The scene takes place in a luxurious office in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, a stone’s throw from the Champs-Elysées. Comfortably installed in his fleece sofa, a man, peaceful, sips his coffee. The serenity of an individual who anticipates the future with pleasure. “The new Coven? A treat.” A pasha’s smile tickles his eyes. Our interlocutor is neither a parliamentarian nor a member of a ministerial cabinet. He is a lobbyist.
As a regular in public affairs – he is at the head of a major influential firm whose clients are international groups and the CAC 40 – he carefully observed the results of the second round of legislative elections on June 19. The cartography of the new National Assembly delighted him. The absence of a clear majority suits him perfectly. “These parliamentary games are going to be extraordinary. We will finally be able to play politics in the Assembly,” he savors. For five years, like many other representatives of private interests, he paid only polite attention to the deputies: “The bulk of the power was in the hands of the executive.” However, the relative majority obtained by the camp of the president promises examinations of texts much more uncertain than during the previous five-year term. “It’s a strength for the lobbies, continues our witness. Our role will be to make the link between the groups in the Assembly, to create bridges.”
The return of the Fourth Republic
While the new deputies are making their mark, interest representatives are already examining possible alliances from every angle. “We are going to enter these spaces to suggest ideas. Whole sections of discussions that it was impossible to have with the government will now be able to be had with the deputies, rejoices Laurent Lotteau, CEO of the prestigious Rivington firm. . It’s the return of the Fourth Republic, he analyzes. We are again at the center of the game.”
The analysis is not straightforward. How would this fragmented majority necessarily lead to a renewed influence of the lobbies, even though Macronism is reputed to have always listened understandingly to the demands of the corporations? It is that between 2017 and 2022, all the decisions were taken at the Elysée and at Matignon … with no possibility of catching up, or almost. The deputies voted in unison. To lose an arbitration in the ministries was therefore to lose the game definitively. “I remember a member who, during a meeting, exclaimed about a text that was proposed to her: ‘This amendment is very good, I will call the minister to see with him ‘, says a lobbyist specializing in territorial policies. We had to explain to him that the legislative power existed, and that the deputy could do what he wanted.”
This extreme discipline is no longer valid. At least that’s what these interest representatives hope, noting that in the European Parliament, the absence of an absolute majority favors compromise… often synonymous with partial unraveling of the text. A phenomenon that benefits lobbies. “The absence of an absolute majority will remind many of the functioning of the European Parliament, where everyone is obliged to work with each other”, observes the boss of a large Parisian influence firm. In Brussels, there are about 15 lobbyists for 1 deputy – against 4 for 1 in the Assembly, according to the directory of the High Authority for the transparency of public life.
Already, the most important agencies are trying to identify the MPs most receptive to their arguments. “It’s rather stimulating, rejoices Fred Guillo, director of public affairs at Edelman, co-founder of Smart Lobbying. Lobbyists are in the process of establishing a map of people who will have to be convinced because they have expertise , subjects to be defended.” He details his well-honed strategy: “We have four entries to target the deputies: their political family, the subjects which interest them, their geographical location and their importance within the group”. The priority targets remain the presidents and vice-presidents of the parliamentary committees, through which the texts of laws must pass before being voted on. They are eight in number, but do not all arouse the same desires. “To caricature, in the Foreign Affairs Committee, you only ratify the treaties, explains the deputy Eric Bothorel. The lobbies are interested in the more operational committees.” Three of them concentrate all the attention: the powerful Finance Committee – which examines the State budget each year -, that of Economic Affairs and that of Social Affairs. It is in particular the latter which will look, from mid-July, on the burning purchasing power bill. Several interest representatives say they have started to “floor” on the subject. “Some professional federations, such as the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA), are already pushing for the text to be shaped in their own way, for example by defending the establishment of a food voucher”, explains a lobbyist.
“New people are more work”
Many lobbyists rely on their old acquaintances to maintain their influence in the Assembly. By frequently using arguments related to their chosen territory. “A great classic of parliamentary lobbying is to say ‘be careful, Madam MP, such a provision is really not good for this company in your constituency!’. Generally, it works. Especially with established MPs. And above all when we talk about employment”, explains our specialist in territorial issues.
Interest representatives thus seem to prefer experienced MPs to neophytes, who are often frightened by their approach. “The new ones are more work,” sighs a lobbyist. It is necessary to invite, in pleasant places preferably, with the example of the House of Latin America, opulent “cultural space” of the boulevard Saint-Germain. “We must take more time to do pedagogy,” admits Nicolas Bouvier, head of the ethics commission of the French Association of Lobbying and Public Affairs Councils. With more experienced deputies, the current passes more quickly. Like this elected socialist, who was eyeing a commission presidency, and who is considered an “attentive ear” and an “expert” by interest representatives. “We have been working well with the communist group for a very long time”, also confides the specialist in territorial issues. The LFI deputies are considered less important, because of their policy of “systematic opposition” to the texts of the executive, estimates an agency boss: “The problem of La France insoumise is that they often only accept the lobbying they like: that of NGOs, which may be just as violent as that of others.”
On the other hand, the representatives of interests will have to deal with an actor of whom they were unaware until now. With its 89 deputies, the National Rally has carved out an unprecedented place for itself in this great ball of responsibilities, placing Sébastien Chenu and Hélène Laporte as vice-presidents of the Assembly. “We do not rule out identifying several themes, such as purchasing power or even taxation, on which the RN could be useful to us, admits a lobbyist. “As in the case of insubordinate France, it was not a band we used to work with. But both have become difficult to circumvent. So we can no longer save meeting them”, admits Fred Guillo, who specifies: “Out of politeness”.