Eu Lobbying: Empirical and Theoretical Studies by David Coen

Author:David Coen [Coen, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General, Social Science
ISBN: 9781317968863
Google: hfLhAQAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 20859078
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-10-31T00:00:00+00:00

6.2 How did electronics lobbies cultivate networks with other stakeholders?

Similar to the automobile firms, Japanese electronics firms did not try to personalize their networks with the EU policy-makers by making political donations or by any financial means from the early stage of their settlement in the EU. Besides, it is also reported that even though several Japanese electronics firms, such as Fujitsu and Sony, had employed several ex-Commission officials as their lobbyists in the past in order to facilitate their access to the EU policy-makers, this EU-style amakudari was also not significantly effective within the EU policy-making process (Joos and Waldenberger 2005: 119).

Instead, they recognized that technical information is an asset in influencing the EU policy-makers. The JBCE targeted both the Commission and the EP in their lobbying. The JBCE’s presence was well recognized within the Commission, and lobbying campaigns were initiated directly with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) as well. In particular, British MEPs actively courted Japanese interests and supported many amendments proposed by the JBCE at the EP. For some aspects of these directives, the JBCE conducted several joint lobbying campaigns with EICTA and the American Electronics Association (AeA). The issue concerning the treatment of consumables is the prime example of this joint lobbying. These three organizations submitted several joint position papers to the EP and conducted active lobbying campaigns. The AeA commented that Japanese electronics firms learned the European way of lobbying very quickly and played an important role in leading the European electronics industry in some policy issues.9 In the case of the limited use of lead in the RoHS directive, the AeA asked the JBCE not to object to the exemption of lead in solders for servers, although Japanese firms were technically able to deal with the ban of lead in solders. The JBCE had a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with the AeA to include the exemption of lead in solders in its lobbying campaigns. Although the JBCE was a relatively new lobbying organization in Brussels, it quickly managed to establish several networks with other stakeholders by utilizing technical expertise developed in Japan. The success of such collective lobbying suggests that the JBCE was able to develop strategic alliances with rival firms to facilitate access to the policy-makers on the same terms as other business stakeholders.

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