Brussels, Belgium.

That is why, at times, you find yourself being surprised by something you have just done, facing the fact that the person living inside of you is capable of that much good or that much evil.

That is the reason, I believe, why societies need an organizing hand to control the two aspects of our nature. That organizing hand has to be a form of authority that is respected by everyone --that is important-- and it has to be well informed, which is what my job as a lobbyist is all about. I help Europe and the lawmakers in Brussels to be well informed when they are shaping policies by getting the information from my clients, which are multi-national companies. When the European Commission wishes to introduce new legislation with regard to a certain topic, they need to understand how companies will be impacted and they need to form the legislation in such a way as to not cause negative effects. So, we link the industry to the policymakers in order to allow them communicate – that is all what I am trying to do.

Do you know for instance how much of the carbon emissions were caused by the industry before they were controlled? When the European Parliament wished to cut its emissions, they needed to create the right environment for companies who were causing these emissions and they had to shape legislations accordingly. For one thing, without the correct incentives nobody wanted to lose their position in the competition. And let’s not forget that these companies employed lots of people and any harm they suffered meant that their employees suffered which meant political costs.

We had to approach the right people, get them inside the same room and know the tricks to be able to do so. I had worked in Brussels prior to being a lobbyist, so I know people and I know their needs and necessities and the restrictions within which they operate. In the end, it is all about understanding the power and limits of everyone and picking the right group, linking them together, having some coffee, giving some good ideas when drafting the legislation and making the deals, that is it. By doing so, we have not only helped the transition to sustainable energy resources but also created lots of new jobs in the industries which have helped communities everywhere.

Let’s face it, if you don’t link any kind of change to the economical realities of the industry nothing will happen, so you must listen to them, and it is not like we are dictating anything. Brussels is hungry for information, they are not doing trade, they are not operating within the market realities, they are civil servants and they ask for information and I simply link my clients to them for accessing that information.

Do you know, for instance, the quantity of start-ups today that have developed the right automatization tools like robots and software that can help businesses? There loads of them and they can take over lots of jobs off the shoulders of the industry and the shoulders of the worker who has to do the work? They know exactly how to replace the old world’s jobs and get them done automatically. We need to put these companies into business and we need the right regulative environment for this. We need to adjust the severance pay regulations, we need to adjust the holiday allowances and many other things.

This is the message we are communicating and we keep hammering it into the minds of the lawmakers each time we have the opportunity to exchange ideas and it is happening because they are willing to listen to the service industry, naturally. If you also do want to influence the process, that is totally fine by me. Please go ahead, organize yourself, write down your agenda and communicate it to the decision makers, you know where they are. I have a job and my job is to inform the commissioners that are taking care of my file according to the interests of the people I am responsible for. It is the responsibility of Brussels to ensure they are respected by the populations. I can’t do it for them and I can’t be responsible for communicating your ideas with the decision makers you want to influence.

See, everyone has a role which they need to stick to. I am not going to apologize for fulfilling my role and doing my job. In the end, I am paid to put my time and energy into this role and I have a responsibility to the people who are paying me, whose identities are available to anybody interested. In the end, these are democratic institutions, thankfully, and they are operating with transparent procedures. This is not a good or evil story as some would have you believe, but just people doing what they have to do.

Pascal Leroy