Government relations are the core of our service. We recognize that managing your exposure to regulatory and decision-making risk has a crucial influence on your reputation, operations and business model.
CEC Government will analyse with you your case and the issues to be resolved. We will assess the strengths and weaknesses of your position; the perceptions of officials and elected politicians; your reputation in the media and the broader expert and think-tank community; and the allies and opponents likely to be found among opinion-formers and other public constituencies.
Having established the facts and authored the scenario for success, we identify the decision-makers you ought to reach and help you prepare your case to the highest standards. Whether you wish to represent yourselves or choose us to undertake advocacy on your behalf, we will ensure the most effective presentation of your message – as well as the most favourable reception. Whether at the level of central or local government, parliament or administration, political parties or advisory institutions, we will initiate a programme of contacts and relationship-building to ensure your message is heard by the right people at the right time.
We spend much time and energy in understanding the real relationships that make decisions happen, looking not only at the formal structures of power in government, parliament and politics, but also at the informal web of personal and party influences that are often as important as the official ones – if not more so.
The impact of national policies on relationships with Brussels and the national aspects of EU policy are now intertwined. We understand the roles of MEPs, Permanent Representations to the EU, and the impact EU Commissioners and policymakers have on Central Europe, and our network brings together businesses, policy representatives and think tanks at a pan-European level. We have also developed our own capacities in Brussels to help you navigate this labyrinth, helping you access the key Central European players in the EU by leveraging our own three-decades long presence in the region.
In Hungary, the government, in line with the European Union’s vision for circular economy, initiated the restructuring of the country’s waste management sector. According to a draft version of the new regulation, all waste management (including public services and industrial activities) would have been nationalized.
At short notice, CEC Hungary undertook to unite most of the private players in the market on a single public affairs platform, channelling their priorities toward a single goal. We structured their professional arguments against the nationalization plan, and also identified the relevant decision makers at different levels of the administration – as well as successfully communicating all key messages to them.
As a result, the original government strategy changed fundamentally, and the Hungarian Parliament passed a new set of regulations to allow both waste recovery and disposal to remain in private hands. This secured the operation and business model of our clients for the long run.
