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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 Banks 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.
I) Introduction (1)
A Hungarian saying If Im 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 Monarchys 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.
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.
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.
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.
"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 ( 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.