How the EU and MEPs Operate

Updated June 2018

The EU:

One of the most important things to know about EU-level decision-making is that it takes a long time to enact new policy. Policymaking can take from 18 months up to four years (including preparatory time), so patience, persistence and understanding are key.

Click here to view a presentation by András Baneth, managing director of the Council’s European office, which seeks to simplify the major lawmaking processes involved — “ordinary legislative procedure” and “trilogues” — and help you navigate what can be a very confusing policymaking environment.

For a PDF version of the presentation, click here.

MEPs:

How do Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) interact with key stakeholders — most notably, their constituents — online? The newest iteration of a FleishmanHillard study offers multifaceted answers to this question. Key findings of The 2015 EP Digital Trends Survey include:

• Eighty-eight percent of MEPs use Facebook, 76 percent Twitter and 28 percent LinkedIn, and 61 percent monitor social media conversations on a daily basis.
• Long-standing “broadcast” online communication tools like email newsletters and online video channels are used by less than than half of MEPs.
• MEPs believe Facebook and Twitter are just as effective as — if not a bit more effective than — face-to-face meetings.
• A majority of MEPs do notice online and social advertisements, but rarely go beyond the initial click, so any policy-driven messages must grab their attention immediately.
• Nevertheless, a vast majority of MEPs still find in-person meetings with stakeholders and detailed position papers highly useful (and, in some instances, preferred over online media), but MEPs think some online tools — especially infographics — can be valuable to them in their decision making.
• Despite recent movement toward enhanced lobbying transparency, more than three-quarters of MEPs surveyed do not think their interactions with stakeholders will change as a result of more stringent regulation.

To learn more about decision-making, advocacy and public affairs in the EU, contact András Baneth , managing director of the Council’s European Office.