Winning in EU policy communications means winning over a niche audience

The EU is big and so is the body of policy that it churns out. But the niche communities of people who make and influence policy are typically much smaller.

This is a conversation that I think many of us in EU public affairs find ourselves having on a regular basis. When we’re communicating our point of view on EU policy, who are we actually communicating to?

Sure, our ultimate target audience is made up of the people who actually make policy, but who else has a stake in the game? And when we say we need to reach the Commission or Parliament on a particular issue – who exactly do we mean?

The below 9-slide deck is an attempt to quickly visualize and explain in the simplest of terms, how EU policy communities look and where communicators and public affairs practitioners should arguably focus their efforts. It’s not meant to be a comprehensive how-to, but rather a starting point for digging deeper into your niche – where trust, credibility and consistency will win the race.

(I finally grew tired of drawing this on napkins across Brussels and London and finally drew it on something I could save and share).

A 90-second read: