The limits of the commitment for “transparent” lobbying at the French National Assembly
A report presented on Tuesday that Le Monde was able to obtain, gathers twenty-five proposals describing the “co-construction” of the law with lobbies, supported by the majority party.
Le Monde interviewed Fabrice Alexandre, Senior Partner at Communication & Institutions.
Extracts :
An accepted and legitimate relationship
Changes in the relation with lobbying and lobbyists are driven by the deputies of the current majority. The relation “is losing its’ inhibitions” as notices the NGO Transparency International France. Fabrice Alexandre, former president of the French Association of Lobbying Consultants agrees: “It is clearly more accepted. “One ought to say it frankly, lobbying is part of the public decision. Can you imagine vote without any discussion with the concerned people or groups?”, said Richard Ferrand, president of the French National Assembly at a symposium on May 15th.
(…)
In an op-ed published in June 2016 in Le Monde, two presidents of lobbyists’ associations claimed that the relations with interest representatives are “essential to ensure that decisions taken are adapted to realities and understood and accepted by interested parties”. “I am pleased that our legitimacy is less and less questioned”, said M. Alexandre.
“The grip of private sector”
(…) “As a result of the parliamentary elections of 2017, a new generation of deputies joined the National Assembly. In fact, the French Parliament had never seen so many deputies coming from the private sector. “The fact that they can be easily influenced by opinions expressed by the private sector could be one of the major factors. However, we cannot say that once Macron’s fellow deputies came to power, doors were wide open”, clarifies Fabrice Alexandre. At the beginning, a number of inexperienced deputies were even more worried and cautious”.
https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2020/01/28/a-l-assemblee-les-limites-de-la-promesse-d-un-lobbying-transparent_6027471_823448.html#xtor=AL-32280270Le monde