Archive

Year: 2014

  • Elections 2014: Getting Out the Youth Vote

    May 20, 2014

    The WSJ reports on FleishmanHillard's innovative campaign to increase the interest of young people in the European elections. Using a blend of paid, earned, shared and owned media, the Responsible Democracy online campaign sought to raise the voting age to 25 in order to gain a reaction from young people in defence of their voting rights. The campaign was conducted for the League of Young Voters,  a politically neutral initiative that aims to amplify young...

  • Becoming a European Parliament committee chairperson: How to ascend the ‘Iron Throne’

    May 5, 2014

    Brace yourselves – the European Parliament elections are coming. Though turnover will be less dramatic than the Game of Thrones cast (no spoilers or EU-version of the Red or Purple Wedding, I promise), Brussels can expect a significant number of new movers and shakers representing the different political houses and kingdoms of Europe to ascend their Institutional thrones this summer. This is especially so for the European Parliament, where hordes of wildlings, a.k.a. MEPs, will...

  • FleishmanHillard Roundtable: The future of EU-Swiss relations

    April 10, 2014

    FlesihmanHillard had the honour of receiving yesterday the Ambassador of Switzerland to the European Union for a roundtable on the future of the relations between the European Union and Switzerland. In February, Switzerland voted in favour of a popular initiative restricting immigration for all foreigners, including those coming from the European Union. This raises doubts as to the compatibility of these new dispositions with the principle of free movement of people, which Switzerland shares with...

  • AN INTERESTING MONTH IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS COMES TO AN END

    March 31, 2014

    March was an interesting month, and for a minute it felt like Europe was the centre of attention for the entire world: President Obama visited Belgium for the very first time, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited numerous EU countries, and Brussels was busy with the preparations for the EU-Africa Summit scheduled for early April. March also saw several extraordinary Councils on Ukraine and an extremely rare NATO Summit under Article 4. The removal of Russia...

  • THE EU AND NATO – A YEAR OF CHANGE

    March 28, 2014

    This year’s edition of Brussels Forum, hosted three interesting speakers: EEAS’s Lady Ashton, Council’s Mr Van Rompuy and NATO’s Rasmussen. All three of them will step down from their positions this year, which inspires for a reflection about their key challenges, successes and failures over the past years. Since Van Rompuy became a President of the Council five years ago, we have seen a transformation of the Council into one of the most important EU...

  • Europe Takes on Fishing Pirates

    March 26, 2014

    Yesterday, EU member states fishing ministers backed the European Commission in their efforts against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. Agreement was absolute to support the fight against perceived widespread abuses. Read more from undercurrent news here. Belize, Cambodia, and Guinea have all been blacklisted. Fish caught by their fleet or from their waters will no longer come into Europe unless they are able to show in the future their fisheries are under control. Other countries...

  • Tribute to Frederik Seeger (23 March 1980 – 19 February 2014)

    February 27, 2014

    Tribute to Frederik Seeger (23 March 1980 – 19 February 2014) on behalf of Caroline Wunnerlich and all Frederik’s colleagues at FleishmanHillard. Today we share our deep grief at the loss of dear Frederik. He was more than a colleague, he was a great friend to all of us who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him in Brussels, and we will miss him enormously...

  • A tale of two think tanks

    February 24, 2014

    Two think tanks dominate the Brussels energy landscape, however the Brussels bunch still lag behind their American counterparts It was the best of times, it was the burst of times Last week, while discussing the merits of a newly released ‘2013 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report’ with my colleague James, he asked me whom I considered to be the most influential think tanks in Brussels when it came to energy policy? Immediately I...

  • ‘The Gathering’, FH Brussels style

    February 18, 2014

    FleishmanHillard Brussels flew the Irish flag over their offices (well, metaphorically speaking) last week when over 70 of Ireland’s diaspora gathered to meet 20 of Ireland’s candidates for the upcoming European Parliament and Local Council Elections, in support of the Irish NGO, Women for Election. The event presented a unique opportunity not just to meet the candidates ahead of the elections on the 23rd May, but to hear keynote speeches from three European figures on...

  • Ich bin ein Berliner

    February 14, 2014

    Earlier this week I attended the Berlin Energy Forum, previously known as the “Berlin Fossil Fuels Forum”. Beyond the valuable networking opportunity, the event came with a reaffirmation of Germany’s central place for EU energy policy and some questions about the role and status of fossil fuels in policy discussions. Germany: not just one amongst others In Brussels we want to believe that large Member States have equal chances of influencing EU policy discussions. When...

OLDER
NEWER