2.1 Corporate communication Corporate communication is every kind of communication that is sent out from a company or organization to all or part of its stakeholders. Whyte Corporate Affairs does not work on brand communication or specific customer issues. In its approach to corporate communication, Whyte wants to have eye for all possible stakeholders. Not only customers and media are possible target groups for communication. Whyte attaches just as much importance to internal as to external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders can be employees and shareholders, while the external public consists of agencies, channel partners, competitors, the government, federations, the media, the academic world and many more (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). The corporate communication service consists of a wide range of activities. In a first phase, Whyte always has to get to know the company or organization that it is working for. Sometimes it is 3

necessary to carry out perception audits amongst different stakeholders. That way, it is possible for Whyte to see how employees, customers and other company relations experience a certain organization. Based on those results, a corporate identity and positioning can be built up. Subsequently, there is strategy development and the design of a media relations program. All these activities can serve as a basis for a long-term communication plan. Before carrying out a communication strategy, it is important for a company to know its position in the market and the image it has among the stakeholders. It goes without saying that Whyte does not carry out all of the above mentioned activities for every client. Sometimes, the company profile is already well known and Whyte can start with more specific communication activities (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009; Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). Briefly, within the field of corporate communication, Whyte offers advice about stakeholder communication, relation building and internal communication. When it comes to internal communication, employer branding can also be an important aspect. For companies that are quoted on the stock exchange, or companies facing a flotation or take-over, Whyte can also provide specialized know-how on financial communication. Finally, Whyte also offers advice in developing corporate social responsibility programs (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009; Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). During my interview with Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009), the special approach Whyte takes when it comes to corporate communication was stressed. From his experience with other communication agencies, Joris knows that many of those agencies only have eye for the media as channel for corporate communication. Whyte always looks for other options. He admitted that the media will always be the predominant channel. Nevertheless, for some projects direct communication or communication via the company website, or via a personal letter from the CEO himself can serve better.

2.2.2 Public affairs A second set of activities can be categorized under ‘public affairs’. For Whyte, public affairs go much further than traditional lobby. Where lobby should be seen as getting in touch with politicians and influencing decision making in a way that serves your company through means of face-to-face contact, public affairs rely on more than just that personal contact. For Whyte Corporate Affairs, the field of PA4 falls back on a wide set of channels. Not only discussions and debates with politicians, but also communication via newsletters, company events and classical media communication can be useful. As politics and clients are evolving, Whyte feels that the classic lobby approach has serious shortcomings nowadays. Where other communication agencies still rely on personal networks and the old-fashioned idea of ‘like knows like’, Whyte strives to provide its customers with more suitable and modern techniques. The consultants at Whyte still believe in the power of personal networks, but to live up to modern times, where politics are more and more professionalized and management positions rotate more frequently, other methods have to be used (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009).

4

Similar to PR for public relations, public affairs is often shortened to PA. 4

lobby

personal network

wide range of stakeholders that have influence on the public opinion

PA

Figure 1: Whyte's view on lobby and public affairs

To illustrate Whyte’s view on public affairs, Joris Bulteel (personal personal interview, May 19, 2009) 2009 compared the field to a triangle. In the top of the triangle, there is the limited number of people that one can reach when using traditional lobbying. In the base ba however, there is a much broader target group that can be approached when using modern techniques for public affairs. First of all, within the field of public affairs, it is important to know all the possible stakeholders. Political and stakeholder mapping mapp are ineluctable steps in the PA process. As for corporate communication, Whyte has eye for every possible influencer. Not only politicians leave their stamp on the public opinion about an organization. Academics or columnists that often write about business and economics can also be important stakeholders. stakeholders. To manage the image of a company in the public opinion, Whyte carries out media and regulatory monitoring.. By screening all the media, the middle-field, field, politics and political agendas, consultants can spot issues that might concern their clients. Next to traditional monitoring, Whyte also uses the method of intelligence gathering. gathering Where monitoring only uses publicly accessible sources, intelligence gathering also scans information that is retrieved in an unofficial way. For this kind of activity, activity, the personal network, used in traditional lobby, is of greater importance (Bulteel, (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009; Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). Together with the client, Whyte carries out specific public affairs strategies and action plans. The most important public affairs and lobbying messages and tools are defined, in order to be standby for when action is needed. Because Whyte believes that companies themselves can operate best as lobbyists, they provide their clients with constant help and advice before and during lobbying activities. A great deal of the PA service has to do with preparing, training and coaching clients (Bulteel, Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009). 2009 To support its broader view on public affairs, Whyte offers influencer programs ograms to its clients. The idea behind these programs is to systematically, repetitively and sufficiently spread information about a company among a broad, but clearly defined target group. By organizing seminars, meetings and encounters in support of the public affairs objectives, Whyte’s modern approach to PA is practiced (Whyte Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). 2009a

5

2.2.3 Crisis management and issue management Though it is presented as a third service, crisis management actually fits in with both corporate communication and public affairs. In the interview with Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009) the importance of crisis preparedness was accentuated. About 80% of crisis communication can be perfectly prepared on beforehand. In order to do those preparations, Whyte makes an elaborate analysis of all possible risks and scenarios. Afterwards, the scenarios that are most relevant or most likely to happen in the future, are worked out more profound in a crisis manual. Crisis manuals provide clients with ready-to-use techniques and means of communication in case of a crisis. If wanted, Whyte also organizes crisis trainings and simulation exercises. In order to be ready for the breakout of any type of issue (for example when the media start to pay attention to the binge drinking trend among young people, a beer brewing company has to be alert), issue mapping and media monitoring are again of great importance. As most of the issues can be prepared on beforehand, Whyte can provide its customers with ready-made answers to the possible questions of for example journalists. It is also possible to set up tailor-made crisis communication tools, like non-operative dark sites, SMS-services or standby call centers. Subsequently, the process of issue tracking is started up to follow how issues are covered in the media. If a certain issue is covered more frequently than before, the client is warned to be alert. The ultimate goal for issue management is a so-called early-warning system (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). Both crisis management as issue management cover different types of issues: social issues, change management, litigation, shareholder issues, industrial risks, environmental issues, health issues, consumer related issues and many more (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a).

2.2.4 Training The word training has already been mentioned when presenting the other services above. Because Whyte believes that clients are the best ambassadors for themselves, communication and media trainings are provided. Often CEOs or other members of the management team are technically qualified people without any know-how about communication or decision making and the formation of the public opinion. By offering its clients training and coaching, Whyte believes that everyone of those people can acquire communication skills (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). In explanation of the choice to present trainings as a separate service, Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009) pointed out that even though it is part of every other service that they provide, training needs special attention in their service presentation. By presenting it as a separate service, they believe that clients will more easily see the relevance and need for adequate training sessions. If training would be stored under the other services, clients risk to lose track of it. The subjects of the offered trainings are differentiated. Possible subjects are crisis communication, risk management, corporate communication, introduction to the Belgian media and media training. To initiate foreign business people in the complex Belgian political system, Whyte also offers a training called Belgium for dummies. For some of its trainings, Whyte cooperates with renowned trainers (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009).

6

2.2.5 Additional activities Whyte Corporate Affairs is currently working on some additional services. While working at Whyte and during my interview with Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009), I obtained more information about these activities. Some of the projects are ready for use, others are still to be finalized. To keep their clients, the media and other contacts informed about current developments in the fields of corporate communication and public affairs, Whyte wants to publish and distribute papers every couple of months. The Whyte Paper can reveal information about current research or the latest trends in the field. In May 2009, a first edition of the Whyte Paper was released. The subject of this paper was the research5 I contributed to during my internship. At the same time, Whyte also wants to inform clients and contacts in another way. Whyte is currently working on the organization of biannual debates and discussions with prominent people in business life or the communication field. The topics of those debates can vary. A first edition of the Whyte Sessions is expected in September 2009. To take advantage of the possibilities of the Internet, Whyte Corporate Affairs is now designing a modern web application, called Whyte Space, that will allow clients and consultants to exchange upto-date documents with guaranteed confidentiality. Finally, Whyte is planning the launch of an innovative stakeholder mappingtool early this summer. Using this tool, Whyte will be able to deliver tailor-made information per client. The consultants will control the information from a central interface. This means that, when contact details of a certain politician change, the consultants do not have to make an update for every single client, but just once in the central system. This tool will be unique on the Belgian market.

2.3 Corporate identity In this section, the corporate identity will be discussed. The best illustration and summary of Whyte’s corporate identity is found in the mission statement: “Stakeholder oriented, objective driven. That is why we strongly believe in the integration between what is traditionally considered to be ‘corporate communications’ and ‘public affairs’. We tear down the walls and combine the best of both worlds” (http://www.whyte.be) The combination of two fields that is mentioned in the mission statement, is what Whyte named the corporate affairs approach. In brief that approach makes the sum of corporate communication and public affairs. The result is corporate affairs. To account for this approach, Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009) illustrated this integrated, multidimensional method with an example of one of his clients, AB InBev6. In October 5

The results and conclusions of this research project will be presented in the third chapter of this thesis. More information about AB InBev specifically and general information about Whyte’s clients can be found in the next section. 6

7

2006, the former InBev decided to stop the production of the lager called ‘Hoegaarden’ in the breweries in Hoegaarden. The production would be moved to another InBev brewery. The closure of the brewery in Hoegaarden gave rise to social upheaval and strikes. For some days, the production of the beer stopped and the supplies of supermarkets had run out. At this point, good communication was truly needed. The crucial mistake that was made here had however nothing to do with the communication afterwards. Before the decision to close down the brewery in Hoegaarden, some important steps in communication were not made. Instead of having eye for the whole range of stakeholders, InBev only communicated with some of its stakeholders. The result was bad media coverage and upset employees. While focusing too much on the classical media such as newspapers, television and radio, InBev did not pay enough attention to direct communication with its employees in Hoegaarden. It is obvious that those were baffled to hear the news on the radio, before having heard anything from their own boss. If a complete, multidimensional communication mix with eye for every single stakeholder would have been set up, much of the problems caused after the closure in Hoegaarden could have been avoided. This case illustrates that modern communication is more and more about the convergence of different means of communication. The corporate affairs approach wants to bring a mix of, for example, traditional lobbying activities with modern communication via a website or a full-page article with the CEO of a company in a Saturday’s newspaper. Many different communication tools should result in the achievement of one common goal. The corporate affairs approach wants to look beyond normal rules of communication. That newspaper interview mentioned above should not only contain interesting information for people reading the newspaper on a Saturday morning, but there should also be some hidden messages for the employees or shareholders of the company in question. To summarize, I can quote Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009), who said: “Nowadays, communication is a matter of circulating the right information at the right time and via a diversified set of channels. The aim should always be to reach every single stakeholder. That is why a clear definition of the target group will always come first. Stakeholder oriented, objective driven, like we say in our mission statement.”

2.4 Client portfolio The client list of Whyte Corporate Affairs is divided into different categories. First of all, there are the clients. Clients are those organizations or companies that Whyte is working for on a regular basis. Secondly, there are the project based clients. Those clients only need advice for one specific topic or at one specific moment of the year. Thirdly, Whyte also has a list of its prospects. Prospects are those organizations or companies Whyte already has made contact with. When there has not been any contact with a certain company but Whyte has the will to add that company to its client list, one speaks of leads instead of prospects. That fourth category of leads is divided into an A and a B group. Briefly, leads A are more likely to become prospects, while leads B are a bit further away.

8

In the appendixes7, a simplified version of Whyte Corporate Affairs’ current client list is added. For obvious reasons, the names of prospects and leads will not be mentioned. A short presentation of some of Whyte’s regular clients will be given below. If possible, it will also be specified what Whyte is doing for that particular client. From this presentation, it will become clear that Whyte has clients in many different economic areas, such as environment, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, beverages, transport and even government institutions.

2.4.1 AMP Agence et Messageries de la Presse (AMP) is one of Belgium’s biggest media distribution companies. AMP is distributor of national and international newspapers, magazines and other media in every province of Belgium (http://www.ampnet.be). Recently, AMP decided to cut down on its book distribution activities. By closing that department, some hundred jobs were at stake. Good communication towards employees and the media was very important. Whyte also carries out constant media monitoring for AMP. Increased attention is necessary, with the crisis that is going on in the media landscape.

2.4.2 Benelux General Secretariat The Brussels-based Benelux General Secretariat is the central administrative office of the Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg) Economic Union. The Benelux Secretariat has numerous contacts with international governments and institutions for the benefit of the cooperating countries (http://www.benelux.be). The Benelux General Secretariat has only recently become one of Whyte’s clients. Currently, the Secretariat has to contend with image problems. The value of the institution is questioned and the Secretariat is considered to be sluggish and old-fashioned. At this moment, Whyte is ending a series of interviews with stakeholders of the Benelux General Secretariat. This perception audit will be the foundation for a reconstruction of the institution’s image. Subsequently, a new company logo and house style will be designed.

2.4.3 Bruxelles Formation Bruxelles Formation is the official organization that is charged with the professional training of French-speaking job-seekers in the region of Brussels. The organization offers trainings, advice and personal consultation (http://www.bruxellesformation.be). For this client, Whyte is standby for any corporate communication or crisis communication job. In the past, the agency has offered expertise and help for developing press relations. 7

See appendix 1 for the client list. 9

2.4.4 Flightcare Flightcare is responsible for ground services in and around different airports in Belgium (Brussels, Liege and Ostend). The company provides ticketing, check-in and boarding services and cargo of goods, mail and courier (http://www.flightcare.be). Given the inconstancy of the Belgian airport and aviation sector, constant standby of the consultants at Whyte is required. In case of crisis, the consultants can work on the necessary communication. At this point, there are no other ongoing projects for Flightcare.

2.4.5 IBA IBA (stands for Ion Beam Applications) has a leading role in the international research for molecular medicine. The company offers ionization and sterilization solutions to improve hygiene and safety in everyday life. IBA has a widely known expertise in cancer diagnosis and therapy (http://www.iba.be). Just now, Whyte Corporate Affairs is finalizing a crisis manual for IBA. It contains far-reaching descriptions of approximately four possible crisis scenarios. The manual also offers ready-made press release formats and Q&A documents.

2.4.6 IKEA Belgium Ikea Belgium is the Belgian division of the Swedish and world-famous furniture retailer. The Belgian division has its own management. 2.800 employees work for Ikea Belgium (http://www.ikea.com/be/nl). The work for Ikea Belgium started with the opening of a new store in Ghent. Whyte Corporate Affairs was responsible for press releases, press contacts and the organization of a press conference about the opening. Today, Whyte is also taking care of the communication around the recent strikes that took place in some of Ikea’s branches.

2.4.7 AB InBev One of Whyte’s biggest clients is AB InBev, the largest Belgian brewery. Famous brands of AB InBev are Stella Artois, Beck’s, Leffe, Hoegaarden and Budweiser (http://www.ab-inbev.com). Whyte Corporate Affairs has daily contacts with the Leuven-based communication department of AB InBev. Being a brewery, AB InBev is often confronted with many different issues concerning responsible drinking, youth and alcohol and many more. This results in regular media coverage. Besides issue and crisis management, the corporate identity and image is also of great importance for AB InBev, certainly since the recent merger with Anheuser Busch. Therefore, Whyte does not only execute monitoring activities, crisis management and issue management. Whyte also looks after their

10

corporate identity and brand communication by, for example, organizing events and giving out newsletters.

2.4.8 IRE The institute for radio elements (IRE) (http://www.ire.eu) was one of Whyte’s first big clients. As Whyte only started early September 2008, a nuclear incident on the IRE site in Fleurus on 28 August 2008 was Whyte’s first official crisis project. A combination of newsletters, press releases and a website was set up to ensure the IRE’s image. For its crisis communication around the incident in Fleurus, Whyte Corporate Affairs was nominated for a EMEA Sabre Award8 in the category crisis and issues management. Currently, Whyte is still providing corporate communication services. Special attention is paid to the development of a company website. The consultants at Whyte are doing the copywriting of the texts in English, French and Dutch.

2.4.9 Lanxess The chemical company Lanxess Antwerp is part of a bigger Germanybased holding. Lanxess offers solutions in the areas of high-tech plastics, rubber and chemicals (http://www.lanxess.be). Whyte’s activities for Lanxess are wide-ranging. To ensure preparedness for possible crises, Whyte is currently training members of the management board. Media awareness training and interviewing exercises are given.

2.4.10 Lorenz Lorenz is an international network of law experts with offices in Bishkek, Geneva and Brussels. Whyte Corporate Affairs is working for the Brussels department. The main goal of Whyte’s support is to gain media coverage, in order to create a positive image on the Belgian market (http://www.lorenz-law.com).

2.4.11 Media Markt Saturn The latest acquired client of Whyte Corporate Affairs is the Belgian division of the German electronics and telecommunications distributor Media Markt Saturn (http://www.mediamarkt.be).

8

The Sabre Awards are the most renowned international awards in the field of public relations and public affairs. This year’s edition took place on 21 May 2009 in Stockholm. The winner of the category of ‘crisis and issues management’ was the campaign ‘The sun still shines’ for the Kenya Flower Council, issued by Ogilvy Public Relations Kenya. In this category, Whyte Corporate Affairs was nominated together with Saatchi&Saatchi PR Romania, Edelman Germany, Lansons Communication UK and the winner, Ogilvy Kenya. 11

Specific projects are still to be defined, but Whyte will offer a full range of services for this client, from media monitoring, to crisis and issue management and traditional corporate communication.

2.4.12 Omnichem The Belgian company Omnichem has been active in the pharmaceutical industry for over 25 years. Its activities focus on the development and manufacturing of pharmaceutical fine chemicals (http://www.omnichem.com). Considering the special position the pharmaceutical industry has in society, the constant media attention to developments in the sector and frequent criticism from different animal and human right organizations, crisis preparedness is necessary. Whyte is also advising Omnichem within the scope of change management. At the moment, the company has the intention to renew its image and company name.

2.4.13 Sabena Technics Sabena Technics is responsible for aircraft maintenance at Brussels Airport, among some other places. In 2005, the company was acquired by TAT Industries, but Whyte Corporate Affairs only works for the Belgian division of Sabena Technics (http://www.sabenatechnics.com). Similar to what Whyte is doing for Flightcare, the consultants are always standby for possible crises or issues. At the moment, there are no other specific projects for Sabena Technics.

2.4.14 Wolfers Wolfers is a well-known, Brussels jewelry, that recently made an appeal to Whyte Corporate Affairs, in order to arrange the communication around a merger between Wolfers and a Chinese jewelry company (Goedseels, E., personal communication, May, 2009).

2.5 Competition While interviewing Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009), I asked him for the biggest competitors on the market of corporate communication, crisis communication and public affairs. According to him, there are only four agencies in Belgium that are working thoroughly on those fields: Whyte Corporate Affairs, Akkanto, Interel and Groep C. It is self-evident that other communication agencies in and outside Belgium are also competitors of Whyte Corporate Affairs. However, it would lead me too far to discuss all of those agencies within the scope of this thesis. Some other possible competitors will be presented briefly in the paragraph ‘other competitors’.

12

2.5.1 Akkanto In 1995, Charles Van der Straeten Waillet founded the communication agency European Communication Strategies (CS). Johan Ral joins him in 1995. In 2005, the tenth birthday of CS is marked with a management buy-out, which results in a partnership of seven active partners. From then on, the company was named Akkanto. Currently, Akkanto employs a staff of about 25 consultants in its offices in Brussels. Just as Whyte, Akkanto is an independent agency. Akkanto offers the following services: corporate communication, support to marketing, training and coaching, financial communication, internal communication, public affairs, government relations, crisis communication and media relations. Akkanto has a rather sizeable client list, with an active contribution to specific economic sectors. Those sectors are the healthcare industry with clients such as Johnson&Johnson, Pfizer, and Janssen Pharmaceutica, industry associates such as FEBELCEM, Fevia and Febelfin, public utilities like Electrabel, Suez Group, SPE Luminus and The Belgian Post and aviation with clients like Aviapartner, Brussels Airport and SN Brussels Airlines. For their public affairs and government relations services, Akkanto offers a wide range of different actions to its clients, that are comparable to Whyte’s offer. Differently from Whyte however, Akkanto specifically offers personal interference and lobbying activities with government officials and parliamentary committees at both regional and federal levels in Belgium, as well as with the European Union and international institutions (http://www.akkanto.com).

2.5.2 Interel Interel started in 1983 as a Belgian full-service communications consultancy. Interel focuses on corporate communication, PA and brand and consumer communication. A team of over 35 consultants works for Interel. The agency is part of Interel Group, a fully owned subsidiary of Hasgrove Plc., a marketing and communications corporation in the United Kingdom. Interel claims a substantial reputation in crisis communication, issues management, brand and consumer communication and Belgian public affairs. For PA, Interel relies on the strong sector expertise and broad contact network of its employees. Those contacts are the basis for its lobbying activities and go all the way up to the highest hierarchical levels of the Belgian business, academic, media and political milieus. Interel is also standby with a crisis communication hotline. The PA service contains monitoring, intelligence gathering, political analysis, strategic advice, representation, active lobbying and public procurement. Some of Interel’s clients are Club Med, Thalys, Fnac and Nyrstar. Despite of the turbulent history of Fortis Holding these last months, Interel has won a Sabre Award for its communication in the Fortis case. Also this year, Interel has won the Sabre Award for best Benelux Consultancy Agency of the year 2008 (http://www.interel.be).

13

2.5.3 Groep C In 1987, Noël Slangen, the famous advisor of the Belgian federal Government and the Flemish liberal party Open VLD, founded the communication agency Slangen & Partners. In 1989, the agency decided to specialize in institutional communication. Later on, in 2000, Slangen & Partners decided to disassociate from its brand communication and advertising activities and Groep C was founded. A small group of consultants currently works for this independent agency, with offices in Hasselt, Antwerp and Brussels. Groep C is an active player on the fields of crisis communication, financial communication, internal communication, environmental communication, reputation management and strategic communication campaigns. Though he is now working as a senior advisor and much less as an active player in the field, the image and reputation of Groep C is still undeniably attached to the figure of Noël Slangen. It is obvious that the network that this man has built up throughout his activities in Belgian politics has its serious advantages for carrying out lobbying activities. That is also why most of Groep C’s clients are to be found in the institutional scene. Some of them are UNIZO, cities such as Kortrijk and Mechelen, the province of Limburg, the Red Devils and Oxfam (http://www.groepc.be).

2.5.4 Other competitors Hill & Knowlton is a worldwide communication agency with expertise in public affairs, international public relations, public policy communication and events. The Belgian department has specialized know-how for Belgian public affairs and public relations. A few of their recent clients are Adidas, Coca-Cola, Daikin, Procter & Gamble, Deloitte and Kellogg’s (http://www.hillandknowlton.be). Porter Novelli is a PR and lobbying agency that is part of the Omnicom Group. Porter Novelli has over 100 offices in 60 countries and is at this moment the agency most successfully working on the Internet and social network sites. Telenet, Mastercard, HP, McDonald’s and Siemens are part of Porter Novelli Belgium’s client portfolio (http://www.porternovelli.com).

2.5.5 Whyte’s USP9 In comparison with its competitors the USP of Whyte Corporate Affairs is twofold: first of all, its independence and secondly, its so-called corporate affairs approach. In contrast with many of its competitors, Whyte Corporate Affairs is not part of an international holding. The agency can work on an independent basis, which definitely has its advantages. Instant decisions can be made, without the need to hear the opinion of shareholders or a foreign management. On the other hand, one must also recognize the financial benefits of being part of a

9

USP or unique selling proposition/point. In this paragraph the things that make Whyte Corporate Affairs stand out from its competitors will be discussed. 14

bigger company structure and the advantages of having an international network of consultants, clients and relations to fall back on. The corporate affairs approach that was mentioned above10 makes the agency stand out from its competitors. This modern approach criticizes the methods of traditional lobbying, which still heavily rely on personal networks. Competitors such as Interel, Akkanto and definitely Groep C with Noël Slangen, still primarily work according to the ‘like knows like’ principle. According to Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009), Whyte works multidimensional, while the others are still onedimensional. Whyte thinks that good communication is simply a matter of communicating in a good way and at the right time. Communication is not about one or a couple of people in the company, but it is about varying in tools and communication channels. The fact that Whyte, thanks to its very recent start up, is already working according to this modern principle, while the other companies are still evolving in that direction, is another USP for Whyte Corporate Affairs.

2.6 Future As Whyte Corporate Affairs has only been operative for eight months, on a short term the future does not bring big changes. In those eight months, the number of employees has already risen from six to ten and the client portfolio keeps on expanding as well. Nevertheless, the young agency has a strong ambition. When I asked Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009) for Whyte’s perspectives on a longer term, he told me that it is his ambition to achieve a top five position in the Belgian market of corporate affairs. He wants to continue providing his clients with creative, modern and strong advices and that way, he believes that Whyte Corporate Affairs can build up an image and reputation of quality and innovation. At a later stage, he also wants to grow in terms of size. While the team consists of ten consultants now, ideally it should expand to fifteen or sixteen in the future. He also mentioned that the independency that Whyte is now taking advantage of, is something they would like to hold on to for a longer period. The partners do not want Whyte to expand just to be big. Quality comes first. However, the choice not to work together in a broader network of consultancy agencies is not a foregone conclusion. Cooperation or mergers are left open for discussion on a longer term.

10

See section 2.3 on corporate identity. 15

2.7 Conclusion In this section, the strengths and weaknesses of Whyte Corporate Affairs will be listed, based on the information that was given above. Subsequently, external opportunities and threats will be discussed. All different items will be presented first in the following subdivisions and finally, a conclusion will be made under the form of a SWOT diagram.

2.7.1 Independent and Belgian Whyte Corporate Affairs presents itself as a Belgian communication agency. The Belgian political, economical, social and media scene are intrinsically complex and fairly unique. As a communication consultancy, Whyte is constantly confronted with this complexity. The complicated nature of the Belgian political system makes it without a doubt extra challenging to, for example, carry out lobbying activities. The experience that the four partners of Whyte Corporate Affairs have is definitely a strength for the company. However, some of the other consultants working at Whyte Corporate Affairs still have to get acquainted with the particularity of the Belgian political scene. Some of them are quite young and are not as experienced as the partners. Another outcome of the Belgian market is bilingualism. By consequence, many of Whyte’s clients belong to one or the other language community. At the moment, all the consultants speak fluently three languages. Whyte Corporate Affairs will have to keep paying attention to this language aspect when engaging new consultants. From my experience at the office however, I feel that language is a very important issue at Whyte. This is also reflected in the way the team of consultants is put together. The division of French and Dutch native speakers is perfectly in balance, with a five to five division. For the partners, the foursome is also half Dutch, half French-speaking. Whyte Corporate Affairs can profit from its independency. The company is able to respond very quickly to recent developments, because it has no red tape, nor the need for higher management approval. Decisions can quickly be made within the team of four partners. They can swiftly choose to change directions when they feel that a certain method is not working. Nonetheless, the lack of a bigger or internationally inspired safety net can at the same time be a weakness. At some points a company can certainly take advantage of being part of an international network or holding company. Because of its independency, the agency will probably stay rather small for the first couple of years. Therefore, the team of consultants is a small group of young people. The advantage is again the quick way by which this team can be managed. Furthermore, young people are more eager to learn, which is another advantage for the agency. Conversely, when working with young consultants, there is a greater risk of recruitment from other companies. For those people, a job at Whyte Corporate Affairs can maybe act as a useful leg up to other positions at other companies. Working with a small team, makes the agency vulnerable to vital staff being sick or leaving.

2.7.2 Services In comparison with its competitors, Whyte Corporate Affairs offers similar services to its clients. In the future, it will be important to choose direction, or one specific expertise to work more on, so 16

that Whyte can differentiate from its competitors. If all agencies will keep offering the same services, some specialism will have to be chosen to catch the eye of prospects and future prospects. However, Whyte has chosen to work according to the corporate affairs approach. At the moment, none of Whyte’s direct competitors is emphasizing that it is also using this modern method. It seems that the other companies are still using older and more traditional methods, making strict divisions between corporate communication and public affairs. If Whyte keeps on following this approach, it can definitely profit from it.

2.7.3 Competitors The list of competitors on the Belgian market of communication agencies is not too long. Not that many agencies are working on the specific combination of public affairs, crisis communication and corporate communication. In the past few months that Whyte already existed, it has grown a lot. The number of consultants working for Whyte has doubled and the size of the client portfolio keeps increasing. Given the small number of competitors, there is undoubtedly still room for more expansion. However, it has to be mentioned that, while growing, Whyte will have to pay attention to maintaining its identity. If the growth of the company would go too fast, it risks losing track of its initial corporate identity. The threat of being a small, independent communication agency among a few giants, can not only be solved by growing. Growth is a good solution, but maybe less manageable on a short term. What Whyte Corporate Affairs could really invest in, is differentiation. If Whyte succeeds being different from its bigger competitors, it will certainly benefit from it. Another opportunity could be the development of the client portfolio. At this moment, the client list is already filled with lots of different companies from different sector. It is important to gain expertise in many different field. Whyte could focus on sectors that it has not been working on before, while looking for prospects. Examples of those ‘unknown’ sectors are the banking and financing business, the car industry and the sector of fast moving consumer goods.

2.7.4 Recent developments There are some recent developments, in the market of business communication, as well as in business in general or society at large that could influence the situation at Whyte Corporate Affairs. Those developments can at the same time be a threat and an opportunity. The global credit crunch that the world is currently witnessing, has a sincere impact on business life. Lots of companies are cutting back on communication expenses, which could entail a possible threat for Whyte. On the other hand, the financial crisis has alerted a big group of managers and CEOs that communication is an important aspect of business. They are aware of the fact that communication is not longer solely attached to their own person, but that it is more and more a question of treating it in a professional way. In this respect, Whyte could also take advantage of the current financial crisis.

17

With the digital era that is still going on, new communication tools, internet applications and other ICTs are invented every day. It is a challenge for a communication agency to stay up-to-date and apply all those new technologies. A company as Whyte should take profit of its young image to be the first to integrate those new technologies. Whyte Corporate Affairs is already working on a series of innovative tools, but further development is needed in order to differentiate from the competitors. On the other hand, the digital revolution has also created new working methods. With modern communication technologies such as web 2.0 and conference calls and meetings, it will become reality that people are working for a company from a far distance. Telecommuting and teleworking will no longer be abstract terms, but reality. This entails a possible threat for Whyte Corporate Affairs. As company or country boundaries will be of lesser importance, companies will be able to rely on other or foreign sources for their communication advice.

2.7.5 Summary All of the above can be summarized into a SWOT-diagram. It is clear that some of Whyte’s strengths can at the same time be weaknesses, or opportunities can also imply threats.

Figure 2: SWOT analysis for Whyte Corporate Affairs

18

3

The Belgian lobbying scene

The current economic context of crisis and uncertainty about the future has brought the relationship between business life and the world of politics into sharper focus. During the past few months, business managers and political decision makers needed each other. They had to search for solutions together, sometimes under the watchful eye of the camera and often in the privacy of the backrooms of Belgian politics and economy. The recent example of the ailing car manufacturer Opel Antwerp11 has shown that it is possible for companies, employees’ and employers’ organizations and the government to work together. Obviously, contacts between the private sector and politics are not new. Under the world famous Belgian consultative model, employees’ and employers’ organizations are formally involved in decision making. However, if one looks at those interventions, they seem to be totally different from foreign examples. The complexity of the Belgian federal state and our peculiar political structure undoubtedly play a part in the unique way by which contact between the private sector and politics is organized. If we would name those contacts with the word ‘lobbying’, lots of Belgian politicians would frown. In Belgium, lobbying is still mostly associated with corrupt tactics to influence public policy. A quick look in books and scientific reports about the theme reveals the same trend: lobbying is still much of an American and European Union case. Belgium and other Western European states still have to follow. In this chapter the result of a research on Belgian lobbying, that I worked on during my internship at Whyte Corporate Affairs, will be compared to literature findings. In the first part of this theoretical framework, I will present some essential definitions. When the concepts of lobbying and public affairs are defined, I will continue with the history of lobbying. Afterwards, the most frequently used techniques of lobbying will be discussed. After that, I will touch upon the specific lobbying situation in Belgium. A comparison with the European and American system will be made. Finally, the most important findings of the survey about communication between regional members of parliament and companies will be explored.

3.1 Lobbying and public affairs Before discussing the history of lobbying and different sorts of lobbying activities, it is necessary to know the exact definition of some crucial terms. Not only lobbying, but also public affairs, often shortened to PA, and public relations, also called PR, will be defined. Those three terms are not in any way synonyms. Groenendijk et al. (1997) present the three communication disciplines – public relations, public affairs and lobbying – as being part of each 11

After months of speculations, the judicial procedure to pronounce the bankruptcy of world-famous car manufacturer General Motors was started on 1 June 2009. General Motors, the full owner of the German car brand Opel, had already given signs that Opel needed to look for a buyer. Together with the German government, representatives of the Belgian federal government and the Flemish regional government negotiated with possible buyers, to assure the future of Opel and with that also the future of Opel Antwerp. The official bankruptcy of GM has now made the future of Opel even more unclear (http://www.standaard.be/ Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=6T2ATI66). 19

other. While public relations aims at a favorable relation between an organization and society at large, the target audience of public affairs activities is slightly narrowed down. The idea of public affairs is to know current developments in the political and and social sphere and to, if possible, have an impact on political decision making. making. In conclusion, lobbying is one of the possible working methods of public affairs. Lobbying is often seen as the final step in achieving the goal of public affairs.

public relations (PR)

public affairs (PA)

lobbying

Figure 3: PR, PA and lobbying

As the concept of public affairs is a much more modern term than lobbying, it is peculiar that lobbying activities are part of the former. The figure above is very abstract and does not provide a satisfactory answer to the question of what PR, PA and lobbying are. More explanation is therefore needed. In the following sections the concepts of public relations, public affairs and lobbying will be discussed in detail.

3.1.1 Public relations The definition of public relations that was given by the Public Relations Society of America12 (http://www.prsa.org/aboutUs/faq.html http://www.prsa.org/aboutUs/faq.html) says that “public public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other”. other” This definition is rather short, but what is interesting and worth emphasizing is the use of the word ‘organization’ instead of ‘business’ or ‘company’. The definition similarly uses the word ‘publics’ rather than the limiting implication of ‘customers’ or o ‘stakeholders’, which recognizes that all organizations have multiple publics from which they must earn consent and support. Kleinnijenhuis (2008, p. 60) has several problems with with the definition of the PRSA. The definition does not show enough what PR practitioners practitioners are actually doing to accomplish their task. He thinks 12

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is the leading public relations organization in the world. Considering its number umber of members of over 32.000 and the important role that the US played in the development of PR and other communication fields, the PRSA has a pre-eminent pre eminent position in the field. 20

that most of the efforts to define public relations fail in this respect. In his view, a good definition for PR has attention for the full range of target groups and all different activities that are part of public relations. Following that idea, Moloney’s (2005, 550) description of “the communicative expression of competing organizations and groups in pluralist states” is also insufficient. The focus on communication is correct, but it leaves no room for other PR activities that come before and after the actual communication. Hence, a better and all-embracing definition is needed. As said before, the different activities of PR are not only communication, but also analysis of the social climate, the public sphere and the situation in and around the organization, as well as drawing up advice and managing, controlling and evaluating the past, current and future situation (Kleinnijenhuis, 2008, p. 61-65). In this respect, the definition of Groenendijk (1997b, p. 17) probably serves best: “Public relations is de beleidsvoorbereidende, strategieplannende en uitvoering regisserende functie ten behoeve van (het management van) organisaties die – op basis van de vastgestelde koers – verantwoordelijk is voor: (a) het bevorderen van het evenwicht tussen organisatie en samenleving, (b) het stelselmatig bewaken, analyseren en bijsturen van de relatie tussen de organisatie en de samenleving, (c) het plannen en uitvoeren van het interne en externe communicatiebeleid.”

3.1.2 Public affairs A part of the entire public relations policy of an organization is often called public affairs. According to Groenendijk (1997a, p. 496) all public relations activities that have to do with political decision making and relationships with the government are by definition public affairs. A similar strict distinction of the two terms is found in Lesly’s Handbook of Public Relations and Communications (Cited in: Duke & Hart, 1996, p. 5): “public affairs is a company’s activities in political action and government relations”. In that same book the field of public relations is defined as “all other corporate affairs and communications in most companies”. There are two problems with this type of definitions for public affairs. First of all, the use of the word ‘company’ instead of ‘organization’ and secondly, the idea that PA mainly involves the exercise of influence with politicians and government officials, while PR entails the development of a positive corporate image. Apparently, it is not that easy to make a pertinent distinction between PR and PA. Additionally, the terms seem to have different meanings within corporate, government and agency settings. Politicians seem to prefer the word ‘public affairs’ above PR, because it carries less baggage than the latter does. Nevertheless, what they seem to be calling PA also includes traditional PR activities. Meanwhile, in communication agencies public affairs is most often thought as the public relations practice that applies to public policy issues (Duke & Hart, 1996, p. 5-6). As it seems, the traditional meanings of both terms have blurred. This complexity has made some companies decide to integrate all communications13. “The integration of public relations and public affairs resources is the key to effective work in the public policy arena. We are really talking about the relevance of public opinion

13

The trend of integrating all types of communications into one single approach can also be found at Whyte Corporate Affairs. More details on this can be found in the company presentation in chapter 2. 21

to public policy,” said Angela Beddoe, vice-president of the Public Affairs Council14 (http://pac.org) in a 2008 speech. Nevertheless, there are some good definitions for public affairs. Pedler (2002, p. 4) gives this short, but salient description for PA: “public affairs may be defined as the management skill that internalizes the effects of the environment in which an organization operates and externalizes actions to influence that environment.” However, the definition of the American Public Affairs Council (http://pac.org/faq) has probably the highest degree of truthfulness. For the PAC, public affairs “represents an organization's efforts to monitor and manage its business environment. It combines government relations, communications, issues management and corporate citizenship strategies to influence public policy, build a strong reputation and find common ground with stakeholders.” This modern approach is also confirmed by Pedler and van Schendelen (1994, p. 6-8). They define modern public affairs as “solving problems and taking chances, which come from the political environment and which are monitored, assessed and managed by the organization.” Important in this definition is the double aspect of problem-solving and chance-taking. While traditional public affairs was merely viewed as interfering in a political field full of turbulences, dangers and other problems, modern public affairs sees lots of opportunities, facilities and other chances in that political field as well. Next to solving problems, public affairs now has an additional goal: looking for favorable regulation. To summarize, the political field is seen as a field of both problems and chances. There is as much to lose as there is to win. A similar definition can be found in a Belgian reference work (Leyer, 1992) that describes public affairs as “de strategische functie waarmee de onderneming inspeelt op de kansen en bedreigingen voor de onderneming die voortkomen uit publieke meningsvorming en politieke besluitvorming”. To achieve their goals PA practitioners have to know the political environment they are working in. Pedler and van Schendelen (1994, p. 7-8) have set up a list of questions that practitioners of public affairs should try to find the answer to. The assessment of this information require much ‘analytical homework’ and subsequently, when the information is gathered, ‘organizational fieldwork’ is needed. QUESTION Who acts Why On whom Where On what When How What result?

HOWEWORK: ANALYSING the internal organization risks and opportunities crucial actors arenas dossiers and issues time and agenda building methods, techniques, routes process evaluation

FIELDWORK: ORGANIZING improving the organization choosing strategy making relations forming coalitions bargaining timing lobbying learning process

Table 1: Basic questions for PA activities, Pedler & van Schendelen (1994)

14

The Public Affairs Council (PAC) is the American association for public affairs. Its goal is to gather knowledge about corporate affairs and share that with its members. 22

This table clearly shows that lobbying is a part of public affairs. It is a method or technique to achieve certain goals. When lobbying, one is really making and keeping personal contact with government officials. A profound analysis of what lobbying really is, will be given in the next section.

3.1.3 Lobbying In the late 1970s, Milbrath (1979, p. 441-443) tried to define the concept of lobbying. He felt that it was necessary to do this, because the word was more and more used in an incorrect way. The term ‘lobbying’ was used inappropriately, for all kinds of influence endeavors. In addition, the term started to carry a bad connotation in many minds. Consequently, Milbrath (1979, p. 441) who thinks of lobbying rather as a continuing communication process than as an organization, set up four boundaries to distinguish lobbying from any other activity. First of all, lobbying activities only occur in governmental decision making, not in other circles, such as private institutions or organizations. Secondly, the desire to influence is always the underlying motivation for lobbying activities. If this motivation is not there, one cannot speak of lobbying. In the third place, an intermediary or representative that serves as the communication link between the public and politics, is needed. Thus, private persons that personally try to influence politicians, are no lobbyists. Fourthly, all lobbying activities involve communication. These four traits laid the foundation of later definitions for lobbying. One of those definitions, based on Milbrath’s is “lobby is de laatste stap in een proces van belangenbehartiging waarbij een organisatie, in hoofdzaak door het verstrekken van informatie, invloed uitoefent op de belangenafweging die plaatsvindt bij politieke besluitvormingsprocessen (Groenendijk et al., 1997, p. 11)”. According to Mastenbroek (1997, p. 40) the management of an organization constantly needs to ask oneself two questions, as part of the lobbying activities. First of all, is there a possible conflict between the current public policy and the policy of our organization? If yes, how can we solve this? Secondly, can a new governmental policy pose problems for our organization and if yes, what can we do about this? To solve these two problems, special techniques and methods will be necessary. Following the framework of van Schendelen (1990, p. 11-13) there is more than just spreading information to decision makers with the desire to influence. Just like Milbrath (1979), he has listed three basic elements that cover lobbying activities. Those are the attempt to influence, an informal setting and formal authorities as target. This theoretical frame for lobbying does not contain too many differences with Milbrath’s, though there is one big dissimilarity. Van Schendelen (1990, p. 11-13) speaks about the informality of the lobbying arena. Even though current developments15 are lifting lobbying more and more out of the obscurity, lobbying is still largely considered as an informal activity. That is why some authors (Mack, 1996; van Schendelen, 1990) want to differentiate between several types of lobbying, with one being less informal than the other. The best-known of those types, is direct lobbying. This type involves direct person-to-person communication, both orally as written. Body-to-body contacts often take place in informal settings. Indirect lobbying on the other hand, more commonly known as grassroots lobbying, is about large-scale communication with 15

More information about current developments in the lobbying arena can be found in section 3.5. 23

the governmental decision makers, makers usually from legislative constituents. While direct lobbying targets personal contacts in a sphere of informality, indirect lobbying is less visible, but more accepted. In this thesis, I will speak about both types of lobbying, as most most organizations tend to play on both fields. According to van Schendelen (1990, p. 17), there are some essential assets to perform favorable lobbying activities. Those conditions are summarized in the figure below.

Good internal organization •Clearly defined, balanced targets •Alertness en flexibility

Actual and factual knowledge of the political scene and its activities

Unbiased attitude towards the political scene

Skills (networking, coalitions, timing, ...)

Possession of an object of exchange

Availability of means •Networks, knowledge and information, external support

Figure 4: Essential assets for lobbying, van Schendelen (1990)

To summarize this section, it is possible to say that lobbying is about influencing decision makers whose decisions can have a direct or indirect impact on the organization, now or in the future. f The creation of communication ation channels and offering information through these channels is the typical work of a lobbyist (Mastenbroek, 1997, p. 41). 41) What those lobbying activities exactly are, will be presented in one of the following sections.

3.2 History of lobbying The idea of lobbying is dateless. In the Roman Empire, famous emperors like Caesar were known for their special negotiation techniques. Many years later, medieval monks were waiting in the lobia, the covered passageway around the monastery garden, garden, to try and influence their prior to acquire a higher position within the convent order. Lobia has now become the English word ‘lobby’ and has the meaning of waiting room, hallway, antichambre.. Of all corridors and waiting rooms in England, the most important tant one is definitely the lobby of the Westminster parliamentary building. Since the fifteenth century, representatives of religious groups, mercantile houses, guilds and cities have been waiting in line to approach members of parliament about a specific matter. In those days, that technique was not called lobbying yet, but they spoke of factions (Schneiders,, 2002, p. 23-25). 23 In our own Belgian history it is probably no different. Negotiation and advocacy are part of human nature and have existed as long ass humankind. Born as a word in England, lobby will get the more specific meaning of influencing members of parliament during the first years of the nineteenth century. The political content of lobbying that was 24

created in England, will get a more professional outcome in the United States of America. The first use of the term ‘lobbying’ in American governmental experience originates in 1830. Representatives of interest groups were lingering in the lobbies of the assembly halls of the American Congress, in hopes of getting the chance to speak to legislators to influence their decisions. Later on, the term was broadened to anyone who tried to influence the decision of government officials. In the US, the act of lobbyist was widely accepted. The number of professional lobbyists, working in Washington, boosted in the late nineteenth century and nowadays, lobbying is incorporated in the American political system of decision making. The right for every citizen to urge his cases is even set in the second amendment of the American Constitution of 1787 (Schneiders, 2002, p. 27-31; Milbrath, 1979, p. 441-442). The USA is the pre-eminent country for lobbying activities. However, there were some recent efforts to regulate the American lobbying scene to a greater extent (Eggen, 2009, April 24, p. 44). In Brussels, lobbying only made its entrance on the political scene in the late 1970s. Before that time, most of the lobbying activities in Brussels were not called as such, or were not as professional as they are nowadays. Since the development of the European institutions in Brussels, the Brussels lobbying scene started to grow. The first election of the European Parliament in 1979 gave a real boost to lobbying (van Schendelen, 2002, p. 4-10). After that election, companies increasingly felt the need for an influence on decision making. For that, they relied on experts to find out for them what was going on in Brussels, the heart of European decision making. Today, the European members of parliament work closely together with all sorts of lobbying groups. The professionalism that has been reality for a long time already in the United States, is taking form in the EU lobbying scene as well (Tellegen, 1990, p. 217-242). When one looks at the current practice, it is clear that professional and regulated lobbying takes place in two political environments: the United States and the European Union. Based on scientific reports and books on lobbying, the lobbying activities in separate nation states are still up to further development. In the Belgian parliaments, lobbying activities have not yet managed to secure a good position as they have on European level.

3.3 Lobbying activities The objectives of a lobbyist are now clear, but how does one start doing those lobbying activities? In this section different lobbying techniques and methods, that are commonly applied, will be discussed. To get in touch with government officials, lobbyists work according to a certain procedure. It goes without saying that this procedure is not always strictly followed. Every situation is difficult and some of the below presented steps are often skipped or postponed to a later moment. In a first phase, lobbyists analyze the information they have at their disposal. They evaluate if the public policy can pose any problems or issues for the policy of the company or organization that they work for. If there are any, they think about possible actions to undertake. The lobbyists check if the analysis that they have made has to lead to change in their own policy or not. Secondly, they also 25

check if it is really necessary to influence political organs. Influencing is only assumed necessary when, for example, change of internal policy is impossible impossible or proposed public policy measures are a serious threat to the organization. When the decision to influence public policy is made, the formulation of the organization’s standpoint is the next next step. It is important to provide pro a solid underpinning for these ese arguments. Lobbyists look for facts and figures that can illustrate their standpoint. It is also advisable able to look for policy alternatives to present to the politicians. Then, an analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s standpoint in comparison with the public policy is made. When all those preparatory jobs are done, the lobbyists can start to plan the action. Before really going into the political field, one should know who he will address – parliaments, ministries or other governmental al organs – and when he will do that. Finally, it is import to each time evaluate and adjust the lobbying method when needed (Groenendijk, 1997a, 1997 , p. 500-501). 500 Collecting and analyzing information

Check analysis in relation to policy (changed/unchanged)

Formulation of standpoint (facts, arguments, alternatives)

Comparison of standpoint (sector, politics, social organizations)

Action (alone or with others)

Contact with ministry/ies

Evaluation and adjustment (if necessary repeat steps 2 to 4)

Contact with parliament

Evaluation and ajustment

Figure 5: Step-by-step plan lobbying, Groenendijk (1997)

Especially for the last steps in the above presented step-by-step step step plan for lobbying, a good planning is needed. First of all, it has to be questioned if an organization will act alone or with the

26

cooperation of others. Secondly, the exact technique for approaching ministers or members of parliament has to be specified. Based on Farnel (1994, p. 90-91) and two publications of van Schendelen (1990, p. 15; 1994, p. 1315) a list of methods for lobbying can be made. As presented before, there is a distinction between direct and indirect lobbying. While direct lobbying entails more personal contacts, indirect methods are less manifest. The names of methods or techniques that are in italics, are usually those methods or techniques that are most successful and most commonly used. DIRECT METHODS

INDIRECT METHODS

TECHNIQUES

Personal visit Personal letter Personal phone call Informal contact Hearing Public action group Mass demonstration Friends inside the system Assistants of decision makers Mid-level civil servants Science: studies, reports, scholars Brokers and consultants Affiliated interest groups Political parties Election campaigning Mass media, adverts, publicity Court procedure Issue-manipulation Coalition building Agenda-formation Clientelism, patronage Procedural action Reasoned argumentation Rewards and compliance Coercion, punishments Mass mobilization Public relations campaign Financial lobbying (only US)

Table 2: Methods and techniques of lobbying

The different methods that are listed under indirect lobbying, show clearly that indirect lobbying works in accordance with the principle of ‘like knows like’. Personal networks play a much bigger role in this type of lobbying, than for direct lobbying. Networks can have an interesting outcome for direct lobbying, but are not that much necessary. According to different authors (Farnel, 1994; Kok & Van der Maas, 2002; Pedler & van Schendelen, 1994) personal relations and networks still play a big part in current lobbying activities. Though they see a trend of regulation and legalization, most deals are to a large extent still settled in ‘dark backrooms’. When it comes to financial lobbying (the last technique in the table above), it needs to be stressed that this is only possible in the United States. Financial lobbying is a commonly used technique to conciliate politicians to an organization’s arguments. In this respect, most commonly, organizations 27

contribute to political campaigns, especially in pre-electoral times (Zegers, 1990, p. 248). Examples of fraudulent contributions are gifts, excessive payment or guaranteed employment. In Belgium and Europe, financing political parties is forbidden and would therefore be considered as corruption (Farnel, 1994, p. 90-91). Farnel (1994, p. 91) has also listed a couple of doubtful practices. Firstly, there is the distortion of facts and the circulation of lies. It is obvious that techniques like intimidation, personal attacks, discrediting of opponents and dissimulation of facts do not provide solid ground for lobbying activities. A second set of doubtful activities are retarding methods and obstruction techniques. Often, the inertia of the state administration and the juridical system is used to obstruct legislative attempts. Lobbying organizations for example product an enormous amount of documents to slow down the analysis or to retard a legal trial. A third and final dubious technique is cooptation. Examples for cooptation are employing experts who are susceptible for serving the cause of the opposition, by offering very high remunerations or, offering jobs or other advantages to the opponents’ advocates. It is these kind of shady techniques that have given rise to the negative image of lobbying activities. Therefore, those techniques should be avoided in the future. Several authors (Groenendijk, 1997; Kok & Van der Maas, 2002; Ornstein & Elder, 1978) have touched upon common problems within the field of lobbying and public affairs. They have listed a series of complaints that are often heard from politicians about lobbying methods and techniques. Recurrent problems are time issues, problems with power and qualifications and the lack of presenting issues as important to everyone. Regarding the time aspect, there is a general feeling among politicians that most of the lobbying work or communication from organizations comes too late. If organizations would be better informed about what is going on in the political arena, they would be quicker to react and their lobby works would definitely have more effect. A second often heard problem is the lack of knowledge about political power. Lots of politicians complain about being approached by the wrong organizations or about the wrong issues. Thirdly, the information that organizations spread is often too biased. Politicians do not tend to read or listen to this ‘colored’ information. Kok and Van der Maas (2002, p. 15) summarize these problems well in the following advice for lobbyists: “wees vroegtijdig, benader de lagere ambtenaren, wees selectief en geef het eigen belang een algemenere upgrade.”

3.4 Lobbying in Belgium Now that the most important basic aspects of lobbying are defined, it is possible to touch upon the lobbying activities in Belgium. To fully understand those, a short presentation of the Belgian process of political decision making will be given. Naturally, considering the objectives of this thesis, it is not at all my intention to give a complete overview of Belgian politics. Only a few basics that are necessary to understand Belgian lobbying will be presented. A short overview of all possible organizations or parties that could carry out lobbying activities in Belgium will be given in the second section. To finish, the Belgian lobbying scene will be compared to the European Union, American and other foreign lobbying systems.

28

3.4.1 Belgian political decision making There are many different ways in which politics intervene in profit and non-profit private organizations. Tolliday (1991) says there are four: (1) by regulations, ranging from legally binding laws to administrative statements and decisions, (2) financially, ranging from raising taxes, premiums and tariffs to spending on facilities and subsidies, (3) by economic behavior, ranging from consuming private goods and services to producing private goods and services (anti-privatization or causing competition) and (4) institutionally, by distributing power positions, taking care of special interests and selecting social values for policy making. Those interventions can both have a general character (with an impact on the entire economy or all organizations), as be very specific. Belgian examples of those specific regulations are the regulation of night flights above Zaventem16 or the deregulation of the Belgian energy market17. Tolliday’s framework demonstrates that an organization better keeps itself informed about current developments in the political arena. A big deal of what is decided there has an impact on the organizational field. Extra difficult about Belgian politics is the existence of many different levels: national or federal, regional, provincial and local. The power to make decisions is therefore not exclusively preserved for the federal government and the federal parliament. The leadership of the country is in hands of various partners, who independently exercise their authority within their domains (http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/federale_staat/). The illustration below (Van Borm & Corthouts, 2004) shows the complexity of the Belgian structure. To summarize, Belgium has 3 communities, 3 regions, 10 provinces and 589 municipal councils. The redistribution of power occurred along two lines. The first line relates to language and in a broader sense, to everything related to culture. The result was the three communities: the Flemish, French and the German-speaking Community. The second line of state reform was historically inspired by economic interests. The regions have always aspired more economic autonomy and that is how the division was made. The establishment of three separate regions was the result: the Flemish, the Brussels Capital and the Walloon Region (Vande Lanotte et al., 2008). Some people often compare these regions with the German ‘Länder’ or the American states (http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/federale_staat/).

16

In March 2008 the worldwide courier DHL moved its European distribution center from Zaventem to Leipzig, as a result of the continuous complaints about sound pollution in the living areas surrounding the Brussels national airport. The government decided to regulate the night flights above Zaventem when it could not agree with DHL about its expansion plans. 17 Following a European Guideline, the Flemish regional government decided in July 2003 to deregulate the Flemish energy market. The deregulation of the Brussels and Walloon energy market was voted in July 2007. 29

Figure 6: Belgium, a federal state, composed of communities and regions

Nevertheless, the Federal State retains important powers, for example in the areas of domestic and foreign affairs, national defense, justice, finance, social security and national health. However, the communities and the regions also have the power to work on some of these fields. Of great importance for the organizations and especially companies is the regional level. Not only the Federal State can decide on economics, the Flemish, Walloon and Brussels Capital Region have significant power when it comes to economic matters (Vande Lanotte et al., 2008). The regions have power in the fields that are, in a broad sense, related to their region. Those matters are: economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, transport, energy, housing, transport within the region (the national railway company is regulated at federal level), environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, foreign trade, credit and finally, supervision of the communes, provinces and intercommunal utility companies (http://www.belgium.be/en/about _belgium/government/federale_staat/). This list of powers makes clear that much of the decisions that are made on regional level are as much important as those made within the federal government. Considering the remark of Kok and Van der Maas (2002, p. 15) that companies and organizations often carry out lobbying activities on the highest level, while better results could be achieved when working from below, the Belgian aspect of regionalism is interesting. Not only are regional members of parliament and ministers highly informed about and interested in economic matters, they are maybe also more reachable than their federal counterparts.

30

An interesting view on regionalism was recently provided by a Swiss study (Pop, 2009, May 18; wdp, 2009, May 18). The Swiss research bureau BAK compared economic results of 33 countries with their degree of centralization or regionalization. In that group of 33 countries Belgium takes a top 3place of the countries with the most decentralized powers. Additionally, the researchers have found that the transfer of powers to regional governments has a positive influence on the economic expansion of a country and its GDP18 per capita. The research paper also stated that regional politicians tend to be more involved in practical solutions for their constituencies, to whom they tend to have a closer connection than national decision makers. It gives the example of a high-speed train between Paris and Strasbourg which was inaugurated after years of intensive lobbying by the regional authorities in Alsace. All of the above suggests that the regional level should not at all be neglected by Belgian lobbyists. The growing awareness of regional power has led to a rapprochement between regional politics and Belgian companies. Several initiatives are set up for both worlds to get in touch with each other. An interesting example of these initiatives, is the organization of internships. Both CEOs and managers as members of parliament can do an internship in the other field. CEOs and managers are invited to come and see the world of decision making in the regional parliament and members of parliament can experience the reality of business life in a company of their choice (http://www.voka.be/vev/nieuws/Pages/Klooftussenondernemersenpolitiekmoetgedichtworden.asp x). This shows that the intention to work together and subsequently, the openness towards public affairs and lobbying, is growing in the Belgian federal and regional governments.

3.4.2 Belgian lobbyists Similar to his typology of methods and techniques for lobbying, van Schendelen (1994, p. 15) also distinguishes different routes to follow when carrying out lobbying activities. The most successful are via a transnational sectoral platform, a cross-sectoral or sectoral platform, international networks, inter-regional networks and via public-private cooperation. To a lesser degree the routes of national coordination procedures and going directly alone are also followed. In regard of the subject of this section, Belgian lobbyists, the routes of sectoral and cross-sectoral platforms are of great relevance. Belgian organizations and companies are represented in many different sector federations and employers’ organizations. Because those federations take a leading role on the contemporary Belgian lobbying scene, a short presentation is appropriate here. Within the frame of this thesis, a special interest goes to the lobbying activities of companies. It is clear that there are also NGOs and other non-profit organizations in the field, but here, the focus will be on company lobbyists. If we roughly differentiate in the total group of Belgian company lobbyists, we find companies in individual action, communications or public affairs agencies representing companies or federations and professional lobbyists doing the same job, sector federations and employers’ organizations. On top of those federations, there is the cross-sectoral federation VBO-

18

The gross domestic product (GDP) is a basic economic benchmark that measures the market value of all final goods and services that were made within the borders of a nation in one year. 31

FEB19, representing all Belgian federations federation and consequently, all Belgian companies and organizations (http://www.vbo-feb.be).

cross-sectoral sectoral federation VBO-FEB VBO companies / organizations acting alone

professional lobbyists and agencies

sector federations (Febiac, Fedis, Agoria, ...)

employers' organizations (VOKA, BECI, UWE)

working for individual companies / organizations or federations

Figure 7: Belgian lobbyists

Considering the huge number of sector federations in Belgium, a complete presentation of those would lead me too far. Nonetheless, the three employers’ organizations in the three regions of Belgium are worth mentioning.. Those organizations are often the ones responsible for contacts between business life and politics. The above presented example of internships20 is one of their many endeavors. The Flemish employers’ organization VOKA (http://www.voka.be) represents about 17.500 enterprises from 24 different sectors in Flanders. Its Brussels counterpart, BECI, the Brussels Enterprises Commerce and Industry (http://www.beci.be) ( ) is much smaller. Thirdly, there is UWE (http://www.uwe.be) or in French ‘l’Union Wallonne des Entreprises’. Entreprises’. All of those three organizations work towards a common goal: an economic and political climate that is favorable for all Belgian entrepreneurs.

3.4.3 Belgian and foreign lobbying activities “In het begin weet eet je niet hoe je met lobbyisten moest omgaan. Hou je ze af, dan heb je geen informatie. Laat je ze allemaal komen, dan verzuip je”, je”, says Belgian member of the European Parliament (MEP) Frieda Brepoels (Van Haver, 2009, May 13, p. 12). The MEP talks about her five 21 years of experience in the European opean Parliament P . As she was working as a politician on Belgian and Flemish level before, she was not that familiar with the lobbying system of the European Union. The openness around lobbying and common use of lobbying techniques was totally new for her. Her Belgian colleague in the European Parliament, Bart Staes (Van Haver, 2009, May 12, p. 12) adds that he now actually likes working with lobbyists. At first, it was also brand new for him, coming from the Belgian system, but now he thinks the lobbyists are important providers of information. “Je maakt 19

Verbond van Belgische Ondernemingen (VBO) or Fédération des Entreprises Entreprise Belges (FEB) is an umbrella organization for all Belgian enterprises. nterprises. It is a non-profit non profit organization that represents all industries in the three Belgian regions. 20 See section 3.4.1 21 The previous elections for the European Parliament were in 2004. From 4 to 7 June 2009, new MEPs will be chosen. 32

geen wetgeving vanuit de ivoren toren”, he says. Before negotiating in the parliament about new legislation, negotiation with lobbyists and pressure groups comes first. These experiences of two Belgian MEPs give a clear indication of the big difference between Belgian and European lobbying regimes. Belgium is clearly behind when it comes to the organization of lobbying. European politicians accept the presence of lobbyists and they even use them as sources of information. In Belgium, this trend still needs to be followed. According to van Schendelen (2002, p. 47-53) the European lobbying scene and how it is organized is mainly based on the much earlier developed American lobby system. The changing methods of government in many countries of Western Europe, that are part of the EU, have subsequently become a major factor of growing awareness of public affairs and lobbying. Many national governments are now accepting and professionalizing the idea of lobbying, following the example of the European Union. Liebert (1995, p. 429-433) made an overview of the extension of parliamentary lobby networks in Western Europe. When analyzing her data, she saw that most parliaments have become increasingly prominent as targets of lobbying activities during the 1980s. Nonetheless, when one compares the different countries with each other, big differences are still found. Belgium is situated in the middle group of lobbyist networks extension. Together with countries such as Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, it gets attention of an important, but not extreme number of lobbyists. Low France Ireland Portugal Spain

Middle Belgium Denmark Greece Luxembourg Norway Sweden United Kingdom

High Austria Finland Germany Iceland Italy The Netherlands Switzerland European Union

Table 3: Extent of parliamentary lobby networks, Liebert (1995)

As a comment to this table, De Winter (Cited in: Liebert, 1995, p. 431) says that one of the reasons for the lower representation of lobbyists in the Belgian parliaments can be the lack of institutional staffing for Belgian members of parliament. Due to this poor staffing, it is often the Belgian MPs themselves, who are forced to seek the help of external groups or lobbyists. However, given this resource dependency, lobbyists and federations should take advantage of this situation to approach the MPs themselves. Belgian politicians are clearly waiting for information. The high representation of parliamentary lobby networks that is noticeable for the European Union, is also confirmed in the number of lobby groups that are active in the Brussels European quarter. Nobody knows precisely the number of lobby groups, but the European Parliament has on its website (http://www.europarl.europa.eu) a long list of a few thousand lobbyists accredited to it. Those have many different backgrounds: European trade federations (35%), commercial consultants (15%), companies (13%), European NGOs in fields of environment, health care and human rights (13%), national business and labor associations (10%), regional representations (8%), international organizations (5%) and think tanks (1%) (van Schendelen, 2002, p. 50). This type of list is not in any

33

way publicly available for the Belgian lobbying scene. This difference brings us to regulation, another important aspect of lobbying. Being aware of the lobby density, European and American legislators decided to regulate the lobbying scene. Corruption methods that were common practice in the lobbying scene during the nineteenth century gave rise to the regulation debate in the United States. As women also entered the lobbying scene, new and less approving techniques of for example, seduction to influence men working at the parliament were introduced. “In any single ‘first-class’ hotel in Washington, at any time during midsession, at least half of a dozen of these lobyesses are thus at work at once, each one roping in her dozen or ten of wild-cat Congressman. The lever of lust is used to pry up more legislators to the sticking point than money itself avails to seduce (…). This lobbying is transacted under the guise of social visits – open sesame to a Congressman any and everywhere in Washington” (Ornstein & Elder, 1978, p. 97). Hence, the need for regulation was urgent. These early initiatives for lobbying legislation are nothing compared to the regulation system that is set up today. Since 1995, the American federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/Lobbying/Lobby_Disclosure_Act/TOC.htm) is operative. The basic elements of the US legislation are mandatory registration of lobbyists, mandatory disclosure of clients, other financial sources and lobbying expenditure, mandatory disclosure of legislative and regulatory issues lobbied and all the information has to be made available to the public on the Internet. Frequently, updates and amendments are made, but the basics still stay the same. Most US lobbyist accept this legislation, because it objectifies lobbying activities to a considerable extent. The European regulation and code of conduct (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do? type=RULES-EP&reference=20090309&secondRef=ANN-09&format=XML&language=EN) are in fact a copy of the US regulation. Apart from some small differences22, European lobbyists are for example also obliged to register for action (Tellegen, 1990, p. 235-236). When it comes to Belgium, the government has not voted yet on a law that obliges registration. Another marking difference between Belgian and foreign lobbying activities is the crosspartyness in which parliamentary interactions take place. The many different parties that are active in Belgium, make it apparently more difficult for Belgian lobbyists to approach deputies. As it seems, they choose their contacts in accordance with their political color. In the European Union, that partyness is much less explicit (Liebert, 1995, p. 419-424).

22

The American legislation for example clearly forbids taking politicians out for lunch or dinner, or the offering of a ‘sit-down’ meal, while European legislation does not cover anything about eating habits. European lobbyists are also not as strictly prohibited to list the issues they lobbied. European legislation thirdly lacks punitive measurements, while US lobbyists risk high fees or even jail time when acting against the Lobbying Disclosure Act (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do? type=RULES-EP&reference=20090309&s econdRef=ANN-09&format=XML&language=EN; http://www.senate.gov/legislative/Lobbying/Lobby_Disclosur e_Act/TOC.htm). 34

High partyness Austria Belgium Denmark France Iceland Norway Sweden

Mixed Finland Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg The Netherlands Portugal Switzerland United Kingdom

Cross-partyness European Union Spain

Table 4: The cross-partyness of parliamentary interactions, Liebert (1995)

The high partyness of lobbying activities makes it even more difficult for Belgium to develop its lobbying culture. It is still far away from the US or EU system. There does not have to be an exact copy of those systems in the Belgian political sphere, but an objectification and professionalization of lobbying is truly needed.

3.5 Recent developments Since the 1990s an increasing interest for lobbying activities and lobbyists arose. Ever since its creation public affairs has been one of the fastest growing and most closely scrutinized communication professions. Lobbying, as a component of public affairs, is undoubtedly the most scrutinized. Nowadays however, proponents of lobbing no longer consider public affairs as a ‘trinket’ that is not really necessary (Duke & Hart, p. 3-5). “It has come of age as a vital tool in the formation of public policy at all levels of government. Once considered essential only in election campaigns or as a helpful communications adjunct to lobbying, public affairs expertise is now deemed essential to the success of any important legislative or regulatory battle (…)” (Duke & Hart, 1996, p. 3). Through its integration in the broader and more modern communication field of public affairs, lobbying has become a more professional exercise. It is practiced by many different parties, such as commercial agencies, but also, to a rising extent, NGOs. The professionalization of lobbying and public affairs has made politicians think differently about lobbyists. They now see them as providers of necessary information and not anymore as corrupt fiddlers (Pedler, 2002, p. 310-324). Not only the lobbyists themselves, but also the politicians seem to have learned through experience. Politicians now know better how to handle lobbyists and the information they provide. They know better how to distinct the good information from the worse. Much of this professionalization on the politicians’ side has to do with regulation. The obligation for lobbyists to apply for activities in the parliament, has made the whole lobbying activity more reliable and trustworthy (Kok & Van der Maas, p. 16-19). A striking manifestation of this professionalism is the finding of Pedler (2002, p. 4) that an increasing amount of women are playing effective roles in lobbying and public affairs. The profession has widened and is now open to everyone.

35

3.6 Research23 The theoretical basis that was provided in the sections above asks for a field-test. It seems particularly interesting to check out how Belgian companies are communicating with members of parliament24. Are they really trying to influence the Belgian federal and regional decision making in order to make it more advantageous for themselves? Are they, in other words, carrying out lobbying activities? When taking into account the complexity of the Belgian federal system with regions and communities and the often heard criticism that lobbyists should target the right governments with their activities, the communication with regional MPs, being responsible for, for instance, economy and employment, is of particular relevance. Therefore, I would like to present a research project that I worked on during my internship at Whyte Corporate Affairs. In the context of the regional elections of 7 June, Whyte Corporate Affairs organized a questionnaire among 60 outgoing members of parliament. The communication on the part of individual businesses and what they expected as a result was gauged. The survey gives a clearer insight into the attitude of regional members of parliament on the issue of lobbying by businesses, which protect their interests through communication. Of course, this limited survey does not tell us everything about this subject. But the results can give us some inspiration and direction. Furthermore, they confirm lots of the above described theories and problems of lobbying.

3.6.1 Method During the first half of May 2009, 60 outgoing25 members of parliament were questioned about communication between them and the business sector. The survey was carried out among a representative sample of members of the Flemish Parliament, the Parliament of the Brussels Capital Region, the Walloon Parliament and the Parliament of the French-speaking Community. To recruit interviewees, a complete list of all MPs of the three parliaments was made. From that list, a representative sample of 60 MPs could be reached. In the beginning, we started by contacting only those MPs that were more likely to be involved with companies. Those were the members of parliament that were working in a Commission of, for example economy, environmental issues or general policy. To make it more representative and to be sure of achieving an acceptable amount of 23

Section 3.6 is entirely based on the research about ‘communication between companies and regional MPs in Belgium’, issued by Whyte Corporate Affairs. Because this was my main project while doing my internship at Whyte Corporate Affairs and a large amount of the texts that were written in the research paper are from my hand, lots of similarities with that research paper will be found in this section. The research paper can be downloaded in a Dutch, French and English version from the website of Whyte Corporate Affairs, http://www.whyte.be. Additionally, the Dutch version of the research paper is added in the appendixes. See appendix 2. 24 From now onward the word ‘member of parliament’ will often be shortened to MP. 25 The MPs were outgoing at the moment that the interviews were taken. On 7 June 2009 there are regional elections, which will appoint new regional MPs. The last official working day of this regional parliament was on April 30, 2009. 36

interviewees, the list was broadened to every single regional MP in Belgium. In other words, we switched from criterion sampling, which involves picking all cases that meet some criterion, to opportunistic sampling. Considering the pre-electoral period and thus, the difficulties to reach politicians, sampling according to leads and opportunities during the research, seemed appropriate (Bradhshaw & Stratford, 2005, p. 72). The following tables show the division of interviewees within the different parliaments or per language group, compared to the total amount of regional members of parliament.

Language group

DUTCH FRENCH26

TOTAL SURVEY 141 32 171 28 312

60

% 23% 16% 19%

Table 5: Interviewees PA survey per language group

Parliament

FL BRU BRU-french BRU-dutch WA+FR27

TOTAL SURVEY 124 29 89 10 72 7 17 3 99 21 312

60

% 23% 11% 10% 18% 21% 19%

Table 6: Interviewees PA survey per parliament

Following Bradshaw and Stratford (2005, p. 72-73), the number of participants of qualitative research often depends on the situation. There are no exact rules for sample size. However, taking into account all aspects (the pre-electoral period, the total amount of MPs, ...), the number of 60 interviewees is acceptable. When one compares it to the total amount of MPs in each language group and each parliament, it is quite representative, with a percentage of more than 15 each time, except for the Brussels Region. Since the objective of this survey was not to compare opinions of MPs of different parliaments, the underrepresentation of Brussels MPs was not a big problem. Five main questions28, with a few additional minor ones, gauged various aspects of communication between regional members of parliament and businesses. Is there enough direct contact between regional members of parliament and businesses? Does communication take place in good time and is it clear enough? In addition, the regional members of parliament were questioned about how they view their role and the role of businesses in creating a balanced relationship between politics and the corporate world.

26

The number of 125 members in the French language group is composed of all unique members in the parliaments of the Brussels Region, the Walloon Region and the parliament of the French community. 27 The number of 99 members in the Walloon and French speaking parliament is composed of unique names only. MPs that are working in both parliaments were only counted once. 28 The list of questions can be found in appendix 3. 37

Those questions were posed to the interviewees via the telephone. If necessary, the MPs could read the questions on beforehand, so that they could give a profound answer when calling them back for the telephonic interview. Because of our decision to use qualitative, verbal interviews, the members of parliament who were questioned had ample opportunity to explain their opinions during the interviews. This method provided significantly greater depth to the interviews, offering an enlightening insight into perception, attitude and expectations regarding businesses and how they communicate. The results presented here are a synthesis of the comments and suggestions that were made most often regarding how the business sector communicated with regional members of parliament. In addition, it was possible to quantify the results to some extent. Absolute anonymity was guaranteed to the respondents for the processing of the interviews. The quotations below are anonymous for this reason, but they are representative of the opinions of a broad group of members of parliament.

3.6.2 Findings In this section, the most important findings of the survey will be presented. Each time, an illustration will be given, by quoting some interviewees. For reasons of confidentiality, the names of those people that are quoted will not be given.

Dutch-speaking French-speaking

TOTAL 32 28

yes 12 11

% yes 37,5% 39,3%

no 20 17

% neen 62,5% 60,7%

60

23

38,3%

37

61,7%

Table 7: Survey question - Do you think that businesses communicate with you and provide information to you sufficiently?

Dutch-speaking French-speaking

TOTAL 32 28

yes (on time) 11 6

60

17

% yes 34,4% 21,4%

no (too late) 21 22

% no 65,6% 78,6%

28,3%

43

71,7%

Table 8: Survey question - When businesses contact you and give you information, do you think that they do this in a timely manner?

A first conclusion that could be made out of the results is insufficient communication from companies with members of parliament. Most MPs also think that the communication often comes too late. 6 out of 10 (6.17/10) regional members of parliament were of the opinion that they did not receive adequate contact or information from the businesses sector. The existing contacts between them and the business sector were often within the framework of activities by employers' organizations or at the initiative of the Member of Parliament. Many members of parliament maintained good contacts from when they were mayors, from their own (former) activities in the business world or from other peripheral activities.

38

“These are mainly old contacts. The new contacts generally come about in the context of VOKA (Flemish Employers Association) activities" (Flemish Member of Parliament)

In order to find out what is really happening, members of parliament often take the opportunity to visit businesses. These opportunities, however, are offered to them mainly by employers’ federations and sector federations. The businesses almost never take the initiative themselves. “It is exceptional to be invited by the businesses themselves. This only happens maybe once a year. It would be better if they invited us more often.” (Brussels Member of Parliament)

7 of 10 (7.17/10) were of the opinion that they were usually contacted too late. The regional MP is often approached at the last minute, when it is really already too late. “Businesses are more reactive than proactive.” (French-speaking Member of Parliament) “They only wake up after a vote. It is important for them to make their voices heard, starting from their first plans. When the vote is already on the agenda, or worse, if it has already taken place, it is too late.” (Flemish Member of Parliament)

The members of parliament who were interviewed advised businesses to work more proactively and not to communicate just when there are problems. A second important conclusion is the fact that a lot of MPs think that companies do not know exactly what a member of parliament can do for businesses. Some even think that CEOs or managers do not know the exact difference between regional and federal politics. In the interviews, the MPs regularly said that the wrong information is often spread to the wrong politician. “Businesses urgently need to have the courage to take a step towards politics. They should prevent our having to go looking for them.” (Flemish Member of Parliament) “Businesses have not developed a reflex response of contacting politicians. They see politics as an administrative world and the business sector as a world where freedom reigns.” (French speaking Member of Parliament)

The explanation most cited for insufficient or belated communication is the fact that businesses do not know the path to regional political decision making. Many businesses do not have the courage to take a step towards regional politics. “I have a sense that many businesses simply do not know where they should direct their communication. It is federal or regional? This may be difficult to determine. That is why communications sometimes reach us too late. Then we have to contact our colleagues at the federal level in order to obtain information.” (Flemish Member of Parliament).

Inadequate knowledge of Belgian politics is not the only reason given for insufficient communication. The individuals who were interviewed also believed that businesses underestimate the impact of regional decision making on the business sector.

39

Dutch-speaking French-speaking

TOTAL 32 28

yes 29 22

% yes 90,6% 78,6%

no 3 6

% no 9,4% 21,4%

60

51

85,0%

9

15,0%

Table 9: Survey question - Do you think that businesses are obliged to keep you directly informed about their activities, issues and other matters?

The third conclusion is the following: regional MPs ask for open and proactive communication from the business sector. More than 8 of 10 (8.50/10) regional members of parliament advised businesses to communicate openly and proactively with them. The members of parliament who were interviewed, felt that it was important to be aware of the businesses’ needs. As representatives of the public, they also indirectly represent the businesses, as well as the common interest, because they create employment opportunities and prosperity in the region. It is also important that communications should not just be about problems, but also about how their business operates, who is employed there, and what their main products are. An important aside here is that, in contrast to the other results, there is an interesting difference between what Dutch-speaking and French-speaking members of parliament said. While the Dutchspeaking ones did not immediately mention it, the French-speaking public representatives perceived the political persuasion of a member of parliament as being a possible barrier to good communication. They believed that the political views of the members of parliament might create preconceived notions among the business world. The ideological camps are clearly still playing a bigger role on the French-speaking side than in Flemish-speaking Belgium. “I represent businesses in the capacity of the values of my party.” (French-speaking Member of Parliament) “There is often a problem of political persuasion. Many businesses or federations have preconceived notions.” (French-speaking Member of Parliament)

The regional members of parliament are clearly the ones who are asking for closer dialogue with businesses, because this would be good for decision making. Constant interaction between both parties should promote the discussion and the final implementation and evaluation of decrees. “They should give us information prompts. Then we will know what the problems are within the sector and we won't be working completely in the dark on decrees.” (Flemish Member of Parliament) “Businesses should be as open as they can be. We can only learn from them..” (Flemish Member of Parliament) “Some feedback from the business sector is always interesting. We need to know the effects of certain measures or decrees that have been approved. If businesses do not tell us about this, it is difficult for us to know.” (Flemish Member of Parliament)

The members of parliament who were questioned emphasized that they could evaluate for themselves whether they could do anything with that information and how to treat it.

40

“They call this lobbying, like it’s a dirty word. But I think it’s OK. Lobbying is allowed. It’s then up to us to respond in a suitable way and to process that information with a critical eye.” (Flemish Member of Parliament)

A final and important finding of the survey is the high satisfaction regarding the impact of employers’ organizations and sector federations. On virtually all points, the sector federations and employers’ federations, such as VOKA, UWE, BECI and VBO, score noticeably higher than the individual businesses. They communicate adequately and are generally straightforward and to the point. Unlike the businesses, the sector federations make their approach with clear and targeted communication before it is too late. “I want to emphasize that most of the members of parliament are very satisfied with communication with the federations. They generally approach us in a positive and constructive manner. The individual businesses don’t do this as well.” (Brussels Member of Parliament)

The regional members of parliament are hard to target with initiatives by the umbrella organizations. The company visits and placements that were organized by employers’ organizations were therefore often mentioned as interesting initiatives for getting to know the business world better. The interviewees thought it would be helpful to receive additional information occasionally from the individual businesses. Such information could then serve as a practical example or illustration of trends that were being proposed by the sector federations or employers’ organizations. “It can be as useful to hear occasionally from an individual company about how it’s getting on as it is to work with umbrella organizations or employers’ organizations.” (Flemish Member of Parliament)

A summarizing overview of the above presented findings is appropriate here. The interviews with 60 regional members of parliament resulted in five findings with respect to communication between businesses and regional members of parliament. (1) Businesses communicate insufficiently and too late with regional members of parliament (2) Businesses are insufficiently aware of what members of parliament can do for them (3) Regional members of parliament are the ones who are asking for proactive communication from the business community (4) Better communication is good for political decision making (5) High satisfaction regarding the impact of employer' organizations and sector federations The results have shown a remarkable paradox concerning lobbying. On the one hand, members of parliament are the ones who are asking for more proactive, more personal and more direct communication from businesses, and they are open to lobbying. This is good for both parties as well as for political decision making. On the other hand, these results show that businesses are not making enough effort here. They apparently do not see members of parliament as a significant channel for protecting their interests. Lobbying is clearly still something of a taboo area, and is not based enough on proactive and direct communication between businesses and political decision makers. The ball is in the court of the business sector in terms of taking more and better communication initiatives and in promoting 41

their own interests more efficiently. The regional members of parliament are open to making this a part of the political decision making process.

3.7 Conclusion The political world and the business world undeniably have their own agendas and structures. Crossover between these two worlds is limited. Nonetheless, good examples of cross-pollination between companies and the government are found in Washington and in the Brussels-based European quarter. At Belgian federal and regional level, these kind of initiatives are still very rare and not at all as broadly accepted as in the US or the EU. Any form of cross-pollination or mutual approachability is therefore still hindered. If one compares our lobbying scene with the American and the European, it is not only different in the way lobbying is carried out and organized. The high grade of professionalization and regulation that marks the current European and American scene is not at all found in Belgium. The survey has shown, on the one hand, that there is no intensive communication between companies and the MPs who were interviewed, and that the MPs themselves are the ones who are asking for more proactive communication from the business sector. On the other hand, there is an intensive and much appreciated dialogue between employers’ organizations and sector federations and politicians. As far as the interviewed politicians are concerned, they would like more of this, and they expect businesses to be more active. The literature review revealed that politicians often think that companies or organizations spread their information on the wrong level. If they would lobby on a lower, and therefore often more appropriate and effective level, better results would be achieved. If we look at the political situation of Belgium, the power of the regions when it comes to economic matters cannot be neglected. The survey has shown a similar trend. The bigger part of interviewees think that companies and CEOs have a lack of knowledge about Belgian politics. Organizations sometimes carry out lobbying activities in the federal government, while actually, they would need the support of the regional institute. Another remarkable criticism that was found in the literature on lobbying, was the bad timing that organizations have for their lobbying activities. Again, the survey brought confirmation. Timing is an extremely important factor for lobbying. Business life must closely follow the political decision making process, in order to know what is going on in the political field. That way, they will not communicate too late. When drafts of laws or decrees are already at a final phase, it is obviously too late to react. The ones that are better informed about politics and the political agenda, will also be the ones that are better able to respond quickly. The survey has shown that the ball is in the court of the businesses to take more and better communication initiatives. Good communication helps to mitigate, rather than exacerbate, the problem of ‘information overload’. Lobbyists for companies should take their own initiatives to communicate personally with their regional members of parliament, in addition to the general communication from sector federations and employers' organizations. The communication of those 42

federations is highly appreciated by the regional MPs, but could certainly use specific examples from the companies themselves. All of this shows that the Belgian lobbying scene still needs to grow. When we look at the side of politics, it seems that they are willing to communicate with lobbyists. They know more than before how to deal with this information. On the other side however, we see that lobbying activities still have a lot of shortcomings. It is now up to the Belgian companies and other lobbying organizations to make the change.

43

4

My internship

In this chapter, I will touch upon the different assignments I carried out during my internship at Whyte Corporate Affairs. I will explain the bigger tasks in detail in separate sections. The somewhat smaller tasks will be discussed in the last section. Each time, I will try to present the initial assignment and the briefing that I was given before starting the job. Afterwards, I will give a detailed explanation on how the work was done. For each task, I will also briefly mention what the most important elements were that I have learned while working on that particular assignment. While working at Whyte Corporate Affairs, I kept a diary of my daily jobs. Because I believe that this diary gives a clear picture of my days at the agency, I decided to put the document in the appendixes29. From that document, it will become clear that I have spent most time working on the public affairs survey. Initially, the idea was to give me two bigger assignments: the PA survey and working on the design and content of the tool for stakeholder mapping. As time went by, it became clear that there was not much time left for me to work on the second assignment. The other bigger tasks that I worked on were the daily press screening, a crisis training and the preparation of a press conference. Obviously, not every single task I fulfilled, will be mentioned here. Every day is different in a communication agency. What starts as a calm day with not too many things to do, can change in less than an hour. Clients can send in urgent questions, a crisis can blow up or a colleague might need urgent assistance for a certain task. When needed, I offered help for these kind of in-between jobs.

4.1 Press screening A daily job for the consultants of Whyte Corporate Affairs is screening all the newspapers. A representative sample of Belgian newspapers in both Dutch30 and French31 is checked for interesting information. Interesting information can be an article about a client, about a current trend in the economy or in a specific sector, an article about a competitor of a client or other information that Whyte feels their clients should know. This work has to be done first thing in the morning, because if the newspapers reported on something important for the clients, they have to be alerted as soon as possible. On Wednesdays, the economic magazines Trends and Trends Tendances are also screened. The consultants have a schedule for doing this job. As it takes almost one hour to do this, the screening is done by another consultant every day. They decided to put me in that schedule too. The second morning at Whyte, my colleague Evi explained me how the system for screening worked. Basically, Whyte’s client list is the basis for doing this job. When you know all the clients and the sectors they are working in, it is possible to estimate whether a certain article is important or not. 29

See appendix 4 for the internship diary. The daily sample of Belgian newspapers written in Dutch consists of De Standaard, De Morgen, De Tijd, Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Laatste Nieuws. 31 The daily sample of Belgian newspapers written in French consists of Le Soir, La Libre Belgique, La Dernière Heure and L’Echo. 30

44

Evi told me that all sector information and all information about competitors of clients were also important. An interview with the CEO of an important competitor can for example contain interesting information, so it needs to be added in the daily press screening report. The outcome of the press screening is a daily report that is sent to every consultant at Whyte. The report has a fixed structure. It lists all interesting articles that were published in the newspapers of that day. First of all, it mentions the title of the newspaper, then the page where the article can be found, the title of the article and most importantly, the name of the clients who might have an interest in that article. An example of a daily press screening report32 and a screening report of Trends and Trends Tendances33, both made by me, can be found in the appendixes. When the consultants receive the report, they check if it contains any interesting information for the clients that they are working for. If so, they report that to their clients and if necessary, they send them a clipping of those specific newspaper articles. The first time I did the press screening, Evi and I shared the newspapers. She did half of the pile and I did the other half. It helped me, because as she was sitting next to me and as we were working in the same document, I could see which articles she noted down in the report. Since most newspapers more or less report on the same issues, I also knew what to look for that specific day. The next morning, I did the screening on my own. At first, it was hard because I did not know the client list by heart. Therefore the first days, it went quite slowly, because each time, when finding a certain article, I had to check in the client list whether it was important or not. Later on, as I was more familiar with the clients, it went much easier. Articles that could be interesting for prospects or leads are normally also added in the screening report and as I had done some research tasks for a couple of prospects and leads in the beginning of my internship, I also knew what to look for while doing the screening. My previous education of communication sciences and journalism came in handy to fulfill this task, as I was acquainted with the structure of different Belgian newspapers and the way they approach issues. When it comes to Multilingual Business Communication, I mostly profited from my brushed up knowledge of French. I have noticed that, while screening the newspapers that are written in French, I recognized a lot of economic terms that I had learned in the French courses of the program of Multilingual Business Communication. This daily task also learned how to differentiate important from merely trivial information. Additionally, it has stimulated my interest for economic news and company issues.

4.2 Research project34 One week before starting my internship, I already had a small meeting with Joris Bulteel and Eveline Deridder at Whyte Corporate Affairs. They invited me to discuss my tasks during the internship period and more specifically, to present the subject of the research project that I was going to work on. This research project was going to take most of my time. The subject of this project 32

See appendix 5 for the press screening report. See appendix 6 for the press screening report of Trends and Trends Tendances. 34 The method and findings of this research project are presented in the previous chapter. 33

45

was the communication between regional members of parliament and companies in Belgium. For that, I was asked to do telephonic interviewing sessions with members of parliament of the three different Belgian regional parliaments. The project would have to be fulfilled during a rather short period of four weeks, so Eveline and Joris felt that it was necessary to brief me on beforehand. The first Tuesday that I was working at Whyte Corporate Affairs, a kickoff meeting was organized. Laura, a consultant at Whyte, was going to take control of the project and coordinate all tasks. The working method and deadlines were discussed on that kickoff meeting. It became clear that, in anticipation of the regional elections, we would have to work quickly. Additionally, it would be even more difficult to convince politicians to participate because of their pre-electoral campaigns. After the meeting, Laura and me immediately started writing out a letter35 to invite the members of parliament to participate in our survey. The words that were written in that letter would at the same time also serve as an introduction for the telephonic interview. Because of the lack of time of the politicians, a good and consistent introduction was truly needed. The letter was only going to be sent out if politicians specifically asked for it. Some of them could for example ask to read the questions on beforehand. However, the first contact with the members of parliament would always be over the telephone. To arrange those telephonic contacts, that same day, I also set up a list36 of names and contact details of the regional MPs for all three parliaments. My colleague Sybille would be in charge of the French-speaking MPs, but as she could only start working on the project the next week, a good preparation for her contact names was also needed. The next day, I started telephoning the interviewees. Beyond all expectations, this went very well. Most of the MPs were willing to cooperate and even found the subject of our research interesting. They gave a lot of input themselves. Of course, there were some exceptions. Each time an interview was finished, I wrote a report37 per person. The initial aim was to reach 45 MPs from all three regions, but as we noticed that I already managed to interview more than ten in the first week, we raised that number to 60. However, as time went by and the elections were getting closer, I felt that I had more difficulties to first of all, reach the interviewees and secondly, convince them to participate. After four weeks of interviewing, Sybille and I finally reached our target number of 60 interviewees. In the middle of the project and two weeks before its launch in the media, we organized an evaluation meeting. I was the one in charge of the agenda for that meeting. Joris asked me to prepare some basic solutions of the first interviews and to write out my ideas about the media coverage of this project. At first, I found it difficult to prepare this kind of document38, but Joris gave me some ideas to start with. Before writing out my thoughts about media coverage, I contacted several editorial boards of broadcasting and newspaper companies to know their agendas for the pre-electoral period, in order to estimate our chances for media coverage.

35

See appendix 7 for the Dutch version of the survey invitation letter. Because of the large volume of this document, I decided not to add it in the appendixes. The list mentioned names, responsibilities, commissions and telephone numbers of the regional MPs in all three regional parliaments. 37 An example of an interview report is added in appendix 8. 38 See appendix 9 for my memo for the evaluation meeting of the survey. 36

46

Later on, I started working on the paper39 with the results of the survey. Laura, Joris and me decided on the general conclusions of the survey and then I wrote these down in a paper format. I illustrated each conclusion with some remarkable quotes that we could pick out of the interview reports. When we finally agreed on the final version of the Dutch paper, Sybille and Cathy started translating it into French. The paper was going to be given out to clients and other contacts and journalists that specifically asked for it. For the other journalists, Laura, Joris and me made a press release. Joris had composed a first draft with basic conclusions after reading the summary of the interview reports that I had made. Laura and me then discussed on this version and made suggestions for changes. It was interesting to see how much discussions there were before we could finally agree on the final version of the press release. Because this was so striking, examples of those first and final versions are added in the appendixes40. Other tasks that I did for the research project were: preparing a Q&A document about the survey and its results, making a press contacts list, making a list of all sector federations and employers’ organizations, contacting journalists to convince them to write about the survey and sending out the press release. After its launch, the next day, I scanned the newspapers for coverage. There was not as much coverage41 as expected, but we received a lot of positive reactions from clients and contacts. I also arranged an interview for Joris with the BECI42 magazine. As this research project was my main task at Whyte Corporate Affairs, I have spent most of my time working on the survey. It was really interesting to carry out the interviews, especially in the beginning when it went so well. When it became a bit harder to convince the interviewees, I carried on and it was even more rewarding when we finally achieved the number of 60. While doing these interviews, I practiced my telephoning skills, but most of all, I heard some interesting views about regional politics and politics in general. I have definitely gained more insight into Belgian politics. Furthermore, it aroused my interest for public affairs and lobbying and as a result, I decided to write about lobbying in this thesis. When preparing the evaluation meeting, I learned how to write out a memo and last, but not least, I learned more about the editing and structure of press releases.

4.3 Stakeholder mapping Next to the research project about the communication between companies and regional members of parliament, I was normally also going to work on another project, the tool for stakeholder mapping. In the introductory meeting before starting my internship, Joris and Eveline explained me how this tool would look like and how it would be used. My task would consist of writing content, stakeholder profiles, for the tool. During the course of my internship, it became clear that there was not enough time left to work on this tool. There was too much work for the survey and other small works for clients always came first. Nevertheless, in the last week of my internship, I worked on some profiles.

39

The Dutch version of the research paper is added in appendix 2. See appendix 10 for the first and final version of the press release about the survey. 41 See appendix 11 for the media coverage of the survey. 42 BECI is the Brussels Enterprises Commerce and Industry organization. 40

47

The first time I had to make a profile, my colleague Evi helped me with it. She urgently needed a profile of Karel Van Eetvelt43 for AB InBev. The AB InBev management was going to have a meeting with Karel Van Eetvelt the next day and to prepare themselves for that meeting, a profile was needed. These profiles contain both professional as personal information. Evi had already finished the bigger half of it, but she passed it on to me to complete it. Before I started, she showed me some older profiles that she had already made in the past and she also told me what to look for to complete that one. I had to look for quotes or ideas of Karel Van Eetvelt that were relevant to AB InBev. It was not that difficult to find those quotes and I was able to complete the profile without too many corrections of Evi. Later on, I also made profiles of Kristl Strubbe44, Herman van Rompuy, Dirk Sterckx and Vincent Van Quickenborne. Most of those profiles were made for AB InBev too, but a lot of the information that was added there will also be used for the tool for stakeholder mapping that Whyte is currently designing. An example of one of those profiles can be found in the appendixes45. This task has given me the opportunity to get to know more about the people that I was writing a profile about. I found out that a lot of interesting and valuable information can be found on the Internet. Because of my previous schooling of journalism, I already knew a lot of reliable Internet sources. I knew how to search efficiently on the Internet and how to differentiate good information from untrustworthy data. However, I discovered a few new sources, such as government and parliamentary databases.

4.4 Crisis training One of the services that Whyte Corporate Affairs provides, is trainings about all sorts of subjects. For Lanxess, a producer of chemical products, Whyte was planning a series of trainings about crisis communication. For those trainings, Whyte works together with a professional media trainer. He is responsible for the second part of the training that consists of practical exercises. The first part of the crisis training focuses on some general theories about the media, crises and crisis communication. For that first part, my colleague Laura had prepared a PowerPoint slideshow. Joris asked me to go through the slides and give my critical remarks. Based on my previous education of communication sciences and some of the theories that I have learned during this year, I could formulate some suggestions to improve the presentation46. On 25 May, I got the opportunity to join Joris and Laura for the crisis training at Lanxess. Actually, I did not have to do anything there. I was merely there as an observer. It was interesting to see the slides that I had read before, being presented to the Lanxess people. The most important part of the crisis training was undeniably the media training. The trainer played the role of a critical journalist, asking difficult questions to the trainees. It was very interesting to see how people that normally do

43

Karel Van Eetvelt is the president of UNIZO, a Flemish employers’ organization. Kristl Strubbe is a famous Flemish politician and media figure. 45 See appendix 12 for the profile of Vincent Van Quickenborne. 46 Given the high number of slides that were in this presentation, I decided not to add it in the appendixes. 44

48

not work professionally on communication, acted in front of a camera. I, for myself, have definitely also learned some new tricks about crisis communication. Earlier that month, I also had an in-house training for all the consultants working at Whyte Corporate Affairs about crisis communication. Through this training I gained better insight into crisis communication and more specifically, I learned much more about the crisis issues that Whyte had already worked on. All theories were each time illustrated with different cases and that is what made this training so interesting. In this section, it is clear that I did not work that much myself on crisis trainings. However, I found it important to add it in this chapter, since it is one of the things that I have learned the most about during my internship. I gained a clear understanding of crisis management and crisis communication by attending those two crisis trainings. On the other hand, I also experienced how Whyte organizes trainings. As this is one of their core activities, I was glad to have had the chance for doing this.

4.5 Press conference On 6 May, Whyte Corporate Affairs was responsible for the organization of a press conference in relation to the opening of a renovated hospital building of the Brussels hospital group Europaziekenhuizen. Before my arrival, the consultants had already made a press list, a press folder, a press release and press invitations. Eveline invited me to come on the day of the press conference to see how the organization of it works. The day before the press conference, I helped finishing the press folder and together with Evi and Eveline, I also made a translation of one of the speeches. A speech in French needed to be translated to add to the Dutch press folder. This task was good for practicing my French. There were a lot of words that I did not know that well, since the speech dealt with renovations and government budgets. A report of this translation task is added in the appendixes47. On the day of the press conference, Evi and me were in charge of the journalists. We had to welcome then when they walked in and give them a press folder. If necessary, they could also ask us questions about the structure of the press conference. Another task consisted of arranging interviews with the responsible of Europaziekenhuizen with television, radio or paper press journalists. The work I had to do there was not at all difficult, but it was interesting to see how a press conference is organized. As a journalist, I have already attended some of these conferences. Now I could witness the whole event from the other side. The days after the press conference, there is the process of media monitoring. All papers and television and radio news were scanned for coverage about the hospital. At first, that coverage was a bit disappointing. That is why me and some other consultants contacted some journalists to ask them whether they would do something with the information about the hospital or not. By doing this, a series of other articles were published some days later. I had to make a DVD with all audio and video fragments about the hospital and then I had to send it to the responsible of Europaziekenhuizen. I 47

See appendix 13 for the translation of the speech. 49

also made some press clippings to send to the client. An example of those clippings is added in the appendixes48. At first, I did not name those documents in the correct way. The way I had done it was not good to present it to the client. Eveline brought this to my attention, so that I could change it before ordering the courier service to deliver the package to Europaziekenhuizen. What I have learned from this task, is to work under pressure. The day after the press conference, the client was calling Eveline to ask for results. At Whyte we were still working on that information, so we could not directly produce results. We had to do a series of tasks in a very short period of time. Even so, with the help of my colleagues, I managed to fulfill this task and after all, the client was satisfied.

4.6 Other tasks The tasks that were presented above, represent the greater part of the time I spent at Whyte Corporate Affairs. Below, I will touch upon some of my smaller, in-between tasks. Those tasks are translation and copywriting assignments, desk research, media monitoring and finally, attending a Parliamentary Commission.

4.6.1 Translation and copywriting The consultants sometimes asked for my assistance for copywriting assignments. At times, I had to make a Dutch translation of a French or English text, or I had to reread documents and press releases and give suggestions for improvement. For one of the clients, the institute IRE, Joris and me made an up-to-date version of the Dutch text for the website. At that moment only the French version of the website was online and the client had prepared an English and Dutch version himself. When reading these texts, Joris had found lots of mistakes. The launch of the Dutch and English website had to take place urgently, so Joris and me quickly revised all texts. After four days, we were able to send an improved version to the client. The difficulty here was to translate specific terms from the chemical jargon. Some terms were very difficult to understand even in French or English and for that, we asked the opinion of the client.

4.6.2 Desk research Before going to meetings with prospects or new clients, the consultants always have to be prepared. This entails that they need as much information as possible about the company or organization. They need to know the recent developments in the company and within the company’s sector. The best way to retrieve this information, is to look for it yourself on publicly available resources, such as the Internet. In the beginning of my internship I did some research tasks for prospects. Since this information is confidential, it is not possible to give all facts and figures about those research reports. The first 48

See appendix 14 for an example of press clippings for Europaziekenhuizen. 50

time I did this research, Evi showed me how she normally composed her research documents. That way, I had a template to start from and I knew what kind of information was necessary to add. The great advantage of doing this research is that you know a lot more about a certain prospect or client. This definitely helped me to fulfill other tasks for those clients or prospects. It gives you a frame of reference to use as a basis for the rest of your work.

4.6.3 Media monitoring Sometimes it happens that clients or other contacts inform the consultants about issues in newspapers, magazines, websites or audiovisual newscasts that could have an importance for one of the clients. It is also possible that a certain issue is covered in a newspaper and that it is clear that the attention for that issue will continue to grow in the following days. If this issue is of relevance to one of the clients, it has to be observed. The process of following and screening this kind of information is called monitoring. During my internship, I did a couple of monitoring tasks for AB InBev. One time, we received an email about a radio interview with Laurette Onkelinx, the Minister of Public Health. Apparently, she had said that there was a new plan to tighten alcohol regulations with regard to free sampling. Because none of the consultants had read or heard something like this, I had to screen all websites and radio stations for this information.

4.6.4 Attendance at a Parliamentary Commission On Fridays, my colleague Evi always scans the parliamentary agendas in order to see whether relevant issues for clients are planned for discussion. If so, the client in question is alerted. If the client then feels that is necessary to know the decision of a certain Parliamentary Commission before it is published on the website of the Parliament, one of the consultants of Whyte has to attend at that specific Parliamentary Commission. On 12 May, I went to the Parliamentary Commission of Public Health for a question that was going to be asked by an MP about advertisements for alcoholic products. AB InBev was very interested in the answer of the Minister to this question, so someone had to go. It was very interesting to witness how a Parliamentary Commission works. Nevertheless, it was disappointing when after three hours of waiting the president of the Commission decided to cancel all following questions. Consequently, I had to go back to the office without the necessary information.

51

5

Conclusion

In this final chapter, I will reflect upon the study program of Multilingual Business Communication and my internship at Whyte Corporate Affairs. If possible, while evaluating my internship, I will also mention in which ways I could use the knowledge that I have gathered during this year. In the end, I will make a critical evaluation of the study program, in order to formulate suggestions for improvement that can be useful for the future students of Multilingual Business Communication.

5.1 The internship When the list with possible internships was presented in the beginning of this academic year, I was in doubt about what would suit me most. At first, I wanted to apply for a copywriting position in an advertising agency. However, my interest for economic news, crisis and corporate communication grew as the year went by. That is why I decided to apply for an internship at Whyte Corporate Affairs. Moreover, I felt that in this job I would also be able to use some of the knowledge I gathered during my previous years at university. The choice for a corporate affairs agency has definitely been the right one. I have learned many things, on professional and on personal level.

5.1.1 Professional experience First of all, I have learned how a communication agency works. Before starting this internship, I did not have any idea about the structure and working methods of communication agencies. I have seen how they deal with clients, what kind of services they provide and how the fulfillment of tasks is each time divided among some of the team members. I also discovered how demanding clients can be. It was enriching to see how the consultants negotiated with difficult clients and how creative they were for finding a solution for every problem. Secondly, I have learned much more about corporate communication and public affairs. For corporate communication, we had already seen some basics in the courses of the Multilingual Business Communication program. Public affairs however, was more or less an unknown area. While working on the survey and interviewing the politicians, I have learned a lot about the relationship between politics and the economic world. My interest for lobbying and public affairs has really grown while working on that project. Thirdly, I have practiced some general business skills. For the survey and also for some other assignments, I had to make a lot of phone calls. The way you present yourself on the telephone has a very high impact on the way the one on the other side of the line will respond. From a previous internship at the editorial board of a national newspaper, I had learned many telephoning techniques. It was nice and appealing to practice those again this year. Additionally, I believe that my telephoning skills only improved during my time at Whyte Corporate Affairs. A second import skill in business life, is organizing meetings. For the survey, I had to organize an evaluation meeting. At first, 52

I found it difficult to set up the meeting plan and the different points to discuss. With the help of Joris, I managed to write a good memo to use as a guideline for the meeting. I have prepared many meetings for my youth club and some other organizations before, but it became clear that a meeting in a company context, has another outcome. I could rely on the skills I had acquired before, but I definitely learned from organizing this meeting. Finally, I want to mention the use of knowledge that was provided during the courses that are part of the program of Multilingual Business Communication. While doing research for clients and prospects, I could use a lot of the theories and terms that I had learned in the courses ‘English Economic Texts’ and ‘Marketing’. I was not really aware of it while working on those research projects, but afterwards I realized that I had read and used terms that I would not have known one year ago. The other language courses of French and English have also helped me a lot. I especially felt more secure while talking French. I know I probably still made a lot of mistakes, but I did not feel hampered to talk French with my colleagues or on the telephone.

5.1.2 Personal experience One of the most important things that I have learned about myself is that I do not have to feel shy to talk in another language. Even if my knowledge of French is not yet as is should be, it did not feel frustrating to talk French to my colleagues and on the telephone. During the lunch, or in a discussion with a French-speaking colleague, I always tried to speak French. I asked my Frenchspeaking colleagues to correct me if I was wrong. They said me that it was no problem if I made mistakes and that they found it good that I at least tried. During my internship I also discovered that I like working in a team. I like discussing things with colleagues and working together towards one common goal. At Whyte, the consultants always ask for each other’s advice. They reread texts of others and give suggestions for improvement. This working method really had appeal to me. I already knew that I was a team player before starting the internship. The many team projects of Multilingual Business Communication have in that sense been a good preparation for the internship. Another skill that I have acquired during this year and during my internship is the ability to work under time pressure. I even discovered that when the deadline is getting closer, I get even more focused and I work even a bit harder. Again, the team projects and other assignments of the study program have been a good preparation in that sense. Finally, my interest and critical sense for news have sharpened during this year and during the internship. The so-called hunger for news was already there from my background in journalism, but this year a whole new field of attention was added to my general interest for news. When people would have asked me last year if I had attention for economic and financial news, I would definitely have given a negative answer. This year however, my interest for economic and financial issues has grown. The research I had to do on my internship and also for the assignments of this year’s courses, such as ‘English Economic Texts’, have given me a basic knowledge about world economics. The will to broaden this basis is undoubtedly a result of the program and the internship.

53

5.2 Multilingual Business Communication There are, without a doubt, many things that I have learned during this master’s year of Multilingual Business Communication, but what has taught me the most during this year are the five language courses that I have followed. Especially for French and English I can say that I have learned a lot. My knowledge of English goes much further than before and the essays and texts that I worked on for the course of ‘English Economic Texts’ have really taught me a lot of economic terms. Not only have I gained knowledge about those terms in English, I even discovered words and economic expressions that I did not know in Dutch either. The exercises for ‘Business Communication in English’ and ‘Communication de l’Entreprise’ provided practical background for the internship. I, for example, already knew about the structure and content of a press release. The most compelling aspect of the team projects was to see how one can work together in a team. It has also taught me how to work under time pressure. Additionally, a lot of the sources of information that I have discovered while working on those projects, also came in handy during my internship. Similarly, the working methods that were applied for the team projects and other assignments, were also useful during the internship. Another and more practical thing that I have improved during this year was giving presentations. Not only was the oral part of giving presentations practiced, more importantly, I have learned a lot more about working with PowerPoint. I discovered that a good PowerPoint presentation is really important for a business presentation. The visual aspect has a big impact on the rest of your words. I have definitely learned some new tricks to make a good PowerPoint presentation. Similarly, while working on a project for the course ‘Market Research’, I improved my Excel skills. I could profit from this improvement during my internship. As said before, one thing the program definitely succeeded in, was increasing my interest for economic and financial issues. Not only the courses, but also the guest lectures and company visits are responsible for this. Being confronted with business life trough company visits and guest lectures has broadened my field of interest. Before economy and business life were not as important to me. Multilingual Business Communication has certainly prepared me for the labor market. I know more than before what is going on in the labor market and what kind of sectors or fields I find interesting to work in. Nevertheless, I would like to make some critical remarks about the program of Multilingual Business Communication and suggestions for the future. First of all, I would like to emphasize the great use of guest lectures in the program. It was really interesting to hear stories and insights from people working in a specific field of communication. However, I felt that some important aspects of business communication were not covered in the guest lectures. During the first half of the year, there were practically only lectures about advertising and marketing. Moreover, the subject of my internship and this thesis, public affairs, was not covered at all. Additionally, I would also find it interesting to add some non-profit or NGO cases to the guest lectures or company visits. There are many examples of good communication in those fields and I think that such cases could teach the students as much as the other ones.

54

Secondly, I think that some subjects of the guest lectures would be understood better, if they had a more practical side. Some subjects, such as corporate communication, direct marketing and financial communication, would work much better in a workshop. While the workshop and assignments for website design have not taught me a lot of things, I think that assignments on those other fields would be more interesting. Finally, I want to make some suggestions about the evaluation procedure for some assignments. The team project on marketing communication and the research project were very interesting to work on. However, I felt that, when delivering the paper, the evaluation was merely based on the presentation of the results. In that sense, the hard work that had been carried out to finish the papers that came with the presentations and that contained much more information than the presentations did, had been for nothing. That is why I suggest to be more transparent about the evaluation procedure on beforehand. This year has not been an easy one. There were a lot of assignments to work on and courses, guest lectures and company visits to attend. However, I feel that it has given me what I expected. It gave me an insight into the business world, but I also learned about my own strengths and weaknesses and more importantly, about where I would like to work in the future.

55

6

References

Ajinomoto Omnichem (2007). Omnichem. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.omnichem.com Akkanto (2009). Akkanto: adding value to your stakeholder relations. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.akkanto.com AMP (2008). AMP: every day on the move for you. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.ampnet.be Anheuser-Busch InBev (2009). Welcome to Anheuser-Busch InBev: the leading global brewer. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.ab-inbev.com BECI (2009). BECI Brussels. Retrieved June 3, 2009, from http://www.beci.be Belgian Federal Government (2008). Belgium, a federal state. Retrieved June 3, 2009, from http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/federale_staat/ Bulteel, J. (2009, May 19). Personal interview. Bradshaw, M. & Statford, E. (2005). Qualitative research: design and rigour. In I. Hay (Ed.), Qualitative research methods in human geography (2nd ed.), (pp. 67-76). New York: Oxford University Press. Bruxelles Formation (2009). Bruxelles Formation: formation à la une. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.bruxellesformation.be De Standaard (2009, June 2). Moeilijke tijden op komst voor Antwerpen. De Standaard Online, retrieved June 4, 2009 from http://www.standaard.be/ Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=6T2ATI66 Duke, W. & Hart, M. (1996). Public affairs: from understudy to center stage. In L. Dennis (Ed.), Practical public affairs in an era of change: a communications guide for business, government and college, (pp. 3-15). Lanham: University Press of America. Eggen, D. (2009, April 24). At the White House, lobbyists complain of restrictions. The Washington Post, 44. European Parliament (2009). European Parliament. Retrieved June 4, 2009, from http://www. europarl.europa.eu European Parliament (2009). Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament. Retrieved June 4, 2009, from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=RULES-EP&reference=20090309& secondRef=ANN-09&format=XML&language=EN Farnel, F. (1994). Le lobbying: strategies et techniques d’intervention. Paris : Editions de l’organisation. Flightcare Belgium (2009). Flightcare ground services. Retrieved May 30, 2009 from http://www.flightcare.be

56

General Secretariat of the Benelux Economic Union (2009). Benelux. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.benelux.be Goedseels, E. (2009,May). Personal communication. Groenendijk, J.N.A. (1997a). Public relations en overheidscontacten. In J.N.A. Groenendijk, G.A.T. Hazekamp, J. Mastenbroek (Eds.), Public relations. Beleid, organisatie en uitvoering (4th ed.), (pp. 494-513). Alphen aan den Rijn: Samsom Bedrijfsinformatie. Groenendijk, J.N.A. (1997b). Public relations-management. In J.N.A. Groenendijk, G.A.T. Hazekamp, J. Mastenbroek (Eds.), Public relations. Beleid, organisatie en uitvoering (4th ed.), (pp. 14-27). Alphen aan den Rijn: Samsom Bedrijfsinformatie. Groenendijk, J.N.A., Hazekamp, G.A.T., Mastenbroek, J. (1997). Public relations. Beleid, organisatie en uitvoering (4th ed.). Alphen aan den Rijn: Samsom Bedrijfsinformatie. Groep C (2009). Groep C adviseert en realiseert strategische communicatie. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.groepc.be Hill&Knowlton (2009). Hill & Knowlton International Belgium. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.hillandknowlton.be IBA (2009). IBA. Retrieved May 30, 2009 from http://www.iba.be Institut des radioélements (2009). IRE. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.ire.be Interel Belgium (2009). Interel. Retrieved 30 May, 2009, from http://www.interel.be Inter Ikea Systems (2009). Ikea: keukens, meubelen, bedden, zetels, decoratie. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.ikea.com/be/nl Kleinnijenhuis, J. (2008). Empirical research in contemporary social sciences relevant to public relations: toward a network approach. In B. van Ruler, A. Tkalac Vercic, D. Vercic (Eds.), Public relations metrics. Research and evaluation, (pp.60-87). New York: Routledge. Kok, F. & Van der Maas, T. (Eds.) (2002). De wandelgang: lobbyen in de politiek. Amsterdam: Bakker. Lanxess (2009). Welcome http://www.lanxess.be

to

Lanxess

in

Belgium.

Retrieved

May

30,

2009,

from

Leyer, J.H. et al. (1986). Gewogen belangen; public affairs in theorie en praktijk. Deventer: Kluwer Bedrijfswetenschappen. Liebert, U. (1995). Parliamentary lobby regimes. In H. Döring (Ed.), Parliaments and majority rule in Western Europe (pp. 407-447). Mannheim: MZES University of Mannheim. Lorenz (2009). Lorenz Brussels Bishkek Geneva. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.lorenzlaw.com

57

Mack, C. (1996). Lobbying and political action. In L. Dennis (Ed.), Practical public affairs in an era of change: a communications guide for business, government and college, (pp. 101-113). Lanham: University Press of America. Mastenbroek, J. (1997). Public relations, vormen van communicatie en andere concepten. In J.N.A. Groenendijk, G.A.T. Hazekamp, J. Mastenbroek (Eds.), Public relations. Beleid, organisatie en uitvoering (4th ed.), (pp. 28-43). Alphen aan den Rijn: Samsom Bedrijfsinformatie. Media Markt (2009). Media Markt. Ik ben toch niet gek. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.mediamarkt.be Milbrath, L.W. (1979). Lobbying. In D. Sills (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Social sciences, (pp. 441-446). New York: Macmillan. Moloney, K. (2005). Trust and public relations: center and edge. Public relations review, 31(4), 550555. Ornstein, N.J. & Elder, S. (1978). Interest group, lobbying and policymaking. Washington: Congressional Quarterly Press. Pedler, R. (Ed.) (2002). European Union lobbying: changes in the arena. Houndmills: Palgrave. Pedler, R. & van Schendelen, M.P.C.M. (Eds.) (1994). Lobbying the European Union. Companies, Trade Associations and Issue Groups. Aldershot: Dartmouth. Pop, V. (2009, May 18). Centralised states bad for economy, study shows. The EU Observer. Porter Novelli (2009). Porter Novelli. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.porternovelli.com Public Affairs Council (2009). Public Affairs Council. Your essential connection to ideas, information & best practices. Retrieved June 2, 2009, from http://pac.org Public Relations Society of America (2009). Frequently asked questions and answers about PRSA. Retrieved June 2, 2009, from http://www.prsa.org/aboutUs/faq.html TAT Group (2009). Sabena Technics. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.sabenatechnics.com Tellegen, J. (1990). Brussel: lobbystad van Europa. In W.J. Bennis, B.M.J. Pauw, M.P.C.M. van Schendelen (Eds.), Lobbyen, hoe werkt ‘t?, (pp. 217-242). ’s Gravenhage: SDU Uitgeverij. Tolliday, S. (Ed.) (1991). Government and business. Aldershot: Elgar. Robignon, E. (2009, May). Personal communication. Schneiders, P. (2002). Altijd & overal. In F. Kok & T. Van der Maas (Eds.), De wandelgangen: lobbyen in de politiek, (pp. 23-38). Amsterdam: Bakker. United States Senate (2009). U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home. Retrieved June 4, 2009, from http://www.senate.gov/legislative/Lobbying/Lobby_Disclosure_Act/TOC.htm UWE (2009). Union Wallonne des Entreprises. Retrieved June 3, 2009, from http ://www.uwe.be 58

Van Borm, J. & Corthouts, J. (2004). Truly European: interlending and document supply in Belgium at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Interlending and document supply, 31(3), 162-168. Vande Lanotte, J., Bracke, S., Goedertier, G. (2008). België voor beginners: wegwijs in het Belgisch labyrint (10th ed.). Brugge: Die Keure. Van Haver, K. (2009, May 12). ‘Ik ben geen fundi. Integendeel’. De Tijd, 12. Van Haver, K. (2009, May 13). ‘Ik wil mijn werk hier afmaken’. De Tijd, 12. van Schendelen, M.P.C.M. (1990). Nadenken over lobby, helpt dat? In W.J. Bennis, B.M.J. Pauw, M.P.C.M. van Schendelen (Eds.), Lobbyen, hoe werkt ‘t?, (pp. 11-28). ’s Gravenhage: SDU Uitgeverij. van Schendelen, M.P.C.M. (1994). Introduction: Studying EU public affairs cases: does it matter? In R. Pedler & M.P.C.M. van Schendelen (Eds.), Lobbying the European Union. Companies, trade associations and issue groups, (pp. 3-20). Aldershot: Dartmouth. van Schendelen, R. (2002). Machiavelli in Brussels: the art of lobbying the EU (2nd ed.). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. VBO-FEB (2009). VBO-FEB. Retrieved June 3, 2009, from http://www.vbo-feb.be VOKA (2009). Kloof tussen ondernemers en politiek moet gedicht worden. Retrieved June 3, 2009, from http://www.voka.be/vev/nieuws/Pages/Klooftussenondernemersenpolitiekmoetgedicht worden.aspx VOKA (2009). VOKA. Retrieved June 3, 2009, from http://www.voka.be wdp, (2009, May 18). Regionalisering goed voor economie. De Standaard. Whyte Corporate Affairs (2008, September 16). Whyte Corporate Affairs nv: the launch of a new communications consultancy. Press release sent out to press relations, retrievable from http://www.whyte.be Whyte Corporate Affairs (2009a). About Whyte. Company presentation for clients and prospects. Whyte Corporate Affairs (2009b). Whyte. The corporate affairs company. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.whyte.be Zegers, J. (1990). Washington: the American way. In W.J. Bennis, B.M.J. Pauw, M.P.C.M. van Schendelen (Eds.), Lobbyen, hoe werkt ‘t?, (pp. 243-256). ’s Gravenhage: SDU Uitgeverij.

59

Appendixes 60

Appendixes

Appendix 1: Client list of Whyte Corporate Affairs ..................................................................................2 Appendix 2: Whyte Paper: De paradox rond lobbying.............................................................................3 Appendix 3: Questions survey about communication between companies and MPs.......................... 15 Appendix 4: Internship diary ................................................................................................................. 16 Appendix 5: Press screening report ...................................................................................................... 18 Appendix 6: Press screening report Trends/Trends Tendances............................................................ 19 Appendix 7: Survey invitation letter...................................................................................................... 20 Appendix 8: Interview report ................................................................................................................ 21 Appendix 9: Memo evaluation meeting about the survey ................................................................... 23 Appendix 10: Draft and final version of the press release about the survey ........................................ 26 Appendix 11: Media coverage of survey ............................................................................................... 31 Appendix 12: Profile Vincent Van Quickenborne .................................................................................. 32 Appendix 13: Translation of the speech of B. Cerexhe and G. Vanhengel............................................ 35 Appendix 14: Press clipping for Europaziekenhuizen ........................................................................... 37

1

Appendix 1

Client list of Whyte Corporate Affairs*

Company

Domain

AMP

Media and distribution

Benelux

Government

Bruxelles Formation

Education

Codic/Fedex

Transport

Flightcare

Airport

FOREM

Education and employment

IBA

Nuclear and radioactive

CLIENTS

IKEA

Retail - home furnishing

AB InBev Benelux

Beer and alcohol

AB InBev Group

Beer and alcohol

INEUM

Management consulting

Interconnector

Industrial risks

IRE

Nuclear and radioactive

Lanxess

Chemical industry

Lorenz

Law

Media Markt Saturn

Retail - media and technology

Omnichem

Chemical industry - pharmateutical

Sabena Technics

Airport

Wolfers

M&A PROJECT BASED CLIENTS

Advice and property

Real estate

Allianz

Insurance

AMELIOR

Consultancy

CETB

Waste management and environment

Europa Ziekenhuizen

Hospital and medical world

FNAC

Retail - electronics

ING Luxembourg

Finance

SIMS

Waste management and environment

Taxi Verts/Oranges

Transport PROSPECTS LEADS A LEADS B FORMER CLIENTS

AIPES

Nuclear and pharmaceutical

Deutsche Bank

Finance

Holcim

Cement and concrete

*This is a simplified version of Whyte’s client list of 15 May 2009. For understandable reasons of confidentiality, the names of prospects and leads are left out.

2

Appendix 2

Whyte Paper: De paradox rond lobbying

de paradox rond lobbying Een bevraging bij 60 regionale parlementsleden leert dat:
8 op 10 parlementsleden meer proactieve communicatie van ondernemingen vraagt
Ondernemingen onvoldoende en te laat communiceren
Betere communicatie de politieke besluitvorming ten goede komt

26 mei 2009

3

1. Inleiding De turbulente economische context bracht de relatie tussen het bedrijfsleven en de politieke wereld de voorbije maanden extra onder de aandacht. Managers en politieke besluitvormers hadden elkaar nodig. Samen moesten ze op zoek naar oplossingen. Soms voor het oog van de camera, vaak in de beslotenheid van de achterkamers van de Belgische politiek en economie. Nieuw zijn de contacten tussen de privésector en de politiek uiteraard niet. In het wereldwijd geroemde Belgisch overlegmodel worden werknemers- en werkgeversorganisaties formeel betrokken in de besluitvorming. De typisch Belgische “consensus”, met bijhorende compromissen, is niet alleen een product van de politiek maar ook van het sterk uitgebouwde middenveld, waarin de werkgevers vertegenwoordigd sterk zijn. De voorbije jaren stonden er diverse economische dossiers hoog op de politieke agenda, waarbij er druk overleg werd gepleegd met de betrokken actoren. Individuele ondernemingen speelden daarin vaak de hoofdrol. Denken we aan de hertekening van het energielandschap, de onzekere toekomst van de in België gevestigde autofabrieken, de geluidsoverlastproblematiek rond de luchthaven van Zaventem, … Toch werd er de voorbije maanden in managers- en ondernemerskringen nog vaak gezucht dat “de media” en “de politiek” weinig van hun dossiers en belangen begrepen. De vraag kan echter ook omgekeerd worden. Wat begrijpen onze ondernemingen van de media en, meer bepaald, de politiek? Hoe gaan ze ermee om? Welke inspanningen doen ze? Zien ze de politieke besluitvorming als een bedreiging, of ook als een opportuniteit? Wordt er ook aandacht besteed aan de politiek in minder acute situaties? Naar aanleiding van de regionale verkiezingen van 7 juni, organiseerde Whyte Corporate Affairs een bevraging bij 60 uittredende parlementsleden. We peilden naar de communicatie vanwege individuele ondernemingen en hun verwachtingen hieromtrent. De bevraging geeft een duidelijker inzicht in de houding van regionale parlementsleden ten opzichte van lobbying door ondernemingen, die door middel van communicatie hun belangen verdedigen. De resultaten wijzen op een interessante paradox rond lobbying door middel van communicatie. Met dit beperkt onderzoek is uiteraard niet alles gezegd over dit onderwerp. Maar de resultaten kunnen alvast inspirerend en richtinggevend werken.

4

2. Methodologie De eerste helft van mei 2009 werden 60 uittredende, regionale parlementsleden bevraagd over de communicatie tussen hen en het bedrijfsleven. De bevraging werd uitgevoerd bij een representatief staal parlementsleden van het Vlaamse Parlement, het Parlement van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, het Waals Parlement en het Parlement van de Franstalige Gemeenschap. Vier hoofdvragen, aangevuld met enkele bijvragen, peilden naar verschillende aspecten van de communicatie tussen regionale parlementsleden en ondernemingen. Bestaat er voldoende rechtstreeks contact tussen regionale parlementsleden en ondernemingen? Gebeurt de communicatie tijdig en is ze voldoende duidelijk? Bovendien werd aan de regionale parlementairen zelf gevraagd hoe zij hun rol en die van de ondernemingen zien om tot een evenwichtige relatie tussen politiek en bedrijfswereld te komen. Door de keuze voor kwalitatieve, mondelinge interviews, kregen de bevraagde parlementsleden tijdens de interviews uitgebreid de kans om hun opinie toe te lichten. Deze werkwijze gaf beduidend meer diepgang aan de gesprekken, wat een verhelderend inzicht geeft in de perceptie, houding en verwachtingen tegenover ondernemingen en hun communicatie. De resultaten die hier worden gepresenteerd, zijn een synthese van de meest gemaakte opmerkingen of suggesties in verband met de communicatie van het bedrijfsleven naar regionale parlementsleden. Bovendien konden de resultaten deels worden gekwantificeerd, wat resulteerde in enkele opmerkelijke cijfers. Voor de verwerking van de interviews werd aan de respondenten absolute anonimiteit gegarandeerd. De quotes die in deze paper worden aangehaald, blijven om deze reden anoniem, maar ze zijn representatief voor de mening van een brede groep parlementsleden. Achteraan dit rapport vindt u onze duiding en anlyse bij de resultaten van de bevraging. Deze is gebaseerd op de gesprekken met de bevraagde parlementsleden en de expertise van Whyte Corporate Affairs inzake de Belgische politiek en het vak ‘public affairs’.

5

3. Resultaten bevraging Vijf vaststellingen... Onze gesprekken met 60 regionale parlementsleden leidden tot vijf vaststellingen met betrekking tot de communicatie tussen ondernemingen en regionale parlementsleden. -

Ondernemingen communiceren onvoldoende en te laat met regionale parlementsleden Ondernemingen zijn zich onvoldoende bewust van wat regionale parlementsleden voor hen kunnen betekenen Regionale parlementsleden zijn vragende partij voor een proactieve communicatie vanwege ondernemingen Betere communicatie komt de politieke besluitvorming ten goede Grote tevredenheid over de werking van werkgeversorganisaties en sectorfederaties

Deze vaststellingen worden op de volgende pagina’s verder toegelicht.

... één paradox Uit de resultaten blijkt een opmerkelijke paradox rond lobbying.
Enerzijds zijn parlementsleden vragende partij voor een meer proactieve, persoonlijke en directe communicatie van ondernemingen en staan zij open voor lobbying. Dit komt beide partijen ten goede, alsook de politieke besluitvorming
Anderzijds blijkt dat ondernemingen hier nog te weinig werk van maken. Ze beschouwen de parlementairen kennelijk niet als een belangrijk kanaal om hun belangen te verdedigen. Lobbying zit duidelijk nog in de taboesfeer, en wordt onvoldoende gebaseerd op proactieve en directe communicatie tussen ondernemingen en politieke besluitvormers. De bal ligt in het kamp van de ondernemingen om meer en betere communicatie-initiatieven te nemen en hun belangen efficiënter te behartigen. De regionale parlementsleden staan ervoor open om dit een plaats te geven in het politieke besluitvormingsproces. Achteraan dit rapport, gaan we in onze “analyse en duiding” dieper in op deze merkwaardige vaststelling.

6

Vaststelling 1: Ondernemingen communiceren onvoldoende en te laat met regionale parlementsleden 6 op 10 (6,17/10) regionale parlementsleden vindt dat ze onvoldoende rechtstreeks worden gecontacteerd en geïnformeerd door ondernemingen. De bestaande contacten tussen hen en ondernemingen ontstonden vaak binnen het kader van activiteiten van werkgeversorganisaties of op initiatief van de parlementariër zelf. Velen houden goede contacten over aan hun ambt als burgemeester of schepen, hun (vroegere) eigen activiteiten in het bedrijfsleven of andere randactiviteiten. “Het zijn voornamelijk oude contacten. De nieuwe contacten ontstaan meestal in het kader van VOKA-activiteiten.” (Vlaams parlementslid) Om kennis te kunnen maken met de realiteit, nemen de parlementariërs vaak de kans om op bedrijfsbezoek te gaan. Die kansen worden hen echter voornamelijk geboden door werkgeversorganisaties en sectorfederaties. De bedrijven nemen haast nooit zelf het initiatief. “Uitzonderlijk is dat eens op uitnodiging van de bedrijven zelf. Dat gebeurt misschien één keer per jaar. Het zou beter zijn, moesten ze ons meer zelf uitnodigen.” (Brussels parlementslid) 7 op 10 (7,17) vindt dat ze meestal te laat worden gecontacteerd. De regionale parlementariër wordt vaak pas in allerlaatste instantie benaderd, wanneer het eigenlijk al te laat is. “Bedrijven zijn eerder reactief dan proactief.” (Franstalig parlementslid) “Ze worden pas wakker geschud na een stemming. Het is belangrijk al van bij de eerste plannen een stem te laten horen. Als de stemming al op de agenda staat, of erger nog, als ze al voorbij is, dan is het te laat.” (Vlaams parlementslid) De bevraagde parlementairen raden de bedrijven aan meer proactief te werken en niet alleen te communiceren naar aanleiding van problemen.

7

Vaststelling 2: Ondernemingen zijn zich onvoldoende bewust van wat regionale parlementsleden voor hen kunnen betekenen “De bedrijven moeten dringend de stap richting politiek durven zetten. Ze moeten vermijden dat wij naar hen op zoek moeten gaan.” (Vlaams parlementslid) “De ondernemingen hebben nog niet de reflex om de politieke wereld te contacteren. Ze zien de politiek als een administratieve wereld en het bedrijfsleven als een wereld waar vrijheid heerst.” (Waals parlementslid) De meest aangehaalde verklaring voor het onvoldoende of te laat communiceren is het feit dat de ondernemingen de weg naar de regionale politieke besluitvorming niet kennen. Veel ondernemingen durven de stap richting de regionale politiek niet te zetten. “Ik heb het gevoel dat veel bedrijven niet weten waar ze naar toe moeten met hun communicatie. Federaal of regionaal, dat ligt precies moeilijk. Daarom bereikt communicatie ons soms te laat. We moeten dan zelf contact opnemen met onze collega’s op het federale niveau om informatie in te winnen.” (Vlaams parlementslid) Niet alleen een gebrekkige kennis van de Belgische politiek wordt als reden voor onvoldoende communicatie aangehaald. De ondervraagden denken bovendien dat bedrijven de impact van de regionale besluitvorming op het bedrijfsleven onderschatten.

Vaststelling 3: Regionale parlementsleden zijn vragende partij voor een open en proactieve communicatie vanwege ondernemingen Ruim 8 op 10 (8,50) regionale parlementsleden raadt de bedrijven aan om open en proactief met hen te communiceren. De bevraagde parlementsleden vinden het belangrijk om de behoeften van de ondernemingen te kennen. Onrechtstreeks vertegenwoordigen ze als volksvertegenwoordiger naast het algemeen belang ook de bedrijven. Zij creëren namelijk werkgelegenheid en welvaart in de regio. Het is daarbij belangrijk dat er niet alleen over problemen wordt gecommuniceerd, maar ook over hoe hun bedrijf werkt, wie er is tewerkgesteld en wat hun voornaamste producten zijn. Een belangrijke kanttekening die hierbij moet worden gemaakt, is dat hier, in tegenstelling tot bij de andere resultaten, een interessant verschil bestaat tussen wat Nederlandstalige en Franstalige parlementsleden verklaarden. Terwijl de Nederlandstaligen er niet onmiddellijk over spraken, zien de Franstalige volksvertegenwoordigers de politieke kleur van een parlementslid als een mogelijke barrière voor goede communicatie. Ze denken dat de politieke opvatting van parlementsleden vooroordelen in de ondernemerswereld kunnen creëren. De ideologische kampen spelen langs Franstalige kant duidelijk nog een sterkere rol dan in Vlaanderen. “Ik vertegenwoordig bedrijven in functie van de waarden van mijn partij.” (Franstalig parlementslid) “Er is vaak een probleem van politieke kleur. Veel bedrijven of federaties hebben vooroordelen.” (Franstalig parlementslid)

8

Vaststelling 4: Betere communicatie komt de politieke besluitvorming ten goede De regionale parlementsleden zijn duidelijk vragende partij voor een nauwere dialoog met de ondernemingen, omdat het de besluitvorming ten goede komt. Een constante wisselwerking tussen beide partijen moet de discussies, de uiteindelijke implementatie en evaluatie van decreten bevorderen. “Ze moeten ons informatieprikkels geven. Zo weten wij wat de problemen binnen de sector zijn en zitten we niet als een wildvreemde aan decreten te werken.” (Vlaams parlementslid) “De bedrijven moeten zoveel mogelijk open kaart spelen. We kunnen er alleen uit leren.” (Vlaams parlementslid) “Wat terugkoppeling uit het bedrijfsleven is altijd interessant. We moeten weten wat het effect is van bepaalde maatregelen of decreten die werden goedgekeurd. Als de bedrijven ons niets laten weten, is dat moeilijk.” (Vlaams parlementslid) De bevraagde parlementsleden onderstrepen dat ze zelf kunnen evalueren of ze iets met die informatie kunnen aanvangen en hoe ze ermee omgaan. “Ze noemen dat lobbying, met een vies woord. Maar ik vind het OK. Lobbying kan. Het is dan aan ons om daar gepast op te reageren en die informatie met een kritisch oog te verwerken.” (Vlaams parlementslid)

Vaststelling 5: Grote tevredenheid over werkgeversorganisaties en sectorfederaties

de

werking

van

Op zowat alle punten scoren de sectorfederaties en werkgeversorganisaties zoals VOKA, UWE, BECI, VBO en UNIZO opmerkelijk beter dan de individuele bedrijven. Ze communiceren voldoende en spelen meestal erg kort op de bal. In tegenstelling tot de bedrijven, komen de sectorfederaties met duidelijke en gerichte communicatie op een moment dat het nog niet te laat is. “Ik wil benadrukken dat de meeste parlementsleden zeer tevreden zijn over het contact met de federaties. Zij benaderen ons meestal op een positieve en constructieve manier. De bedrijven op zich doen dat minder goed.” (Brussels parlementslid) De regionale parlementsleden zijn erg te vinden voor de initiatieven van de koepelverenigingen. Zo werden de bedrijfsbezoeken en -stages, die door werkgeversorganisaties worden georganiseerd, vaak vernoemd als interessante initiatieven om de bedrijfswereld beter te leren kennen. Het leek de ondervraagden toch nuttig om ook nu en dan aanvullende informatie van de bedrijven zelf te ontvangen. Die informatie kan dan dienen als praktijkvoorbeeld of illustratie van trends die door de sectorfederaties of werkgeversorganisaties werden voorgesteld.

9

“Het kan nuttig zijn zowel via koepels of werkgeversorganisaties te werken, als om nu en dan eens als individueel bedrijf iets van je te laten horen.” (Vlaams parlementslid)

10

4. Analyse en duiding: De paradox rond lobbying Uit de bevraging van Whyte blijkt dat ondernemingen onvoldoende en te laat communiceren met regionale parlementsleden. De parlementsleden hebben het gevoel dat ondernemingen de impact van de politiek onderschatten. Bedrijven lijken de weg naar de regionale parlementsleden nog niet te hebben gevonden. Ze zien de parlementariërs meestal maar als een allerlaatste noodstop voor het oplossen van hun problemen. Dit staat in schril contrast met wat parlementsleden verwachten van ondernemingen: een proactieve communicatie die toestaat om de behoeften van ondernemingen en decreten beter op elkaar af te stemmen. De parlementsleden staan open voor lobbying op basis van duidelijke informatieuitwisseling, omdat dit de politieke besluitvorming ten goede komt. Hoe kan deze paradox worden verklaard? En hoe kan deze worden doorbroken?

Het politieke landschap België heeft om meerdere redenen een ingewikkeld politieke landschap:
De staatsstructuur en bijhorende bevoegdheidsverdeling is vaak complex.
De verhouding tussen wetgevende en uitvoerende macht, tussen parlementsleden en kabinetten, is bijzonder.
De politieke partijen zijn relatief machtig (de zogenaamde particratie), ook al hebben ze formeel gezien geen rol in het besluitvormingsproces.
De politiek werd de laatste jaren sterk gemediatiseerd. Een inzicht in de eigenlijke politieke besluitvorming volstaat om deze reden niet. De verhouding tussen regering en parlement verdient bijzondere aandacht. Niet het parlement maar de regering neemt vaak het voortouw in wetgevend werk. Bovendien moeten parlementsleden het stellen met beperkte ondersteuning, terwijl de kabinetten sterk zijn uitgebouwd. Deze politieke realiteit verklaart allicht - ten dele - de beperkte communicatie van ondernemingen naar parlementsleden. Deze aanpak gaat echter voorbij aan:
De niet te onderschatten rol van het parlement in het sturen van de politieke agenda, zeker als de parlementsleden gevoed worden met de nodige informatie en argumenten.
Een benadering op lange termijn in het uitbouwen van politieke contacten. De meeste ministers worden uit het parlement gerekruteerde.
De bijzonder grote openheid van de betrokken parlementairen om met ondernemingen in dialoog te gaan.

Geen “revolving door” Onbekend maakt onbemind. En onbemind maakt onbekend.

11

De politieke wereld en het bedrijfsleven hebben ontegensprekelijk hun eigen agenda en wetmatigheden. De wisselwerking tussen beide werelden is beperkt. De zogenaamde “revolving door” (draaideur), waarbij professionals regelmatig switchen tussen de publieke en de privésector, is in België haast onbestaande. Dit bemoeilijkt elke vorm van kruisbestuiving en wederzijdse toenadering.

Lobbying kan uit de taboesfeer komen... Uit de bevraging blijkt enerzijds dat er geen intensieve communicatie bestaat tussen ondernemingen en de bevraagde parlementsleden, en dat de parlementsleden vragende partij zijn voor een meer proactieve communicatie van ondernemingen. Anderzijds bestaat er wel een intensieve en sterk gewaardeerde dialoog tussen werkgeversorganisaties of sectorfederaties en de politici. Wat de bevraagde politici betreft, “smaakt dit naar meer”, en verwachten ze een actievere rol van ondernemingen. De opmerkelijk grote openheid vanwege de bevraagde parlementsleden, toont aan dat de bal in het kamp van de ondernemingen ligt, om meer en betere communicatie-initiatieven te nemen.

...indien gebaseerd op duidelijke communicatie Goede communicatie helpt het probleem van ‘information overload’ te verlichten, eerder dan het te verergeren. De openheid vanwege parlementsleden biedt belangrijke kansen voor ondernemingen om een actievere rol te spelen in de politieke besluitvorming. Door (i) op het juiste ogenblik (ii) de juiste informatie te bezorgen aan (iii) de juiste besluitvormers, kunnen zij hun belangen beter behartigen. Het tijdsaspect is een uitermate belangrijke factor. Bedrijven moeten de politieke besluitvorming van dichtbij opvolgen, zodat ze niet te laat komen met hun communicatie. Wanneer ontwerpen van decreten al in een finale fase zitten, is het voor bedrijven meestal te laat om nog te reageren. Bedrijven die de activiteiten van de regionale parlementen opvolgen, kunnen korter op de bal spelen. Public affairs en lobbying draaien meer dan ooit rond communicatie. Persoonlijke contacten zijn en blijven belangrijk in elke vorm van communicatie, maar door de toenemende rotatie binnen zowel de politieke wereld als het bedrijfsleven, wint een systematische, goed gestructureerde communicatieaanpak aan belang.

De bal ligt in het kamp van de ondernemingen De communicatie van de sectorfederaties en werkgeversorganisaties wordt geapprecieerd door de regionale parlementsleden. Deze communicatie is meestal zeer gericht. Ze vat een trend of probleem binnen een volledige sector samen, waardoor de communicatie overload beperkt wordt. Toch is het nuttig om als individueel bedrijf meer specifieke informatie, die de door de koepels aangehaalde trends illustreert of meer specifieke problematieken aankaart, te verspreiden. Bedrijven moeten dus naast de algemene communicatie van sectorfederaties en werkgeversorganisaties ook zelf initiatieven nemen om persoonlijk te communiceren met regionale parlementsleden.

12

5. Cijfergegegevens Gegeven de omvang van de bevraagde groep (N = 60), zijn de procentuele cijfers slechts indicatief. Vraag 1: Vindt u dat bedrijven u voldoende rechtstreeks contacteren en informeren?

NL FR

TOTAAL 32 28

ja 12 11

% ja 37,5% 39,3%

Neen 20 17

% neen 62,5% 60,7%

60

23

38,3%

37

61,7%

Vraag 2: Als bedrijven u contacteren en informeren, vindt u dat zij dan tijdig contact opnemen met u?

NL FR

TOTAAL 32 28

Ja (op tijd) 11 6

60

17

% ja 34,4% 21,4%

Neen (te laat) 21 22

% neen 65,6% 78,6%

28,3%

43

71,7%

Vraag 3: Vindt u dat bedrijven op een duidelijke, transparante en gefocuste manier met u contact opnemen?

NL FR

TOTAAL 32 28

ja 21 26

% ja 65,6% 92,9%

neen 11 2

% neen 34,4% 7,1%

60

47

78,3%

13

21,7%

Vraag 4: Vindt u het de plicht van bedrijven om u rechtstreeks op de hoogte te houden van hun activiteiten, issues en andere?

NL FR

TOTAAL 32 28

ja 29 22

% ja 90,6% 78,6%

neen 3 6

% neen 9,4% 21,4%

60

51

85,0%

9

15,0%

13

6. Over Whyte Corporate Affairs Het communicatieadviesbureau ‘Whyte Corporate Affairs NV’ werd in 2008 opgericht door vier partners die, na meer dan tien jaar samenwerking in een andere context, hun ervaring bundelden in een nieuwe onderneming. Whyte focust zich op ‘Corporate Affairs’, een mix van bedrijfscommunicatie en public affairs, en beschikt over een specifieke expertise in het terrein van crisiscommunicatie. Whyte onderscheidt zich door deze duidelijke focus en specialisatie evenals door haar onafhankelijkheid. Het team van Whyte telt vandaag een tiental consultants, allen ervaren communicatie-experts, met een sterke achtergrond in bedrijfs- en institutionele communicatie. Ze werken op een belangrijke klantenportefeuille, beschikken over sterke referenties in de Belgische communicatiewereld en ontvingen reeds verscheidene internationale awards. Whyte biedt aan zijn klanten (bedrijven en instellingen) advies, strategieën en actieplannen aan met betrekking tot reputatiemanagement en belangenbehartiging ten opzichte van de media, publieke opinie, personeel, publieke instellingen en de politieke, economische, sociale en academische wereld. Voor meer informatie, zie www.whyte.be

Contactgegevens Voor meer informatie over dit rapport of Whyte Corporate Affairs: Joris Bulteel | [email protected] | T +32 2 738 06 21 | M +32 476 69 59 86

14

Appendix 3 Questions survey about communication between companies and MPs

1. Vindt u dat bedrijven u voldoende rechtstreeks contacteren en informeren? Neen – Ja 1a. Indien ja, zijn er dan voldoende persoonlijke contacten? Neen – ja 1b. Indien ja, vindt u dat u voldoende de kans krijgt om bij bedrijven op bezoek te gaan en kennis te maken met de realiteit? Neen – ja 2. Als bedrijven u contacteren en informeren, vindt u dat bedrijven dan tijdig contact opnemen met u? (bijvoorbeeld wanneer zij geconfronteerd worden met bepaalde problemen) Neen – ja 3. Vindt u dat bedrijven op een duidelijke, transparante en gefocuste manier met u contact opnemen. (Of integendeel, gebruiken ze te veel jargon, zijn ze te algemeen,….?) - Neen, bedrijven zijn altijd zeer duidelijk in hun communicatie - Ja, bedrijven gebruiken te veel jargon, zijn te algemeen, te vaag en zijn niet duidelijk 3a. Welke sectoren communiceren en informeren beter? Welke sectoren moeten duidelijkere en meer gefocust communiceren en informeren? 4. Vindt u het uw taak om naast uw taak als ‘volks’vertegenwoordiger ook bedrijven te vertegenwoordigen? Neen – ja 4a. Vindt u het de plicht van bedrijven om u rechtstreeks op de hoogte te houden van hun activiteiten, issues en andere? Neen - ja 5. Hebt u nog opmerkingen of suggesties, of vragen omtrent de communicatie van het bedrijfsleven naar u toe?

15

Appendix 4 Internship diary

27/04

28/04

29/04

30/04

01/05 04/05

05/05

06/05

07/05

08/05

WEEK 1 Introduction Team meeting Research Electrabel Screening Research Matexi Preparations PA survey Meeting PA survey Screening Preparations PA survey (contact list, press agendas) Interviews PA survey Monitoring AB InBev Interviews PA survey Preparation list of French speaking and Brussels contacts Check-up slides media training Copywriting website IRE / WEEK 2 Team meeting Briefing PA survey Interviews PA survey Slides media training Copywriting website IRE Screening Copywriting website IRE Interviews PA survey Preparation press conference Europa Ziekenhuizen Screening Press conference Europa Ziekenhuizen Press contacts Follow-up press conference Send out press release Copywriting website IRE Screening Monitoring Europa Ziekenhuizen Research NMBS Interviews PA survey Screening Preparation meeting PA survey Meeting PA survey List of contacts PA survey Stakeholder mapping AB InBev

11/05

12/05

13/05

WEEK 3 Screening Team meeting and crisis training Interviews PA survey Screening First analysis PA survey Parliamentary Commission of Public Health Screening First analysis of PA survey Meeting PA survey Basic conclusions PA survey

14/05

Paper PA survey Press clippings List of stakeholders in sector federations

15/05

Paper PA survey WEEK 4 Screening Team meeting Paper PA survey PA meeting

18/05

19/05

Screening Final interviews PA survey Paper and press release PA survey

20/05

Screening Press list PA survey Design of Q&A-list for PA survey Final works on paper and press release PA survey

21/05

/

22/05

/

16

25/05

26/05

27/05

28/05

29/05

WEEK 5 Screening Check-up of final versions of paper and press releases PA survey (in 3 languages) Media training Lanxess Screening Sending out press release and paper PA survey Team lunch Research tasks Screening Monitoring press coverage on PA survey Reseach tasks Screening Profile Dirk Sterckx Profile Vincent Van Quickenborne Profile Herman Van Rompuy Screening Profile Herman Van Rompuy Profile Kristl Strubbe Sending out books for AB InBev

17

Appendix 5 Press screening report

Date

Journal

90429 DS

HLN L'Echo

Page

Client

Werkonderbreking bij Le Soir

E2 Flightcare/Sabena Technics

Lufthansa bereid tot toegevingen voor overname Brussels Airlines

E6 Omnichem/IRE

Coucke gaat wereldwijd

E6 Omnichem/IRE

Arbeiders Cytec houden directie opnieuw vast

22 Inbev

Vakbonden AB InBev betogen in Leuven

22 Flightcare/Sabena Technics

Onderhoudswerken aan start- en landingsbanen Brussels Airport

17 Omnichem/IRE

Overleg Cytec verloopt grimmig

5 Inbev 6 Omnichem/IRE

GVA De Tijd

DM

LLB

Article

E2 AMP

AB InBev approché pour le rachat de 'cinq ou six' filiales à vendre Omega Pharma se lance sur le marché indien avec une jointventure

10 Electrabel

Les marchés du gaz et de l'électricité s'ouvrent lentement

10 AMP

Un accord social global chez Rossel

11 Electrabel

Les intercommunales surnagent malgré la libéralisation de l'énergie

13 Inbev

Topman AB Inbev krijgt bonus van 80 miljoen euro'

6 Omnichem/IRE

Omega Pharma produceert in India

6 Omnichem/IRE

CBFA verplicht Duitsers tot bod op Ibt

6 AMP

Werkonderbreking bij krantengroep Rossel

6 Flightcare/Sabena Technics

Passagiers geven in Zaventem meer uit aan catering

6 Telenet

Scarlet biedt digitale televisie aan

7 Omnichem/IRE

UCB's opvolger voor blockbuster Keppra onzeker

8 Flightcare/Sabena Technics

Europa beslist later over overname Brussels Airlines

9 Electrabel

Marktaandelen Distrigas en Electrabel dalen

9 Inbev

Acties tegen bonussen bij AB InBev

4 Omnichem/IRE

Personeel Cytec gijzelt directie voor tweede maal

22 Omnichem/IRE

Omega Pharma verhuist productie deels naar India

22 Flightcare/Sabena Technics

Passagiers Zaventem geven meer uit aan catering

22 Flightcare/Sabena Technics

Europa verlengt onderzoek naar fusie Brussels Airlines en Lufthansa

22 Flightcare/Sabena Technics

Boete van 1,4 miljard euro dreigt voor Airbusmoeder

22 Inbev

Protest tegen bonussen AB InBev

25 AMP

Staking bij krant 'Le Soir' vermeden

16 Electrabel

2020: toutes les nouvelles constructions sont passives! Chiche?

17 Inbev

L'assemblée d'AB InBev rondement menée

17 Omnichem/IRE

Omega Pharma se lance en Inde

18 AMP

Fumée blanche chez Rossel et cie

34 Omnichem/IRE

Pfizer maintient ses objectifs 2009

LDH

5 Electrabel

Energie: le boom des petits

Le Soir

5 Electrabel

Le Marshall de l'énergie

AMP

24 AMP

Accord social chez Rossel

30 Flightcare/Sabena Technics

Aviation: Europe prolonge

18

Appendix 6 Press screening report Trends/Trends Tendances

Date

Journal

90521 Trends Tendances

Trends

Page Client

Article

7 Fédération de l'eau en bouteilles Nestlé renforce l'identité belge de Valvert 11 AB InBev

Nouvel emprunt obligatoire pour AB InBev

13 Flightcare/Sabena Technics

Le trafic aérien en baisse de 8%

15 Belgacom/Telenet

Téléphonie par Internet: Belgacom jette l'éponge

22 Flightcare/Sabena Technics

Hewa Bora, le poil à gratter de Brussels Airlines

9 AB InBev

Een brouwer met ballen

8 AB InBev

Uw geld of uw SPE

11 AMP

De Persgroep zet NRC te koop

11 Omnichem/MSD

Groen licht voor blockbuster UCB

10 Electrabel

Kris Peeters pleit voor verankering energiesector

12 General

Europa ziet economie verder vertragen Twee generaties visie, toeval en geduld. Voorpublicatie uit 'De Belgische bierbaronnen. Het verhaal achter Anheuser-Busch InBev'

65 AB InBev

19

Appendix 7 Survey invitation letter

Brussel, 29/04/09

Geachte Mevrouw, Geachte heer, Betreft: Bevraging bij parlementsleden over de communicatie van bedrijfsleven met parlementsleden Ik ben student aan de Universiteit Gent en volg momenteel een bijkomende Master opleiding Meertalige Bedrijfscommunicatie. Elke student moet als deel van deze opleiding een stage doorlopen bij een communicatieadviesbureau. In het kader van deze stage en in opdracht van het communicatieadviesbureau “Whyte Corporate Affairs”, waar ik mijn stage doorloop, had ik graag even uw aandacht gevestigd op het volgende. In samenwerking met Whyte organiseer ik een bevraging bij een representatief deel van de regionale parlementsleden in België over de communicatie tussen het bedrijfsleven en parlementsleden. Hierbij willen wij nagaan hoe u als parlementslid de rechtstreekse communicatie tussen het bedrijfsleven en u ervaart. Wanneer bedrijven rechtstreeks contact met u opnemen, doen zij dit dan op de goede manier, doen zij dit voldoende en tijdig, en is de informatie die zij geven naar u toe genoeg geduid, gefocust, en duidelijk? De bevraging bestaat uit een zeer kort telefonisch interview met 5 hoofdvragen. Het is een korte bevraging, en de resultaten ervan zullen anoniem verwerkt worden. Als bijlage aan deze brief vindt u de vragenlijst, die u indien gewenst, ook schriftelijk kan invullen en mij terugsturen (adresgegevens zie onder). Ik zou uw medewerking erg op prijs stellen. Uiteraard zullen wij u de resultaten van de bevraging na de verwerking ervan zeker persoonlijk meedelen. Hartelijk dank alvast voor uw tijd en medewerking, Met oprechte groeten, Laura Moerman Studente Master in de Meertalige Bedrijfscommunicatie aan de Universiteit Gent Contactgegevens: Laura Moerman, studente Universiteit Gent E-mail: [email protected] Tel.: 02/738.06.29

Contactpersoon Whyte Corporate Affairs: Joris Bulteel, partner E-mail: [email protected] Tel.: 02/738.06.21 Fax: 02/738.06.30

ANNEX: Vragenlijst: Communicatie tussen het bedrijfsleven en parlementsleden

20

Appendix 8 Interview report

X.X.* (sp.a)

VL

(*) naam verwijderd omwille van confidentialiteit 1. Vindt u dat bedrijven u voldoende rechtstreeks contacteren en informeren? Neen De sectoren en koepels contacteren ons zeer veel. De individuele bedrijven hebben de weg naar de politiek nog niet gevonden. Dat is jammer. Ze laten het voor een stuk natuurlijk bewust over aan de koepelorganisaties. De informatie die van daaruit verspreid wordt is vaak te onduidelijk. Moesten individuele bedrijven ook nog aanvullende en meer specifieke informatie aan ons doorgeven, zouden wij ons een veel beter beeld van de realiteit kunnen vormen. 1a. Indien ja, zijn er dan voldoende persoonlijke contacten? Neen Dat is eerder beperkt. Die contacten ontstaan bovendien eerder lokaal en in de marge van mijn politieke activiteiten. Ik leg die bijvoorbeeld eerder in het verenigingsleven of via vrienden en kennissen dan vanuit mijn politieke functie. 1b. Indien ja, vindt u dat u voldoende de kans krijgt om bij bedrijven op bezoek te gaan en kennis te maken met de realiteit? Neen Alleen via koepelorganisaties zoals VOKA 2. Als bedrijven u contacteren en informeren, vindt u dat bedrijven dan tijdig contact opnemen met u? (bijvoorbeeld wanneer zij geconfronteerd worden met bepaalde problemen) Neen Het is altijd VOKA (of andere organisaties) die communiceert. De bedrijven zelf sturen ons amper wat door en als ze het doen, is het vrijwel altijd te laat. 3. Vindt u dat bedrijven op een duidelijke, transparante en gefocuste manier met u contact opnemen. (Of integendeel, gebruiken ze te veel jargon, zijn ze te algemeen,….?) Ja Wij krijgen zeer veel algemene informatie toegestuurd. Heel zelden sturen bedrijven ons eigen info over een specifiek dossier. Uitzonderlijk krijgen we eigen standpunten van bedrijven te horen. 3a. Welke sectoren communiceren en informeren beter? Welke sectoren moeten duidelijkere en meer gefocust communiceren en informeren? De zware industrie doet het traditioneel goed. De kleinere bedrijven scoren minder goed op dat vlak. Hun communicatie is over het algemeen minder goed uitgewerkt, minder gefocust en vaak te laat. 4. Vindt u het uw taak om naast uw taak als ‘volks’vertegenwoordiger ook bedrijven te vertegenwoordigen? Neen Wij fungeren niet als spreekbuizen voor sectoren of bedrijven. Wij willen wel weten wat leeft in de bedrijven. Ze zijn de centrale schakel van de economie. Dat ze ons maar laten weten hoe het zit. We kunnen er maar wijzer van worden. Ik ben als parlementslid maar gaandeweg geïnteresseerd geraakt in het bedrijfsleven. Vier jaar geleden had ik er nauwelijks oog voor. Nu zie ik in dat we hun problemen, issues en activiteiten moeten kennen. 4a. Vindt u het de plicht van bedrijven om u rechtstreeks op de hoogte te houden van hun activiteiten, issues en andere? Ja 21

Ze mogen zich niet geremd voelen om met ons te communiceren. Nu is dit wel het geval. De drempel ligt blijkbaar nog vrij hoog. Van mij mag dit gerust veranderen. Daar moet natuurlijk aan beide kanten aan gewerkt worden. Het is aan de politici om er duidelijk voor open te staan en aan de bedrijven om ons op te zoeken. Bedrijven moeten ons proactief aanspreken, niet alleen wanneer er zich problemen voordoen. Ze mogen ons ook geregeld eens uitnodigen bij hen in het bedrijf. Ik kan niet garanderen dat alle volksvertegenwoordigers die werden uitgenodigd er dan ook effectief zullen zijn. Het is in ieder geval het proberen waard. 5. Hebt u nog opmerkingen of suggesties, of vragen omtrent de communicatie van het bedrijfsleven naar u toe? Bedrijven moeten meer met ons communiceren. Ze mogen niet alleen op de betrokken belangenverenigingen of sectororganisaties rekenen, maar ze moeten ons ook zelf rechtstreeks opzoeken. Om te beginnen kunnen ze bijvoorbeeld werken met volksvertegenwoordigers uit hun eigen buurt. Bedrijven moeten dringend de stap richting de politiek durven zetten.

22

Appendix 9 Memo evaluation meeting about the survey

INTERNAL MEMO

From

Laura Moerman

Subject

Public Affairs Survey

TO

JB, EDR, LVW, SSM

Date

07/05/2009

1.

Tussenstand

Initieel doel : 45 Vlaams: 20 Brussel: 10 Waals + Frans: 15

Totaal nu: 49 Vlaams: 25 Brussel: 2+2 Waals + Frans: 20 (check gegevens Sybille) 

Einddoel?

2.

Eerste conclusies

Conclusies aan Nederlandstalige (Vlaanderen + Brussel) zijde:

Van de 27 Vlaamse contacten: -

-

Vindt 17 op 27 dat ze niet voldoende rechtstreeks worden gecontacteerd door bedrijven. Degene die zeggen dat ze voldoende contacten hebben, spreken wel voornamelijk over contacten met organisaties als VOKA en Unizo, of algemene sectorfederaties. Vindt 17 op 27 dat de communicatie meestal te laat komt. Vindt 24 op 27 dat het zijn taak is om ook de bedrijven te vertegenwoordigen. Vindt 24 op 27 dat bedrijven hen op de hoogte moeten houden.

23

Mogelijke conclusies: “Bedrijven moeten meer communiceren met de parlementsleden” “Regionale parlementsleden willen meer informatie vanuit het bedrijfsleven”  Deze 2 zullen de belangrijkste zijn. Over de duidelijkheid, het op tijd komen zijn de antwoorden minder unaniem. VOKA en andere kunnen vermeld worden, want de meeste politici spreken daar heel positief over.

3.

Bekendmaking

Mail verstuurd naar Kris Hoflack, hoofdredacteur duiding van VRT Nieuwsdienst. Zal ons normaal programma doorsturen. Vanaf 1 juni: De Stemming 09 (één) Vanaf 25 mei: De Ochtend 09 (Radio 1-) Of binnen reguliere aanbod ‘De keien van de Wetstraat’, ‘Phara’, ‘Villa Politica’, ‘Het Journaal’, ‘Koppen’, ‘Vandaag’ ? De Standaard/De Morgen: wordt waarschijnlijk moeilijker om groot artikel te krijgen Eerder gespecialiseerde pers -> Knack, Trends, De Tijd Daarna volgt dan misschien vanzelf een opvolging door de dagbladen. Idee om exclusiviteit te bieden aan één medium, lijkt dus goede optie. aan Waalse zijde? Nog geen informatie over programma’s Le Soir, La Libre Belgique, RTBF, …

Datum Misschien toch aan D-day van 27 mei vasthouden, want in de allerlaatste week voor de verkiezingen brengen meeste media zelf nog allerlei resultaten uit. De planning van de VRT moet natuurlijk nog binnenkomen. Maar verspreiding in de week van 25-29 mei lijkt tot nu toe optimaal. 4.

Voorstellen

1. Gelijktijdige verspreiding naar alle Vlaamse en Waalse media (via persbericht). Doel: coverage in alle klanten. Dan zullen dat waarschijnlijk kleinere artikeltjes zijn.µ 2. Exclusiviteit aan één medium (uit gespecialiseerde pers, genre Trends/De Tijd). Andere media kunnen dag erna opvolgen, (eventueel opgevolgd door een eigen persbericht?). 3. Exclusiviteit aan één medium, maar de andere media worden tegelijkertijd op de hoogte gebracht met een persbericht. Het persbericht bevat sowieso minder info. Het andere medium krijgt een volledige paper. Dit moet natuurlijk in afspraak met het medium waarmee zou worden samengewerkt.



Optie 2, meest werkbare optie? 24

Als we tot een overeenkomst kunnen komen met één medium, zullen zij waarschijnlijk ook echte exclusiviteit opeisen. Concrete afspraken moeten gemaakt worden. Het komt er dan alleen op aan om ook echt iets te presenteren waar een volledig bladvullend artikel kan rond gemaakt worden. Sowieso zal de studie meer in het oog vallen als ze één maal grote coverage krijgt en daarna eventueel wat opvolging in andere media, dan een hele reeks kleine artikels op eenzelfde dag.

5.

Presentatie

De paper Bevat de data en conclusies in detail. Indien mogelijk aangevuld met illustrerend materiaal (grafiek, diagrammen). Kan dan worden toegestuurd naar medium waarmee wordt samengewerkt op exclusieve basis. Het persbericht Kiezen voor meest opvallende, ‘verpletterende’ resultaat. Samengevat in catchy zinnen en met één algemene titel, bv. “Veel bedrijven kennen de weg naar de politiek nog niet”.

25

Appendix 10 Draft and final version of the press release about the survey First draft

PA Survey – aanzet tot conclusies, boodschappen & duiding

Ondernemingen communiceren onvoldoende en te laat met regionale parlementsleden 8 op 10 parlementsleden vindt [het zijn/haar taak om ook ondernemingen te vertegenwoordigen] [ANDERE VERWOORDING?] Lobbying wordt door parlementsleden aangemoedigd: het heeft een plaats in de politieke besluitvorming Door een gebrek aan kennis van de politieke besluitvorming, laten ondernemingen kansen liggen om hun belangen optimaal te behartigen

Uit een brede, kwalitatieve bevraging bij [60] uittredende regionale parlementsleden blijkt dat ondernemingen onvoldoende en te laat met hen communiceren. Dit staat in schril contrast met de rol die de meeste parlementsleden voor zichzelf zien: als volksvertegenwoordiger vinden ze het hun taak om ook het bedrijfsleven te vertegenwoordigen. Politici zijn vragende partij voor een snelle, proactieve communicatie vanwege het bedrijfsleven, omdat dit de politieke besluitvorming ten goede komt. Ondernemingen daarentegen hebben nog veel last van koudwatervrees en zijn onvoldoende vertrouwd met de politieke arena. Deze bevraging (*) werd uitgevoerd door Whyte Corporate Affairs nv, een onafhankelijk Belgisch adviesbureau gespecialiseerd in bedrijfscommunicatie, ‘public affairs’ en crisiscommunicatie. COMMUNICATIE VAN ONDERNEMINGEN AAN REGIONALE PARLEMENTSLEDEN KRIJGT EEN ONVOLDOENDE 6 op 10 regionale parlementsleden vinden dat ze onvoldoende rechtstreeks worden gecontacteerd en geïnformeerd door ondernemingen ; 7 op 10 vindt dat ze meestal te laat worden gecontacteerd. Veel ondernemingen contacteren parlementairen enkel in het geval van probleemsituaties, en bovendien gebeurt dat pas in laatste instantie, wanneer het eigenlijk te laat is. De bevraagde politici vinden dat veel ondernemingen onderschatten wat de politiek voor hen kan betekenen.

26

De meest aangehaalde verklaring voor deze gebrekkige communicatie is de gebrekkige kennis van de politieke besluitvorming, structuur en partijpolitieke standpunten. Onbekend maakt onbemind, waardoor veel ondernemingen de stap richting politiek niet durven zetten. Er bestaat wel een zeer grote tevredenheid over de activiteiten van werkgeversorganisaties (zoals VBO, VOKA en UWE) en sectorfederaties. Deze organisaties communiceren meestal op tijd en gericht. Ze spelen kort op de bal – wat in scherp contrast blijkt te staan met de aanpak van veel individuele ondernemingen.

VOLKSVERTEGENWOORDIGERS ALS VERTEGENWOORDIGERS VAN HET BEDRIJFSLEVEN [ANDERE VERWOORDING?] 8 op 10 regionale parlementsleden vinden het[ hun taak om (rechtstreeks of onrechtstreeks) ook ondernemingen te vertegenwoordigen]. Ruim 8 op 10 regionale parlementsleden vindt dat het de verantwoordelijkheid is van ondernemingen om hen rechtstreeks op de hoogte te houden van hun activiteiten, problemen en wensen. De regionale parlementsleden zijn dus duidelijk vragende partij voor een nauwere dialoog met ondernemingen. Een ruime meerderheid roept individuele bedrijven op om beter en sneller te communiceren. Opmerkelijk is dat de meeste persoonlijke contacten met het bedrijfsleven meestal in een andere context ontstaan, dankzij een lokaal mandaat (bijvoorbeeld als burgemeester of schepen), het vroegere beroepsleven of andere nevenactiviteiten. Binnen hun activiteit als volksvertegenwoordiger komen deze contacten veel minder tot stand, en vaak moeten parlementsleden zelf het initiatief nemen. Ze betreuren dit gebrek aan tweerichtingsverkeer tussen politici en managers of ondernemers. LOBBY-PARADOX De resultaten van de bevraging wijzen op een opmerkelijke paradox in verband met lobbying. Lobbying is de communicatie van organisaties (in dit onderzoek : individuele ondernemingen) naar politieke besluitvormers (in dit onderzoek : regionale parlementsleden) met het oog op beïnvloeding van de politieke besluitvorming. - Enerzijds zijn de regionale parlementsleden vragende partij voor meer informatie van en contacten met ondernemingen, vanuit de overtuiging dat dit de politieke besluitvorming ten goede komt. - Anderzijds blijkt er bij ondernemingen een grote drempel te bestaan om hier werk van te maken, wegens een gebrek aan vertrouwdheid met [/kennis van ?] de politieke arena. Hierdoor laten ze kansen liggen om hun belangen terdege te behartigen.

27

Final version EMBARGO tot 26 mei 2009, 18u00

8 op 10 regionale parlementsleden vraagt meer proactieve communicatie van ondernemingen
Ondernemingen communiceren onvoldoende en te laat met regionale parlementsleden
Betere communicatie komt politieke besluitvorming ten goede Brussel – 26/05/09 - Uit een bevraging bij 60 uittredende regionale parlementsleden blijkt dat ondernemingen onvoldoende en te laat met hen communiceren. Dit staat in schril contrast met wat parlementsleden verwachten van ondernemingen. Ruim 8 op 10 (8,5/10) parlementsleden is namelijk vragende partij voor een proactieve communicatie van ondernemingen omdat dit de politieke besluitvorming ten goede komt. Ondernemingen zijn zich dus onvoldoende bewust van wat regionale parlementsleden voor hen kunnen betekenen. Deze kwalitatieve bevraging werd uitgevoerd door Whyte Corporate Affairs nv, een onafhankelijk Belgisch adviesbureau gespecialiseerd in bedrijfscommunicatie en ‘public affairs’, de communicatie naar en met besluitvormers met het oog op belangenbehartiging. De resultaten geven een duidelijker inzicht in de houding van regionale parlementsleden ten opzichte van lobbying door ondernemingen, die door middel van communicatie de politieke besluitvorming proberen te beïnvloeden. COMMUNICATIE VAN ONDERNEMINGEN AAN REGIONALE PARLEMENTSLEDEN KRIJGT EEN ONVOLDOENDE 6 op 10 (6,17/10) regionale parlementsleden vindt dat ze onvoldoende rechtstreeks worden gecontacteerd en geïnformeerd door ondernemingen; 7 op 10 (7,17/10) vindt dat ze meestal te laat worden gecontacteerd. Veel ondernemingen contacteren parlementairen enkel in het geval van probleemsituaties. Bovendien gebeurt deze communicatie pas in laatste instantie, wanneer het eigenlijk te laat is. De bevraagde politici vinden dat veel ondernemingen onderschatten wat de politiek voor hen kan betekenen. De meest aangehaalde verklaring voor deze moeizame communicatie is het feit dat de ondernemingen de weg naar de regionale politieke besluitvorming niet kennen. Onbekend maakt onbemind, waardoor veel ondernemingen de stap richting de regionale politiek niet zetten.

28

TWEERICHTINGSCOMMUNICATIE KOMT POLITIEKE BESLUITVORMING TEN GOEDE Ruim 8 op 10 (8,5/10) regionale parlementsleden is vragende partij voor een proactieve communicatie van ondernemingen. Ze staan open voor lobbying op basis van duidelijke informatieuitwisseling, omdat dit de politieke besluitvorming ten goede komt. Er wordt gewezen op een wederzijdse verantwoordelijkheid. Enerzijds is het de verantwoordelijkheid van ondernemingen om de regionale parlementsleden rechtstreeks op de hoogte te houden van hun activiteiten, problemen en wensen. Anderzijds is het aan de parlementsleden om die informatie op een gepaste manier te interpreteren. De regionale parlementsleden zijn dus duidelijk vragende partij voor een nauwere dialoog met ondernemingen. Een ruime meerderheid roept individuele bedrijven op om beter en sneller te communiceren. WERKGEVERSORGANISATIES EN NEVENACTIVITEITEN ZORGEN VOOR MEESTE CONTACTEN Er bestaat bij de bevraagde parlementsleden wel een zeer grote tevredenheid over de activiteiten van werkgeversorganisaties (zoals VBO, VOKA, BECI, UWE en UNIZO) en sectorfederaties. Deze organisaties communiceren meestal op tijd en gericht. Ze spelen kort op de bal – wat in scherp contrast blijkt te staan met de aanpak van vele individuele ondernemingen. Parlementairen vinden de individuele communicatie van bedrijven minstens even belangrijk. Parallelle communicatie van sectoren en individuele bedrijven zorgt ervoor dat zij een vollediger beeld hebben op het bedrijfsleven. Daarnaast is het opmerkelijk dat de persoonlijke contacten met het bedrijfsleven meestal in een andere context ontstaan, dankzij een lokaal mandaat (bijvoorbeeld als burgemeester of schepen), het vroegere beroepsleven of andere nevenactiviteiten. Binnen hun activiteit als volksvertegenwoordiger komen deze contacten veel minder tot stand, en vaak moeten parlementsleden zelf het initiatief nemen. Ze betreuren dit gebrek aan tweerichtingsverkeer tussen politici en managers of ondernemers.

CONCLUSIE: DE PARADOX ROND LOBBYING De resultaten van de bevraging wijzen op een opmerkelijke paradox in verband met lobbying. Enerzijds zijn parlementsleden vragende partij voor een meer proactieve, persoonlijke en directe communicatie van ondernemingen en staan zij open voor lobbying. Dit komt beide partijen ten goede, alsook de politieke besluitvorming Anderzijds blijkt dat ondernemingen hier nog te weinig werk van maken. Ze beschouwen de parlementairen niet als een belangrijk kanaal om hun belangen te verdedigen.

29

Lobbying zit duidelijk nog in de taboesfeer, en wordt onvoldoende gebaseerd op proactieve en directe communicatie tussen ondernemingen en politieke besluitvormers. De bal ligt in het kamp van de ondernemingen om meer en betere communicatie-initiatieven te nemen en hun belangen efficiënter te behartigen. De regionale parlementsleden staan ervoor open om dit een plaats te geven in het politieke besluitvormingsproces.

Over Whyte Corporate Affairs Whyte Corporate Affairs NV is een Belgisch, onafhankelijk communicatieadviesbureau gespecialiseerd in ‘corporate affairs’. Whyte biedt corporate communicatie en public affairs advies en ondersteuning, met een specifieke expertise in crisiscommunicatie en issue management. Zie ook www.whyte.be. Whyte werd opgericht in september 2008 door de vennoten Sandrine Agie, Joris Bulteel, Eveline De Ridder (actief vanaf 1 januari 2009) en Emmanuel Goedseels. Het 10-koppige team van Whyte beschikt over sterke referenties in de Belgische communicatiewereld en is actief op een belangrijke klantenportefeuille. Whyte adviseert onder meer AB InBev, IKEA, Flightcare, IRE.

Perscontact Joris Bulteel | [email protected] | T +32 2 738 06 21 | M +32 476 69 59 86 | www.whyte.be

30

Appendix 11 Media coverage of survey

Express.be Ondernemingen onderschatten wat politiek voor hen kan betekenen dinsdag 26 mei 2009 Ondernemingen communiceren onvoldoende en te laat met regionale parlementsleden. Dat is spijtig want betere communicatie komt politieke besluitvorming ten goede. Dat blijkt uit een bevraging van Whyte Corporate Affairs, een onafhankelijk Belgisch adviesbureau, bij 60 uittredende regionale parlementsleden. Het resultaat van de bevraging staat in schril contrast met wat parlementsleden verwachten van ondernemingen. Ruim 8 op 10 parlementsleden is namelijk vragende partij voor een proactieve communicatie van ondernemingen omdat dit de politieke besluitvorming ten goede komt. Ondernemingen zijn zich dus onvoldoende bewust van wat regionale parlementsleden voor hen kunnen betekenen. Veel ondernemingen contacteren parlementairen enkel in het geval van probleemsituaties. Bovendien gebeurt deze communicatie pas in laatste instantie, wanneer het eigenlijk te laat is. De bevraagde politici vinden dat veel ondernemingen onderschatten wat de politiek voor hen kan betekenen. Ze beschouwen de parlementairen niet als een belangrijk kanaal om hun belangen te verdedigen. Lobbying zit duidelijk nog in de taboesfeer, en wordt onvoldoende gebaseerd op proactieve en directe communicatie tussen ondernemingen en politieke besluitvormers.

L’Echo

Nog te verschijnen - editoriaal in L’Echo - interview in BECI-magazine - …

31

Appendix 12 Profile Vincent Van Quickenborne

Company From Subject Date

AB InBev Whyte Corporate Affairs Profile Vincent Van Quickenborne 28 May 2009

Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) Minister van Ondernemen en Vereenvoudigen Adres H. Consciencestraat 1 8500 Kortrijk Brederodestraat 9 1000 Brussel T: 02/792.99.00 GSM: 0495/84.69.36 M: [email protected] 1.

Huidige mandaten -

2.

1 januari 2001 - …: gemeenteraadslid Kortrijk 2002 - …: Lid van het nationaal bureau van Open VLD 20 april 2008 - …: Minister van Economie, Innovatie, Administratieve vereenvoudiging, ICT en Telecommunicatie Politieke loopbaan

3.

1997: intrede in politiek met oprichting ID21 1999 – 2003: senator (VU&ID) Na uiteenvallen VU&ID, gevolgd naar Spirit, later naar VLD 13 juni 1999 - 13 juni 2004: ondervoorzitter Europese Liberalen en Democraten 2003 – 2007: Staatssecretaris voor Administratieve Vereenvoudiging, toegevoegd aan de Eerste Minister 2009: lijstduwer West-Vlaamse Open VLD-lijst voor de Vlaamse verkiezingen Professionele loopbaan

-

Advocaat aan de balie van Kortrijk

32

4.

Opleiding -

5.

Licentiaat Rechten (Universiteit Gent, afgestudeerd in 1996) Latijn-Wiskunde (Sint-Barbaracollege Gent, afgestudeerd in 1991) Vroegere verenigingen

6.

Amada, Alle Macht aan de Arbeiders, voorloper PVDA LVSV, Liberaal Vlaams Studentenverbond KVHV, Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudentenverbond Coudenberggroep, Belgisch gezinde federalistische denktank TriAngel, links unitaire groepering (tot 1998) Uitspraken

6.1 Payment terms -

“In Frankrijk is de betalingstermijn echt beperkt tot 60 dagen en is er geen onderhandelingsvrijheid. Als ondernemersorganisaties wensen dat we onze wetgeving naar Frans voorbeeld verstrengen, wil ik dat bekijken. Maar tot nog toe heb ik nog geen dergelijke vraag gekregen” (De Tijd, 19 april 2009) - “Volgens de huidige wetgeving mogen leveranciers en klanten onderling bepalen binnen welke termijn de betalingen moeten gebeuren. Steeds meer grote bedrijven zetten zelfstandigen en kmo's onder druk om die termijn te verlengen. De cijfers van het eerste kwartaal bevestigen dat 35 procent van de facturen van bedrijven niet binnen de afgesproken termijn wordt betaald. Het aantal facturen met betalingsachterstand bij de overheid is gedaald van 23 procent in het laatste kwartaal van vorig jaar tot 7 procent in het eerste kwartaal van dit jaar.” (De Tijd, 22 april 2009) - "Wij moeten zien of de moutproducenten, de leveranciers van brouwer AB InBev, in een positie verkeren dat zij geen andere keus hebben. Als dat het geval is, zou dat misbruik van een machtspositie zou kunnen zijn." (VRT nieuws, 18 april 2009) - “Hoewel de meeste antitrustregels zich op de prijzen concentreren die een bedrijf aan zijn klanten factureert, behandelt de concurrentiewetgeving ook de verhouding van een bedrijf met zijn leveranciers. Het onderzoek zal de werkelijkheid van de contracten onder de loep nemen om te zien of er veranderingen zijn geweest en om te zien welk soort veranderingen is aangebracht.” (VRT nieuws, 19 april 2009) 6.2 Loonkosten - “We moeten aandeelhouders de macht geven te oordelen over de lonen van de gedelegeerd bestuurders. Ze moeten in een afzonderlijke stemming kunnen oordelen over het loon. Als ze vinden dat het te hoog is in verhouding tot de resultaten, moeten ze het loonpakket kunnen wegstemmen. Gedelegeerd bestuurders die hun taak goed hebben uitgevoerd, hoeven niet te vrezen. De aandeelhouders zijn eigenaar van het bedrijf, niet de manager.” (De Tijd, 14 juni 2006) - “Ik wil het systeem van de gouden handdruk reglementeren, om bepaalde ontsporingen te vermijden. Een beperking tot 18 maanden loon voor de ontslagpremie van topmanagers, is volkomen acceptabel.” (Knack, 23 oktober 2008) 33

6.3 Tijdelijke werkloosheid -

7.

“Tijdelijke werkloosheid biedt bedrijven de kans om flexibel in te spelen op een veranderende vraag. Het voorkomt dat bedrijven meteen moeten overgaan tot definitief ontslag. Ook bedienden moeten van deze mogelijkheid kunnen genieten.” (De Standaard, 4 februari 2009) Trivia

-

Geboortedatum: 1 augustus 1973 Geboorteplaats: Gent

-

Gekend voor mediastunts en straffe uitspraken (“Ik wil wel eens een jointje opsteken in de Senaat”) Noemde zichzelf ‘Quicky’ of ‘Senator Q’ Stokpaardje is de administratieve vereenvoudiging, met meldpunt op http://www.kafka.be

-

-

Geïnspireerd door de economen Frédéric Bastiat, Martin Wolf, Paul De Grauwe en Geert Noels Fan van films van Woody Allen en Luis Brunel Muziekliefhebber (dEUS, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dave Brubeck) Fervent bezoeker van muziekfestivals Klara-luisteraar Boeken: Mr. China (Tim Clissold), Freakonomics (Steve Levitt), Lijmen (Willem Elsschot) Fan van KV Kortrijk

-

Geeft jaarlijks in mei een groot tuinfeest

-

In 2004 door LVSV tot ridder in de liberale orde geslagen wegens pleidooi voor deregulering

-

Eerste Belgische politicus met blog, http://www.vincentvanquickenborne.be/blog Actief op Facebook, Twitter en LinkedIn Persoonlijke website ‘Quickonomie’ met 10 actiepunten om de Belgische economie te versterken

-

34

Appendix 13 Translation of the speech of B. Cerexhe and G. Vanhengel Vertaling speech pagina 2 Zoals ik al zei, was het voornaamste doel van de werken op deze site het verzekeren van een kwalitatief betere service voor alle patiënten. U weet beter dan wie ook dat de ziekenhuissector een sector in voortdurende evolutie is. Voorbeelden daarvan zijn de evolutie van nieuwe medische technologieën, de ontwikkeling van daghospitalisatie in alle afdelingen van het ziekenhuis, van chirurgie tot geriatrie; maar ook de verkorting van ziekenhuisverblijven en de stijging van het aantal bejaarde patiënten of patiënten met chronische aandoening. De Brusselse ziekenhuizen moeten hun investeringen dus op regelmatige basis herevalueren. Om hen toe te laten op een infrastructuur terug te kunnen vallen waarvan de levensduur ongeveer 30 jaar bedraagt, kent de Brussels regio, sinds zijn oprichting en door middel van een vernieuwd plan, elke tien jaar een belangrijke financiële bijdrage toe voor de realisatie van renovaties. Deze bijdragen werden op een evenwichtige manier verdeeld onder alle Brusselse ziekenhuizen. Wij kunnen (op die manier) een nieuw plan aan u voorstellen: in het meerjarenplan voor bouw dat loopt tot 2019 is 520 miljoen euro voorzien. De middelen zijn verdeeld in functie van het aantal bedden, met name 45% voor de openbare en 55% voor de private ziekenhuizen. In dat nieuw plan dekt het budget van 51 miljoen euro, dat werd toegestaan aan de Europa Ziekenhuizen, vooral de kosten voor de lopende werkzaamheden in St.-Elisabeth. De realisatie van de site waar we vandaag zijn samengekomen, waarvan de werken werden aangevat in 2003, past in een renovatieproject waarvan de eerste fase terugloopt tot in de jaren ’90. De strikte/stipte uitvoering van de werken op de twee sites door de aannemer, staat toe het voorziene budget te optimaliseren en dus meer te doen met hetzelfde bedrag. Dit getuigt van het streven naar efficiëntie van de directie van de Europa Ziekenhuizen en dat verheugt ons enorm. Het is bovendien diezelfde prestatiegerichtheid die hun toelaat om vandaag een financiële balans te presenteren die in evenwicht is en positief resultaat toont. Dit was niet het geval in het verleden toen deze ziekenhuizen nog niet tot de groep van de Europa Ziekenhuizen behoorden.

35

Uiteindelijke versie van pagina 2 Zoals ik al aangaf, was het voornaamste doel van de werken op deze site het verzekeren van een kwalitatief betere service voor alle patiënten. U weet beter dan wie ook dat de ziekenhuissector een sector in voortdurende evolutie is. De evolutie van nieuwe medische technologieën, de ontwikkeling van daghospitalisatie in alle afdelingen van het ziekenhuis, van chirurgie tot geriatrie; maar ook het verkorten van ziekenhuisverblijven en de stijging van het aantal bejaarde patiënten of patiënten met chronische aandoening zijn daar voorbeelden van. De Brusselse ziekenhuizen moeten hun investeringen dus op regelmatige basis herevalueren. Om hen toe te laten hun infrastructuur, die een gemiddelde levensduur kent van 30 jaar, op punt te houden, kent de Brussels regio een belangrijke financiële bijdrage toe voor renovaties. Ze doet dit sinds zijn oprichting door middel van een plan dat elke tien jaar wordt vernieuwd. Deze bijdragen werden op een evenwichtige manier verdeeld onder alle Brusselse ziekenhuizen. Ook in het meerjarenplan voor bouw, dat loopt tot 2019, werd 520 miljoen euro voorzien. De middelen worden verdeeld in functie van het aantal bedden, met name 45% voor de openbare en 55% voor de private ziekenhuizen. In dat nieuw plan is een budget van 51 miljoen euro toegekend aan de Europa Ziekenhuizen voor de kosten voor de lopende werkzaamheden in St.-Elisabeth. De realisatie van de site waar we vandaag zijn samengekomen, waarvan de werken werden aangevat in 2003, past in een renovatieproject waarvan de eerste fase terugloopt tot in de jaren ’90. De stipte uitvoering van de werken op de twee sites staat toe het voorziene budget te optimaliseren en dus meer te doen met hetzelfde bedrag. Dit streven naar efficiëntie van de directie van de Europa Ziekenhuizen verheugt ons enorm. Het is bovendien diezelfde prestatiegerichtheid die hun toelaat om vandaag een financiële balans in evenwicht te presenteren met positief resultaat. Dit was niet het geval in het verleden toen de afzonderlijke ziekenhuizen nog niet tot de Europa Ziekenhuizen behoorden.

36

Appendix 14 Press clipping for Europaziekenhuizen

37