Archive
Author: Corporate Marketing
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It’s the economy… stupid!
August 29, 2014
Excuse us being the latest of a long string of commentators to use this time-honored title for our blog post, but sometimes it’s a reminder that just has to be said again and again. This weekend, case in point, European leaders are once again meeting in Brussels for their third attempt to settle on who gets the EU’s top jobs for the next five years. Cue chatter in the press, on Twitter, and all across...
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Why everyone in EU public affairs actually works in communications
August 25, 2014
I like to rattle on ad nauseum about how communications and public affairs* are two peas in a pod that probably shouldn’t be as segregated in Brussels as they are today. Then I sat down with one of the top communications directors in Brussels who got where I was coming from, and in two simple phrases was able to finally articulate the point I was failing to make. Public affairs is really just one tactic...
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SEPA migration – A milestone for the single market. But what’s next?
August 6, 2014
What has been achieved Whilst attention over the past months has focussed on the high politics of institutional change, continuing efforts to reboot the economy and attempting to nudge some order into the EU’s eastern neighbourhood, a quiet evolution has taken place in the euro payments system. Originally planned on 1st February 2014, the extended deadline of 1 August marked the date for all Eurozone payment transactions to migrate into SEPA compliant formats, completing...
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How much does reputation of the industry influence policy-making in Brussels?
July 15, 2014
FleishmanHillard recently gathered representatives of the food & beverages, agriculture and retail industry to hear about the expectations of European consumers towards the food industry. To feed the debate, Nick Andrews presented the recent FleishmanHillard research called “Authenticity”. The research, undertaken in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK with expert consumers revealed that the industry is falling short on people's expectations to provide transparency around production methods and sources, more personalised and easier to use...
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How to make a lasting impression on the new European Parliament
July 15, 2014
The new European Parliament is in place. The Committee seats are distributed. Every interest group in Brussels is scrambling to throw together an EP engagement plan. This fall we can expect a big push from these groups to engage new members, but how can they make a lasting impression? How can they make sure their message lives on beyond that initial outreach? The dawn of social media has led to a fundamental shift in how...
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Let’s dance – the impact of the economic crisis on healthcare cues an intricate dance between EU institutions and Member States
July 8, 2014
The issue of healthcare sits in an increasingly delicate place in the European arena. Traditionally, healthcare has been a matter of Member State competence. That continues to be the case, but the impact of the economic crisis and intensified involvement of the European Commission in the economic governance of Member States, means that the institutions are cautiously engaging in a new dance on healthcare. Now in its fourth year, the Commission provides so called ‘country-specific...
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Is LinkedIn the Holy Grail of EU digital policy advocacy?
July 8, 2014
Update (5 March 2015): At a social media-focused event FleishmanHillard hosted last week in Brussels, one of the attendees flat out disagreed with me that LinkedIn was a viable means of doing anything but finding a job. I am so glad he spoke up and I think LinkedIn would be too. LinkedIn is proud to boast that its users now interact 8 times more with content on the platform that's not job-related. It's quietly grown into...
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Building a strong comms culture in the Brussels bubble means getting out more
June 24, 2014
We know that comms matters in the Brussels bubble, but we also know its needs to matter more. With events like last week's first-ever European Digital Advocacy Summit (H/T Andras Baneth of the PAC) signalling a concrete convergence of public affairs and communications, it’s clear that comms is inching its way towards lasting relevance in BXL. Now it’s time for us to make sure we’re worth keeping around. It’s time to share our ideas, successes and...
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EU Commissioners 2014-2019: Intelligence Assessment
June 20, 2014
New EU Commissioners are likely to be formally nominated by EU Member States during July, with policy portfolios allocated thereafter. FleishmanHillard’s Institutional Research Unit prepared an assessment of the current expected changes to the European College of Commissioners that you can download here. This dynamic process is subject to many changes. FleishmanHillard is available for tailored workshops on the EU institutional changes and how they affect your business, for information please contact [email protected] Members of...
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What does it mean to work in comms in the Brussels bubble?
June 12, 2014
Trolling through the organigrammes of interests (public and private) represented in Brussels, odds are you’ll see someone with “communications” in his/her title. Advisors, officers, assistants, managers, counsellors – we’re all communicators by designation, but what purpose do we actually serve in our organisations? Type-casting Brussels communicators What I’ve found is that Brussels expects dramatically different things from its comms folks, but for the sake of brevity, let’s say that there are two types of...