S2 E11: Lobbying the European Union with Natacha Clarac

"Lobbying is not about buying influence. It's about building relationships."

Natacha Clarac discusses the importance of ethical and professional lobbying and how it is different from public relations. She explains that in the European context, lobbying is an open and democratic process that involves many stakeholders, including businesses and NGOs, in policymaking.

About the Guest

Natacha Clarac is managing director of Athenora Consulting, a leading independent European public affairs firm based in Brussels where she as been a lobbyist for nearly 20 years. Natacha provides political briefings, training programmes and consulting to various clients in order to raise their voice in the EU arena with adequate tools and the right message. She is committed to promoting ethical and professional lobbying to build a better society through dialogue and mutual understanding. Natacha loves designing and implementing smart lobbying strategies to achieve objectives and overcome challenges. Over the years she designed and carried out many lobbying campaigns on behalf of clients, giving her a very comprehensive expertise of lobbying at European level. She has also developed specific tools for coalition building and alliances. Natacha is a lecturer at Sciences-Po Aix-en-Provence and she also contributes to seminars at ESSEC, EIPA and ENA. In 2011 she co-wrote the lobbying chapter in the book “how the EU institutions work and how to work with EU institutions” and in 2012 she co-wrote the book called “EU lobbying golden rules”. Natacha graduated from Sciences-Po Aix-en-Provence and is a graduate from the Institute of European studies in Brussels.

About the Host

Abbie Fink is vice president/general manager of HMA Public Relations in Phoenix, Arizona and a founding member of PRGN. Her marketing communications background includes skills in media relations, digital communications, social media strategies, special event management, crisis communications, community relations, issues management, and marketing promotions for both the private and public sectors, including such industries as healthcare, financial services, professional services, government affairs and tribal affairs, as well as not-for-profit organizations.

PRGN Presents is brought to you by Public Relations Global Network, the world’s local public relations agency. Our executive producer is Adrian McIntyre. The show is produced by the team at Speed of Story, a B2B communications firm in Phoenix, AZ.

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