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Lobby firms to form organization

Association hopes to improve sector's dismal reputation

June 20th, 2007 issue

The Czech lobby industry has sprouted since the country’s accession to the European Union — along with the suspicions of wary politicians and citizens.
The sector’s negative reputation, which isn’t limited to the Czech Republic, stems from the lack of regulations requiring complete transparency, according to a report released two years ago by the public affairs consultancy Donath-Burson-Marsteller.
Now, a group of lobbyists is trying to change that.
The Association of Public Affairs Agencies (APAA) is set to launch this summer after aborted attempts in the past to organize a membership organization for the country’s lobby firms.
“The first task ahead of us is to discuss the proposed materials, draft statutes and draft the code of ethics,” said Jana Marcová, managing partner of PAN Solutions in Prague and the point person for APAA.
How far the group will actually go, though, is yet unclear. Rules and agreements among the firms are still being amended and commented on, Marcová said.
Other companies reportedly involved in the negotiations include Euroffice Praha-Brusel, BXL Consulting, EMC, Dutko Worldwide Prague and Interel.
There are more than 3,000 interest groups in Brussels that employ about 10,000 people in the realm of lobbying, according to the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union. These companies are paid to influence the political decision-making processes on behalf of clients, which may be a private interest group or a government.
“[Our goal is] to contribute to the transparent environment in the Czech Republic in this area of business and to work on a good reputation of lobbying as a profession,” said Marcová, who agreed that her profession doesn’t have a great reputation in the country.
“It is a new field and does not have a tradition in the Czech Republic, as in other developed democratic countries, and so it is not clear who is involved in this field and in what way,” she said.
The APAA is a step toward mollifying those skeptical politicians and citizens, said Jiří Šebek, who prepared the Donath-Burson-Marsteller study.
“The key to ethical and thus successful government relations or lobbying is transparency,” he said. “And all actions which [improve transparency], be it even establishing professional organizations with strict codes of conducts, should be welcomed.”
“In all the established parliamentary democracies, there is a need to regulate lobbying to limit its bad effects and promote its enormous positive outcomes,” Šebek said.
— Naďa Černá contributed to this report.


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