The French lobbying firm Athenora Consulting advocates for the creation of a "French Chamber of Influence" in Brussels, similar to the AmCham, in a study carried out in 2019 on French influence on European institutions.
Part of the study presents an ‘X-ray’ of French forces in Brussels and what emerges "unanimously" among the actors we interviewed in France and Brussels is "the unthinkable influence" of our country in the European Union, said Natacha Clarac, CEO of Athenora Consulting to EUROPE, on Monday 10 February.
In France, lobbying at the European level is still "not perceived as necessary", she noted, while the French state is very proactive when it comes to signing commercial contracts around the world. Only the former public monopolies are already well structured internally to deal with the European institutions, while many of the companies surveyed still see the creation of 'Europe' units "more as a constraint than a strategic vector for growth", Clarac said.
Expressing a desire on the part of French companies to reflect on a "strategic approach" for issues that go beyond the regulatory field, Ms Clarac suggested the establishment of a "Team France" that would bring together both public authorities and economic operators. This French Chamber of Influence would notably enable the development of common transversal positions between public and private actors on strategic European issues such as climate and digitalisation.
The influence of French MEPs in the European Parliament
Asked about the influence of French MEPs in the European Parliament, Ms Clarac noted the pragmatism of the French players, who are not totally against collaboration with the far right-wing delegation of the Rassemblement National, who are the largest French delegation, but who are not very involved in legislative work.
Clarac made no secret of the fact that this situation "was one of the factors of weakness" of French influence in the EU. But this weak influence in the work of the European Parliament is also explained by the "collapse" in the number of MEPs from the PS and LR parties, she added. And the LRM MEPs, who are the overwhelming majority in the Renew Europe group, "still have to work together to influence internal negotiations" with the EPP and S&D groups.
See the study of Athenora consulting: http://www.athenora.com/en/ (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)