Impact de l'élargissement européen de 2004

Malgré les prédictions d’échec catastrophique, l’élargissement de l’UE de 2004 s’est avéré, pour beaucoup, être un « choc » presque imperceptible. Cependant, considérant la complexité croissante de l’UE, l’agence spécialisée en relations publiques, Burson-Marsteller, estime que les campagnes de lobbying doivent être de plus en plus précoces.

While the European Union has definitely become a more complex entity since 2004, the ‘Big Bang’ enlargement has generated far fewer problems in institutions’ everyday life and policies than was once feared, argues Burston-Marseller in a report on the EU’s 2004 enlargement and its impact on EU policies and processes.

In this context, the report says, it is now more important than ever « to design and implement sustained lobbying strategies across the three institutions and increasingly the EU’s national capitals ». This is because « in most policy areas, the EU is not an ‘EU15+10’. It is quite literally, an EU25. »

According to Burston-Marsteller, this is due to the new member states injecting a new balance into EU policy priorities and complicating the mechanics of EU decision-making. 

For business this means that while the basic rules for effective engagement with the EU institutions have changed little, the greater complexity clearly mandates the earliest possible involvement in policymaking, even greater planning, more time and resource allocation, the need to reach out to a broader audience and the formation of coalitions – all the while paying particular attention to linguistic preferences.

In other words, it is now even more important than ever before to design and implement sustained public-affairs strategies across the three institutions – and increasingly the national capitals – encompassing not only all governments, but NGOs, industry and other stakeholders.