Abstract
Each country chapter of this volume provides an overview of the national lobbying industry, taking into consideration also institutional, historical and cultural variables, and placing the analysis of lobbying and public affairs into a wider picture. A short overview of the country’s political system is given, illustrating the institutional structure, the party system or the weight of particular political actors. In order to describe the features of the lobbying industry in the country, various pieces of information are considered, such as the regulatory framework (and relative ‘flaws’), the number of professionals working in the sector, the presence of specific educational pathways (master’s degrees or courses), the presence of professional associations and, if any, of deontological charters or self-disciplinary measures. Overall, an assessment on the degree of professionalisation and development of the industry is formulated, addressing also the perception of lobbyists by the public opinion and the influence of the EU supranational level on the national environment, imagining future scenarios and trends.
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Notes
- 1.
French act of March 21, 1884 which allowed the creation of professional trade unions.
- 2.
French act of July 1, 1901 on partnership contracts.
- 3.
The reduction of the presidential term of office to five years and the fact that the election of the Head of State precedes the election of the National Assembly limit in theory the cases of coexistence between a President from one political majority and an Assembly from another; in practice that has strengthened even more the President’s preeminence and as a consequence reduced the Prime Minister’s role.
- 4.
The biggest professional organisations representing important economic sectors have developed close relationships over the years with their supervisory ministries. As a consequence, the latter consult them before drafting a new legislative or regulatory norm. They also have a certain number of parliamentary « friends » who relay their concerns at the Parliament (via the organisation of hearings or working sessions either in the framework of thematic study groups or of parliamentary colloquy organized on an ad hoc basis).
- 5.
The recent act on the new organization of the Republic from August 7, 2015, has entrusted regions –whose number has been decreased- but also cities with new responsibilities namely in the field of economic development.
- 6.
French consultancies have opened offices in Brussels or vice versa in order to help their clients with their influence actions targeting decision-makers wherever they are: the political actors and the moments in which matters are treated are often the same which makes it easier for a company to entrust only one consultancy with a lobbying mission. In the same way, a large number of French companies have opened representation offices in Brussels such as Renault, Danone, EDF or Michelin (they meet in an informal club of big French companies).
- 7.
www.arpp.net. (currently it consists of approximately 40 people belonging to large firms or professional organizations and practising lobbying or, more broadly speaking, institutional relationships).
- 8.
www.afcl.fr. (the association gathers almost all the French consultancy companies dedicated to lobbying and public affairs, from the smallest ones with sometimes one or two consultants to the biggest ones).
- 9.
www.avocats-lobbying.com. (it is composed of around 10 law firms plus 10 individual lawyers who all offer lobbying services).
- 10.
See the report of the Member of Parliament Christophe Sirugue on lobbies at the National Assembly, resulting in the Bureau’s decision of February 27, 2013: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/representants-interets/rapport_bureau_2013.pdf
- 11.
The list is available online at the following address: http://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/representant/representant_interet_liste
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Sallé, D., Marchi, F. (2017). France. In: Bitonti, A., Harris, P. (eds) Lobbying in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55256-3_13
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