Lobbying – theory and practice dr. Ferenc Nyujtó general-director of department MoAR Department of Strategic Issues Budapest, 2009. August 31,

Lobbying – theory and practice

dr. Ferenc Nyujtó general-director of department MoAR

Department of Strategic Issues Budapest, 2009. August 31,.

Outline

1.Introductory words

2.Lobbying in theory

3.Lobbying by countries

4.Regulation of lobbying in Hungary

5. Features of lobbying practice in Hungary before and after the accession

Preface• Economist• Research Institute for Agriculture Economics (1973 –

1983)• Assistant to the minister of agriculture (1983 – 1987)• Head of department for agriculture budgetary policy,

subsidies, credit policy, statistics, World Bank’s projects (1988 -1999)

• Desk officer for the MoARD in Prime-ministerial Office (1999 – 2002)

• Chef of the Cabinet to the minister of agriculture (2002 – 2003)

• Deputy state secretary, responsible for the EU accession and acting as a member state (2003 – 2006)

Preface

Lobbying is an ancient art, as old as government itself.

National government and local governments, self-governments too.

Mother of all parliaments

The House of Commons

The Hungarian Parliament

The Hall of the Plenary Sessions

I) Introduction (1)

A Hungarian saying

• If I’m involved, it is called lobbying activity, if I am left out, it is then mafia.

Introduction (2)

• Hungarian delay in socio-economic development – now we are catching up

• Changing the political regime and introducing the democratic institutions, having parliamentary democracy (1990)

• Opening doors to market economy and inviting foreign investments, capital, expertise

• Joining the European Union (2004)

Introduction (3)

• An average Hungarian first of all looks for a helping hand in the office instead of studying the adequate rules. We are looking for WHOM not WHAT, when we initiate the solution of a task or problem.

• This approach is very often CHARACTERISTIC OF the public affairs, too.

Introduction (4)

Historical heritage (1)• Hungary was a part of the Ottoman (Turkish) empire

for centuries – presents, bribery (in Turkish “bakshish”) was needed to settle things;

• The same old story was going on in the administration of the Habsburg-Monarchy later, when we were ruled by the Habsburgs, always alliances were needed to shape a regulation in a “proper” way or reach a better political compromise (in extreme cases the lobby activity extended to the so-called national freedom-fightings );

• The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy’s government had its weaknesses in this regard;

Introduction (5)Hungarian heritage (2)• Also, the Hungarian Kingdom between the two world wars

lacked full transparency in administration;• In a soviet-block country transparency was not the most

important matter, it was the area of politically motivated lobby activity, like agrar-lobby for more state aid, industrial lobby for more state-provided investment sources etc.

• We arrived in 1990 at the epoch of parliamentary democracy with the highest degree of transparency we had ever had in Hungary;

• After the accession to the EU we have to certify the highest level of transparency in compliance with the EU regulations at least in the cases of spending common subsidies, implementing market regulation, public procurement rules etc.

Introduction (6)

• Hungary is a member state of the Union and all the rules of the community are in force in our country. This situation necessitates to set up requirements of reshaping our national legal regulation, too.

Introduction (7)

Great traditions of lobby activity are alive in our society regarding the former information. The task was how to regulate it in transparent forms in order to strengthen our democratic institutions. I will present this topic in chapter III.: what is the Hungarian regulation like nowadays. Chapter I. gives us the theory, mainly the Anglo-Saxon one. Chapter II. tells us about the regulation of the countries’ and the EU regulation and chapter IV. considers the Hungarian practice: both in the frame of national regulation before the accession and how we implement the rules now in the EU programmes.

II) LOBBYING in THEORY

Although we know that the several-thousand-year-old social history is about

„lobbying”, its theory extends for only about two centuries.

Lobbying in theory (1)By Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

- Definition: lobbying is the practice of influencing decisions made by government (in groups or individually). It includes all attempts to influence legislators and officials, whether by other legislators, constituents, or organized groups.

- A lobbyist is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest or a member of a lobby. Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying.

Lobbying in practice (2 )• Lobby - what does it mean? By the American

Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company

• 1) A hall, foyer, or waiting room at or near the entrance to a building, such as a hotel or theater.

• 2) A public room next to the assembly chamber of a legislative body.

• 3) A group of persons engaged in trying to influence legislators or other public officials in favor of a specific cause: the banking lobby; the labor lobby.

Lobbying in theory (3 )

• Lobbying – what does it mean?(Heritage Dictionary)

• 1) To try to influence public officials on behalf of or against (proposed legislation, for example): lobbied the bill through Congress; lobbied the bill to a negative vote.

• 2) To try to influence (an official) to take a desired action.

Lobbying in theory (4)

„Friend or Foe?

Lobbying in British Democracy”A discussion paper by Philip Parvin

Text and graphics © Hansard Society 2007

• It is an important and ground-breaking study in a number of ways

Lobbying in theory (5)• Firstly it concludes that lobbying is a broad activity and

not a narrow one. • Secondly, although their objectives are very different,

corporate and NGO lobbying today pursue very similar tactics and strategies to achieve them, although as the report indicates their target audiences (politicians and policy makers) view their effectiveness very differently.

• Finally, by examining the media, the elected politicians and the public affairs industry in one single study, the report is able to look at the totality of what influences and shapes the political debate and ultimately today’s government policy.

Lobbying in theory (6)The paper demonstrates that:1) Lobbying is more widespread than it is often

assumed to be by its critics and supporters.2) Public affairs activity is becoming more

professionalised.3) Ensuring that all those organisations who

engage in lobbying do so transparently and ethically is crucial to the future health of our democratic system. Organisations not only have an ETHICAL reason to be transparent and open in their dealings, but also a COMMERCIAL one.

Lobbying in theory (7)4) Although lobbying organisations are, on the

whole, becoming much more professional in their approach to engaging with policy-makers and MPs, they have varying degrees of success in doing so. Those which have the greatest success are not necessarily from the sectors that many people expect.

5) As a result of wider social and political change, as well as government policy, lobbying organisations across different sectors are occupying an increasingly central role not only in the development of policy, but also in its delivery.

Lobbying in theory (8)• What is against it? The recent report by the Power Commission argues that

lobbyists should be forced to disclose their contact with politicians, because:

• Opinions about the legitimacy and usefulness of lobbying are not unanimous.

• Many see lobbying as antithetical to democracy; a corruption of the basic democratic principle that government should be in the public interest, not in the interests of those with the money to buy influence and power.

• This sentiment would appear to run deep among many activists and campaigners who have suggested that some of our most basic freedoms and liberties are in jeopardy as a result of big businesses seeking to maximise their profits.

Lobbying in theory (9)• What is pro?1)It is surely the case that the power and access the media has to

influencing policy is vastly more than that of the whole lobbying industry.

2) „It is the right of any citizen to lobby hisMember of Parliament, and if he considersthat his case can be better advanced with professional assistance he has every rightto avail himself of that assistance.”– First Report of Members Interests Committee, 1984-1985 / UK3)Broader frame in supplying information for legislators


• Two terms ‘lobbying’ and ‘public affairs’ • Effectively influencing policy-makers requires

a wide range of diverse techniques and practices

• Lobbyists are keen to emphasise that ‘lobbying’ is only one part of what they do

• Effective political communication involves not merely direct contact with MPs, ministers, and civil servants, but

Lobbying in theory (11)a range of other related activities including• building partnerships with other organisations, • raising issues with the press,• engaging with user-groups,• mobilising grassroots support, • managing reputations,• monitoring and predicting political, legal, economic,

and social developments,• market research,• providing political intelligence and strategic advice,

and so on.


• To put it another way, lobbying and public affairs activity involves not merely the development of vertical relations between organisations and government, but the fostering of horizontal relationships among all those different groups involved in policy development (including government).

• The term ‘public affairs’ has emerged to capture all these different activities under one profession or label.


• Lobbying = implementation of overlapping lobbying techniques which different organisations use to try to influence the political process.

• The rise of single-issue politics has meant that formal political engagement (through the traditional channels of joining associations like political parties and trade unions, and voting in elections) has declined and has been supplanted by newer forms of political activity.


The Democratic Context of lobbying• Recent research suggests that people seem less

willing to engage in the formal mechanisms of representative politics, it seems that they are willing to look to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and interest groups to represent their views on certain issues within the democratic system.

Lobbying in theory (15)• Lobbying is often seen as the means by which big

businesses seek to influence politicians in order to increase their profits. There is some truth in this, of course: businesses do indeed lobby politicians in order to increase their profits. But lobbying and big business are not synonymous.

• Films such as The Corporation, Supersize Me, and Thank You For Smoking, books like Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and No Logo by Naomi Klein, and popular polemics rage at government corruption and financial scandal.

Lobbying in theory (16)• In a developed country the policy-making

process is dynamic, fragmented, and subject to a great many influences from a diverse range of organisations hoping to shape policy decisions by communicating with Parliament, government, and one another in the interests of promoting (or resisting) change. This direct or indirect lobbying of policy-makers and other stakeholders is widespread and deeply ingrained in a developed democratic system. Indeed it is symbolic of a healthy pluralist democracy.

Lobbying in theory (17)• Who are lobbyists? What kinds of organisations are

in the business of shaping and influencing policy in a country?

• companies - corporate lobbying• charities and interest groups• trade unions• trade associations• professional bodies• think tanks• Government• The Media

Lobbying in theory (18)‘Lobbying’ is only one part – and a relatively small part - of

what public affairs practitioners (whether consultants, or working for companies, trade associations, interest groups, NGOs, think tanks, or trade unions) do in the name of raising agendas and issues with decision-makers and other key stakeholders. Public affairs represents a wide and diverse range of activities, many of which do not involve direct lobbying of government or parliamentarians at all. Consequently, when viewed in this broader way, the ‘lobbying’ process must be viewed not as a top down or ‘vertical’ relationship between external organisations and government, but a ‘horizontal’ relationship between a range of organisations, including government.

III) LOBBYING by COUNTRIES

Recent regulations and practice of countries

Lobbying by countries (1) USA

Although lobbying is an ancient art — as old as government itself — it is still frequently viewed with suspicion.

• It is, in fact, a legitimate activity protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America:

"Congress shall make no law....abridging the freedom of speech....or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Lobbying by countries (2) USA The term "lobbyist" came into usage early in the 19th

century, although stories of its origin vary. • 1) One account describes "lobby-agents" as the petitioners

in the lobby of the New York State Capitol waiting to address legislators.

• 2) Another version of the story describes the lobby of the Willard Hotel as the meeting site for both legislators and favor-seekers during the early 1800s.

• 3) A third story states that the term originated at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, where it was used by Ulysses S. Grant to describe the political wheelers and dealers frequenting the hotel's lobby in order to access Grant, who was often found there, enjoying a cigar and brandy. (Why?– his wife prohibited him from smoking at home)

Lobbying by countries (3) USA• Either way, by 1835 the term had been shortened to "lobbyist"

and was in wide usage in the U.S. Capitol, though frequently pejoratively.

• The caricature is as familiar as the name: portly, cigar-smoking men who wine and dine lawmakers while slipping money into their pockets.

• Simply put, lobbying is advocacy of a point of view, either by groups or individuals. A special interest is nothing more than an identified group expressing a point of view — be it colleges and universities, churches, charities, public interest or environmental groups, senior citizens´ organizations, even state, local or foreign governments. While most people think of lobbyists only as paid professionals, there are also many independent, volunteer lobbyists — all of whom are protected by the same First Amendment.


• Lobbying is a legitimate and necessary part of the American democratic political process. Government decisions affect both people and organizations, and information must be provided in order to produce informed decisions. Public officials cannot make fair and informed decisions without considering information from a broad range of interested parties. All sides of an issue must be explored in order to produce equitable government policies.

Lobbying by countries (5 ) USA

• Many jurisdictions, in response to concerns of corruption, require the formal registration of lobbyists who come in contact with government representatives.

• Since 1995, under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (2 U.S.C. § 1601–1612), most people who are paid to make direct "lobbying contacts" with members of Congress and officials of the federal executive branch are required to register and file reports twice a year.

• If lobbyists neglect to register, they are susceptible to criminal charges and harsh penalties.

Lobbying by countries ( 6) USA• A controversial bill, the "Executive Branch Reform Act”, H.R.

985, would require over 8,000 Executive Branch officials to report into a public database nearly any "significant contact" from any "private party." Although promoted as a regulation on "lobbyists," the bill defines "private party" as "any person or entity" except "Federal, State, or local government official or a person representing such an official."

• Thus, under the proposal, anyone who contacts a covered government official is in effect deemed to be a lobbyist, unless the communicator is another government official or government staff person. The bill defines "significant contact" to be any "oral or written communication (including electronic communication) . . . in which the private party seeks to influence official action by any officer or employee of the executive branch of the United States."


• The bill is supported by some organizations as an expansion of "government in the sunshine," but other groups oppose it as an infringing on the right to petition by making it impossible for citizens to communicate their views on controversial issues without having their names and viewpoints entered into a government database. The U.S. Department of Justice has raised constitutional and other objections to the bill.

• In an other regulatory case the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected congressional efforts to regulate grassroots communications as a form of "lobbying," on constitutional grounds.

Lobbying by countries (8 ) USA

• The American League of Lobbyists has adopted the "Code of Lobbying Ethics" to provide basic guidelines and standards for lobbyists' conduct.

• Currently, there are over 17,000 federal lobbyists based in Washington, DC. While many of these lobbyists are employed by lobbying and law firms and retain outside clients, others are employed by trade associations, companies, and state and local governments.

Lobbying by countries ( 9) UK• In the United Kingdom lobbying traditionally referred

to the attempt to influence an MP's vote by either their fellow parliamentary colleagues, by one of their constituents or by any outside organisation.

• Currently the term often refers to the more narrow usage of the operation of "lobbyists" hired to represent the views of an organisation, though "there is no neat way of defining what is generally acknowledged to be a porous concept."

• The professional lobbying industry has been steadily growing in recent years and was estimated by the Hansard Society in 2007 to be worth £1.9 billion and employ 14,000 people.

• Their report also suggested that some MPs are approached over 100 times a week by lobbyists.

Lobbying by countries (10 ) UK

• The House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee held an investigation into lobbying, and its 2009 report called for "a statutory register of lobbying activity to bring greater transparency to the dealings between Whitehall decision makers and outside interests.„

• It also concluded that the self-regulation of the professional lobbying industry was "fragmented" and appeared to "involve very little regulation of any substance".


• There are two self-regulatory bodies which UK public affairs companies can join:

• the Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC) and the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA)

• the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) which registers individual lobbyists.


• In addition to "open" lobbying, the United Kingdom, political parties have been accused of trying to raise campaign funds by offering peerages and other honors.

• The rules of Parliament do, however, require participants in debates to 'declare their interest'. The 'sale' of peerages is a criminal offence. To circumvent this law, it is alleged that some contributions thus solicited, are given not as outright gifts but as loans. These issues were also the focus of a Public Administration Select Committee investigation.

Lobbying by countries (13) UK• The corporate business is estimated to employ 48000

people in PR activity, the UK PR industry is worth around £6.5 billion

• The 30% of that was estimated to be the professional lobbying industry in 2007 to be worth £1.9 billion and employ 14,000 people.

• The charity, interest group, and wider NGO sector represents an important and growing locus of lobbying and public affairs activity. 190,000 charities are currently registered with the UK Charity Commission, with a combined annual income of £38 billion – equivalent to 3.4 per cent of total GDP. The UK charity sector employs around 600,000 paid staff.

Lobbying by countries (14) UK

• 67 Trade Unions currently make up the Trade Union Congress, together representing almost 6.5 million people. Labour Party records show that the trade unions still contribute to the majority of the party’s funding (around 75 per cent)

• Trade Associations occupy an important place in the policy-making process. The Trade Association Forum claims that there are around 3000 bodies in the UK which might be described as trade associations. Around 600 of these lobby in a ‘meaningful way’, and around 100 have ‘major full-time staff and government affairs teams’. The CBI, for example, has around 2,000 individual company members employing around four million people, plus a further six million employed by companies whose trade associations are members.


• The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) represents 195,000 members employed across a range of sectors, which together employ 1.3 million people and have an annual turnover of over £10 billion. The ABPI – Association for the Pharmaceutical Industry – represents almost 150 full or affiliated members who together produce 80 per cent of the medicines prescribed through the NHS and have an annual UK trade surplus of around £3.5 billion.

• Professional Bodies: The Law Society, for example, represents around 116,000 professional solicitors in England and Wales, lobbies on ‘several Government Bills each year . . . and [provides] support for MPs and Peers in Westminster.’27 The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has a 30,000-strong membership in the UK


• The British Medical Association represents doctors from all branches of medicine all over the UK. It has a total membership of over 138,000.

• Think Tanks: thriving industry of over 100 organisations, policy institutes, and research centres committed to strengthening political debate and forging new policy solutions.

• Government: Lobbying and public affairs activity involves not merely the development of ‘vertical’ relations between organisations and government, but the fostering of ‘horizontal’ relationships between all those groups and organisations involved in policy development. And these include government. It is an often overlooked fact that government itself invests a considerable amount of time, effort, and resources engaging in those kinds of activities labelled ‘public affairs’.


• The Media cannot be left out of any analysis of lobbying in the UK. They often take up causes and use their considerable influence to persuade public opinion on a variety of issues from Sarah’s Law (tighter controls on child sex offenders) to dangerous dogs.

• The media is free to act without any significant regulation or the need for accountability and, moreover, it is able to claim that this untrammelled freedom is not a laissez-faire vice but instead is a democratic virtue.

Lobbying by countries (18) EU

• The fragmented nature of EU institutional structure provides multiple channels through which organized interests may seek to influence policy-making. Lobbying takes place at the European level itself and within the existing national states. The most important institutional targets are the Commission, the Council, and the European Parliament. The Commission has a monopoly on the initiative in Community decision-making. Since it has the power to draft initiatives, it makes it ideally suited as an arena for interest representation. There are three main channels of indirect lobbying of the Council.

Lobbying by countries (19) EU• First, interest groups routinely lobby the national

delegations in Brussels. The second indirect means of lobbying the Council is for interest groups to lobby members of the many Council-working groups. The third means of influencing the Council is directly via national governments. As a consequence of the co-decision procedures, the European Parliament attracts attention from lobbyists who target the rapporteur and the chairman of the committee. The rapporteurs are MEPs appointed by Committees to prepare the parliament’s response to the Commission’s proposal and to those measures taken by the Parliament itself.


• There are currently around 15,000 lobbyists in Brussels (consultants, lawyers, associations, corporations, NGOs etc.) seeking to influence the EU’s legislative process. Some 2,600 special interest groups have a permanent office in Brussels. Their distribution is roughly as follows: European trade federations (32%), consultants (20%), companies (13%), NGOs (11%), national associations (10%), regional representations (6%), international organizations (5%) and think tanks (1%).


• On 23 March 2006, the European Commission launched a draft Green Paper on the European Transparency Initiative.

• In this draft, the Commission states that “compliance with the highest standards of transparency is an essential condition for the legitimacy of any modern administration”.

Lobbying by countries (21) EUIts main Principles to be improved• provide easy access to existing information about the beneficiaries

of projects and programmes,• The Commission’s coverage of its register of documents• the rules and standards on professional ethics of public office

holders in the European institutions• a review of the “access to documents” legislation revision of the

legal framework for the EU’s Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)• more structured framework for the activities of interest

representatives (lobbyists), „Codex of conduct for lobbyists”• Feedback on the Commission’s minimum standards for

consultation• Mandatory disclosure of information about the beneficiaries of

EU funds under shared management


• In the European Parliament, the mandatory registration for representatives of interest groups who wish to have access to its premises was introduced, as it can only contribute to meeting the transparency requirement, which is a key principle for preserving modern democracy.

• „France has every interest in embracing this principle and applying it to the regulation of its own institutions, starting with the National Assembly. „

Lobbying by countries (23) EU• The German Bundestag is the only parliament that has

adopted specific formal rules on registration of lobbyists.

• Each year a public list is drawn up of all groups wishing to express or defend their views. Interest groups are required to provide the following information in order to register: their name and seat, composition of the board of management and directors, sphere of interest, number of members, names of their representatives and the address of their office. There is no requirement to provide any financial information. The register is available on the internet.


• Other European countries• Only countries where lobbying is regulated in

parliament bills are: Georgia (1998), Lithuania (2001) Poland (2005) and Hungary (2006). All require registration of professional lobbyists. So far, there is no complex lobbying regulation in other European countries. There were many attempts, but with no satisfactory results.

IV) HUNGARIAN REGULATION OF LOBBYING

What is our legal system like?

Hungarian regulation of lobbying (1)

• Act XLIX of 2006 on Lobbying Activity• „this Act shall govern activities attempting to

influence legislative or administrative action under contract for economic consideration”

• Its objective: to ensure publicity for lobbying activity, to define the rules governing the relations between decision-makers and lobbyists and to lay down the fundamental guidelines for these activities

• Lobbyist is a subject to registration


• The register• Application seeking admission into register• The entitled office keeping the register• Person may not engage in lobbying activity• The issue of numbered lobby licenses to lobbyists (for

a fee)• Legal consequences of cancellation from register• Fundamental rules of lobbying (what shall and may

and may not)• Report on lobbying activities, penalties


• „This Act shall have no effect on the provisions of other legislation concerning fostering interests and interest representation”

• Government is authorized to decree about the designation of the office operating register; the detailed regulations regarding the lobby licenses; the amount of fee; the procedural rules for imposing the penalty

• Government decree (176/2006. VIII. 14.)


• Every ministries, local governments issue orders, decrees on implementation of „lobby act”

• Who are entitled to receive lobbyists?

• Preparation of the agreed minutes is recommended

• Quarterly report is prescribed etc.

V) FEATURES of LOBBYING PRACTICE in HUNGARY before

and after THE ACCESSIONWhat was it like and what are our

challenges?

Features of lobbying (1) HU

• In the eighties and before, heads of the „agrarian lobby” –they were high ranked functionaries of the ruling party and managers of large farms at the same time – negotiated valuable deals on a political level;

• The government and the MoARD administered only;

• The politicians - not the open market - decided on the allocations and investments;

• Results: economic blunders, distortions, losses and collapse;


• Reform measures aimed to open those kinds of secret deals (transparency).

• Making reforms in economic deals was not enough to introduce the „open market”.

• We needed an open society (George Soros), too.

• Parliamentary democracy – 1990.


• But old habits remained alive

• Socio-cultural changes come more slowly

• Socially conditioned reflexes survived in society

• New Parliament MP put a question to me in the Ministry in 1990


• The story of the MP• Are the regulations in force obligatory for us,

MPs, too? We are now the ruling force!• As a public service man explained: according to

the standing rules I will be punished if I disregard the rules! So, I had to reject his repeated support claim and say NO!

• MP’s reaction: old-fashioned people in the ministry can’t understand our destination. Let’s fire them! (a kind of lobbying)

Features of lobbying (5) HU• Land law, was passed by the Parliament in 1990• Ministry prepared 24 versions of the bill and the 25th

was adopted• Negotiation of the representatives of parties• Supporters of compensation in kind• Negotiation of interest-representing groups• Solicitors´ Association• Financial institutions• Foreign lobby groups (emigrants, investors etc.)


• Compensation law in 1991• It stood in the limelight of the public interest of the

whole country• Majority of people suffered confiscation by the state in

the 50s (land, plot, house, workshops, assets, captivity in war, political captivity etc.)

• Long and overall negotiating procedures• Minister of Agriculture submitted the bill to the

government, it was approved• Minister came back and then calculated his own

upcoming value, turned out it is too small• The whole procedure was restarted


• Law on the agriculture cooperatives• The government submitted, wishful to corrupt

them (political bill)• Cooperative share and member fee• Standing coops were obliged to pay in cash for

every disclosing owner in a dictated price• Constitutional Court repealed the complete bill


• Law on privatisation (1990)• Wide range of activities were performed by

different lobby-groups in the legislation and in the implementation (examples)

• Privatisation of the food-industry• Agricultural producers vs financial investors vs

professionals• The result: short term interests; 70% of the

industry in foreign ownership; fragmentation in agro-business


• Privatisation of the state-owned wholesale and retail sectors (1989 – 1995)

• Why and how?• 60% of the food procurement in the hands of 3

purchasing companies• They are the real players in „shaping” the

agrar-policy in Hungary• The question of the president of the French

Agricultural Chamber


• Negotiation process at the accession (quotas, derogations, standards)

• Protection of the market of agriculture land by 2011

• Quantities of production (milk, cattle etc)• Standards: 2,8% fat content of milk• Financial frame (25% or more, ARDOP,

ARDP)• Intervention of maize• Sugar reform


Programming

PHARE

ARDOP

ARDP

New Hungarian Rural Development Programme


• Standard vs SAPS• Lobbying for the differentiated TOP UP system• Introduction of SPS, the debate around it• Landowners lobby• Producers lobby• The desintegrated agrar-lobby• The outcome: Constitution Court

Thank you for your attention!

Documents

Lobbying – theory and practice dr. Ferenc Nyujtó general-director of department MoAR Department of Strategic Issues Budapest, 2009. August 31,