Le lobbying dans le monde

Business and politics /

For me the best exemple for the relationship between business and politics it is about the lobbying :

lobbying is define by  the act of attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of officials in their daily life, most often legislator or members of regulatory agencies. The world LOBBY find is origin with the general Grant who was the 18th president of the united state, and the people who stay in the lobby of his hotel for complain about his laws . So the people in the lobby become the lobbying.Lobbying is done by many types of people, associations and organized groups, including individuals in the private sector, corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or advocacy groups . Lobbyists may be among a legislator's constituencies, meaning a voter or bloc of voters within their electoral district, or not; they may engage in lobbying as a business, or not. Professional lobbyists are people whose business is trying to influence legislation, regulation, government decisions, actions, and policies . Individuals and nonprofit organizations can also lobby  Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying that has become  political corruption and by establishing transparency about possible influences by public lobby registers.

Lobby groups may concentrate their efforts on the legislatures, where laws are created, but may also use the judicial branch to advance their causes.For many people the lobbying is like a power shadow , nobody knows who is the most important people in this sector, but all the decision of this sector have a big importance for everybody. When you talk about the lobby, some people say it’s only the big company who can do this but some group of consumer can decide to do lobbying when they want to prohibit some product who think they are dangerous for all the population.

Each country have a different relation with the lobbying :

European union: With the Enlargement of the European Union in 2004, lobbying practices have taken a further step, bringing in not only a lot more players and stakeholders but a wide range of different political cultures and traditions, as well.In 2003 there were around 15,000 lobbyists (consultants, lawyers, associations, corporations, NGOs etc.) in Brussels seeking to influence the EU’s legislation

 A report by Transparency International EU published in January 2017 they found that 30% of Members of the European Parliament who left politics went to work for organisations on the EU lobby register after their mandate and approximately one third of Commissioners serving under Barroso who was president of EU took jobs in the private sector after their mandate, including for Uber, ArcelorMittal, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

In france : France

In France, the political system does not integrate the lobbying practice. Much French republican thought has been suspicious of the claims of "particular interests," which are often contrasted with the "general interest" of the nation. This is one interpretation of . So while lobbying has always been practiced in France, organized lobbying made a significant appearance in France only in the early 1980s. Since then, many interest groups routinely seek to influence the French institutions as the Government and the French Parliament . To make up the lost time, more and more French enterprises try to organize their own lobbies by creating their own public affairs department. In recent years, lobbies have been organized by citizen groups, representing interests such as genetically modified organisms or the defense of civil liberties

United state : Lobbying in the United States describes paid activity in which special interests hire professional advocates to argue for specific legislation in decision-making  such as the United States Congress. It is a controversial phenomenon, often seen in a negative light by journalists and the American public, and frequently misunderstood. While lobbying is subject to extensive and often complex rules which, if not followed, can lead to penalties including prison, the activity of lobbying has been interpreted by court rulings as free speech and protected by the US Constitution.The current pattern suggests much lobbying is done by corporations, although a wide variety of coalitions representing diverse groups is possible. Lobbying happens at every level of government, including federal, state, county, and even municipal. In Washington, DC, lobbying usually targets congresspersons, although there have been efforts to influence executive agency officials as well as US Supreme Court appointments. It has been the subject of academic inquiry in various fields, including economics, law, and public policy. While lobbyists number 12,000 people in Washington, DC

A 2011 meta-analysis of previous research findings found a positive correlation between corporate political activity and firm performance.  a 2009 study found that lobbying brought a substantial return on investment, as much as 22,000% in some cases.

They exist lof of powerful group of lobby but the 4 are maybe the most important :

The pharmaceutical lobby

The pharmaceutical lobby is certainly one of the most powerful lobbies in the world. Consisting of global companies such as Sanofi, Bayer and BMS-Upsa, it is fighting against the introduction of generic drugs into global consumption.

One of the most publicized battles of this lobby is undoubtedly the affair of the production of generic medicines to facilitate access to antiretroviral drugs in poor and developing countries. More recently, the pharmaceutical lobby has also become known in France: in 2014, major groups threatened the country with delocalisation, job losses and investment freezes in the event of the introduction of Doliprane in the list Generic drugs.

The lobby of Monsanto

The American firm Monsanto, specialized in agrochemicals, has long fought for the introduction and popularization of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Europe.

For the giant, GMOs have many advantages over conventional seeds because they have higher yields and are less vulnerable to disease. However, despite all the steps taken, the lobby Monsanto has not managed to impose GMOs in Europe. And in 2014, the group announced the end of its lobbying actions on the old continent.

The Sugar Lobby

Until then unknown to the public, the sugar lobby broke out last March with the distribution of 319 documents classified top secret in the United States. In particular, it reveals that, while aware of the dangers of sugar consumption for children (dental caries), the sugar lobby systematically promoted "alternative" scientific programs to avoid any reduction in sugar consumption. Worse, it has succeeded in guiding the public policy against caries for nearly 10 years.

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