Brett Kobie

🔴 Do you wish to go deeper into what happened in EU Affairs and beyond thsi month? 👉 The ninth issue of our newsletter "The Finder" is out! You can read it here 👇

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Strategic communication at the heart of European influence 🏛️ Policy decisions that impact various sectors highlight the need for EU associations to be heard within the European Union. However, a communication strategy should do more than inform—it should transform. It must capture audiences, align messages with European values, and create meaningful impact. At #inextremis, we help our partners position themselves strategically, building campaigns that speak their audiences' language 🌍 Discover how our 30+ years of experience in the European sector can turn your communication into a powerful lever for influence. Learn more about our approach 👉🏻 https://www.inextremis.be/

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Simplify to amplify: making complex messages accessible. Strategic communication often requires simplifying technical and complex messages 📊. At #inextremis, we specialise in creating explicit, accessible content—even for the most intricate topics. Our work with Zhaga Consortium transformed technical communication into engaging, easy-to-understand messages, enabling the global association of lighting companies to inform a broad international audience effectively 👫. A clear strategy turns every interaction into an opportunity for lasting influence. Discover how inextremis can simplify your messages 👉🏻 https://inextremis.be

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👉 Neglect of the Roma weakens Europe’s economic strength, its political stability, its social cohesion, its credibility and its global competitiveness. 👉 The percentage of Roma youth in EU member states is two to three times higher than among the rest of the population. The Roma are also multilingual, adaptable, entrepreneurial and fast learners, as these qualities have been necessary for finding a way forward amid hostility, racism and poverty. 👉 The potential of Roma culture and art, on the other hand, lies in the fact that Roma messages are messages of humanity, coexistence and peace rather than of hate. Roma have never been a group that posed a threat to the security or well-being of their societies; as history shows, Roma have fought for "us". #EuropeDay

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🎙️Share your #knowledgevalorisation practice!!! ‼️Deadline to submit your best practice is 9 January 2025 More information 👇👇👇 #knowledge #valorisation #research #innovation

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🔎 In focus at #HIMSS24Europe: EU projects! Making impact to healthcare and enhancing citizens lives. 📍Common challenges seen: how procurers can interact with HTA, how to develop trust on AI (by demonstrating value and applicability of data?), and how to scale up so projects have a life beyond the project time (by securing the environment with regulation and data management?) 🍝for 💭 Petra Wilson Marianna Petrea-Imenokhoeva Petra Hoogendoorn Anne Moen Mario Ravic Lisa Hanselmann Chiara Zocchi

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🚨 Big News for EU Health Policy: Full Health Committee on the Horizon! The EPP, Renew, and S&D groups in the European Parliament have reached an agreement to transform the Subcommittee on Public Health (SANT) into a full committee with legislative powers! This major move, part of the deal to support Commissioners-Designate Jessika Roswall and Hadja Lahbib, shifts health decision-making in the EU. This shift will separate health responsibilities from environmental issues, allowing the new SANT Committee to take the lead on crucial health areas, from pharmaceuticals and medical devices to mental health and health crisis response. Meanwhile, the ENVI Committee will focus on climate and environmental policies. Official confirmation is expected in December, with the new committee launching in January 2025. This restructuring has the potential to shape the EU’s future health response. Stay tuned for further updates! #EUHealth #EUPolicy #HealthCommittee #SANT RPP Group Flora Pidoux Kinga Wójtowicz Kit Greenop Salomé Chelli-Enriquez Sebastian Rohde Alberto Domingo Bayarri

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Whyte Corporate Affairs and Saper Vedere have partnered to analyze the communication strategies of Belgian political leaders and parties on X, ahead of the 2024 elections, covering 33.933 messages from January to May 2024. Discover here our key findings

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Strategic support for long-term influence: how European associations can drive change Driving meaningful change in a complex European landscape requires ambition and strategy. Strategic support empowers associations to align with EU priorities, optimise resources, and adapt to shifting challenges while enhancing their credibility and influence. 🌍 Position as a sector leader Stay relevant by aligning initiatives with evolving European values and priorities. 💡 Maximise your impact Focus resources on high-influence actions that deliver tangible results. 🔄 Adapt with agility Be ready to pivot with strategies that keep pace with EU policy shifts. At #inextremis, we create tailored brand strategies, including influence dashboards, to track engagement, measure impact, and ensure your association stays ahead. Ready to secure trust and authority in the European arena? Explore how we can help: 👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/dZtNhAvj #StrategicCommunication #EUAssociations #MyPartnerAgency

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What are the EU trends & developments in digital & tech and what policies can we expect in the next 5 years? Listen to our latest podcast here:

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Despite a smooth election last Sunday, I can't help but feel disappointed by the poor voter turnout in the Brussels municipal elections. 🗳️ Only 80.6% of registered voters (both Belgians and non-Belgians) turned out, despite the legal obligation to vote. If we include non-registered eligible voters (non-Belgians), fewer than 6 in 10 eligible people participated. 🙋 Non-Belgians account for 33% of all eligible voters in Brussels, yet only one in six registered to vote in Sunday's municipal elections. It could have been even lower without the phenomenal efforts of the restless.brussels campaign. 🔄 In Ixelles and Saint-Gilles, which have high numbers of non-Belgians, less than 50% of registered voters actually cast their vote. This raises questions about the legitimacy of the election result. Many political parties offered concrete and sometimes radically different solutions to key issues we all see, such as homelessness, violent crime, drug use, and mobility. To those who didn’t vote: take note, and don’t forget to register for the 2030 elections.

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For more on how to navigate all the changes in the world of EU policy, see what our experts have to say with this handy toolkit.

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The Internal Side of Public Affairs (15) Engaging with Extremes: The dilemma for companies & associations In last month’s European Parliament elections far-right groups gained unprecedented representation. For Businesses and Associations this poses a dilemma: how to engage with these new stakeholders. At a Best in Brussels event in June Mark Dober revealed that around 50% of survey respondents would NOT engage the far right. So, should you engage with them, or avoid them? Perhaps you should look to your Associations to do this? This post shares some thoughts on this situation: Why Engagement is Necessary Influence on Policy-Making: Far-right parties now have a tangible impact on legislative processes. Ignoring these stakeholders could lead to unfavourable policies and means you have no influence. Stakeholder Relationships: Effective stakeholder management requires working with all relevant parties, including those with differing views. You need insights into their priorities and concerns so you can navigate the political landscape and maintain a competitive edge. Champion vs. Support: You can work with stakeholders to gather support and help influence positions without having them as your champion (which may be a step too far). How to Engage: Some Considerations Reputation Management: Engaging with far-right stakeholders carries reputational risks from corporate reputational risk to the local political risk that by associating with the far right you alienate support from other political groups. Clear Ethical Guidelines: Establish clear ethical guidelines for engagement, ensuring that interactions with far-right parties do not compromise any of your positions and values. Focus on Common Interests: Identify areas of common interest, such as economic growth, job creation, and technological innovation. Building dialogue around these topics can lead to constructive engagement without endorsing controversial positions. Public Communication: Maintain transparent communication with other stakeholders (and the public) about the nature and purpose of engagement with far-right stakeholders. This helps in managing public perception and mitigating potential backlash. Engaging with these new stakeholders is out of your comfort zone and fraught with complexities. It is, however, necessary and important. The job of Public Affairs professionals is to find the right ways to engage stakeholders for their organization. In an increasingly polarized environment engaging across the aisle will become more and more of an advantage. Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below! 👇 #PublicAffairs #StrategicImpact #StakeholderEngagement   Pär Nygårds Per-Erik Wolff Dr. Stephen Massey Dimitris Vartholomaios Anders Kopp Paul Shotton Aaron McLoughlin Andras Baneth Wouter Lox Claudia Breure Pieter Walraven Carmen Muñoz Jodar Michel Ehrlich Mickey Langley Kelly Langley Jorge Espinosa de Los Monteros Romero

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🙏🏽 Thanks Harold Tor-Daenens for putting together and moderating yet another successful #BeersPoliticsEU evening at Press Club Brussels Europe. Here are some of the insights and tips I took away from the great blend of journalists: Raziye Akkoc, Jennifer Baker, James Kanter, Dave Keating, Natalie Sarkic-Todd, Eleonora Vasques and Artjoms Konohovs. 💡 4 insights: - The EU is easy to scapegoat, especially when Europeans don't know how it works and that decisions are in fact taken by their member states. At the same time, there are those who do not understand and those who do not want to understand. - Unlike the US, the EU27 is made up of many different political parties. While national politics has an identifiable opposition, the EU does not, making it difficult to depict tensions between opposing sides (which is what attracts media attention). - Some journalists are now more self-censoring than in the past, conforming to the dominant narrative and afraid to talk to anyone who is not considered worthy of media space. At the same time, independent journalists have the freedom to bring voices to the surface that are not being heard... - They want: More journalists, so they have time to dig deeper into the stories (see the great example of the Guardian article on EU, microplastics and glitter ban). For there to be more journalists, there must be financial investment, and such investment must come from within the EU and not the US. To get their stories across, they also need the editors and headline writers. 💡 3 tips: - Test the readability of your article with an 'outsider', and imagine that you are trying to grab the attention of a driver or cyclist who is busy watching the traffic and may have a child in the back seat. - Look outside the Brussels bubble, face your biases and dare to tell it - the facts - like it is. - As for the readers, they need EU civic education and media literacy.

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It was a pleasure to moderate the EESC Employers' Group evening debate with Klaus Welle and Doru Peter Frantescu on the results of the #EUelections2024 and anticipate the power game that will take place in the European Parliament and Council of the European Union during the next legislative and political cycle. A few takeaways: ▶ Professionalisation of far-right groups ▶ Progressive majority is dead. Coalition building will be fluid. We will have either a constructive or a destructive right. ▶ #Defence, #Enlargement, #Demographics will be key priorities, which will put the EU budget under pressure: We will need a 2.0 #NextGenerationEU to finance the political priorities of the next mandate. ▶ We should avoid being defensive. We need an ambitious agenda. Make sure "the cost of non-Europe" is factored in.

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All good things must come to an end. Leaving behind views and weather like in the picture is never easy, though arriving back to 30 degrees and sun in Brussels was ever so slightly disorientating. There is definitely a back-to-school feeling around Brussels with the added "excitement" of a new class of MEPs and European Commissioners coming on board. There's still plenty of gossip and speculation left to fill column inches and sustain catch-up coffees before Ursula von der Leyen finalises her new team and, more importantly, the juicy and not-so-juicy roles are handed out. A4E has a packed agenda for the rest of the year. From meeting new MEPs, to CEOs coming to town for our Steering Board, the update of the D2050 Roadmap to Net Zero, to a project I'm particularly looking forward to coming to fruition in October (more on that soon). All told, there's plenty on the agenda to keep me and the wider A4E team busy. Nobody could have imagined what was to come at the same stage five years ago, so never discount how events can quickly derail the many predictions and comments circulating on what will happen in Europe over the next five years. So rather than make any predictions, here are some things I'll be watching out for with interest this year and in the coming years:  - Whether Europe can successfully balance implementing the Green Deal while ensuring it remains a leading and competitive industrial player on the world stage—will we move from yet more reports to actual action? - What will the next big thing from Ursula von der Leyen be? From joint procurement of vaccines to the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF), the first von der Leyen Commission set the bar high for big acts. What will be the second big act/s? - What impact will national elections have on the EU? I'm looking at you America, but also Germany in 2025 to name but 2 big ones. - Will the character of legislating change in Brussels? Will it speed up, will it slow down, and will the trilogue still reign supreme? Some files seemed to proceed at light speed, while others (including one in particular of interest to A4E) are stuck in a quagmire for years. Will policymakers actually remember Better Regulation and focus on quality legislation rather than the glory of achieving a trilogue deal at 3am near the end of a Presidency? And on the comms and campaign front, I look forward to seeing new tactics and tools coming to the fore, with more organisations stepping outside their comfort zone to try new things that make people think, serve as topics of conversation, and help the Brussels Bubble evolve just a little bit more. So here's to La Rentrée and the home straight for 2024 and the new five-year term for EU policymakers. #EU #Policy #Communicaitons

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To say the least, it was quite surprising to read yesterday in POLITICO Europe that #Belgium, home to a significant #pharmaceutical sector, supports the European Commission proposal to decrease the Regulatory Data Protection (#RDP) from 8 years to 6 years 🗓️. It's well-known that companies decide where to carry out R&D considering factors such as where science is the strongest 💪, the stability and predictability of the intellectual property framework, available data and technology, manufacturing capabilities and the ability to get the medicines used by patients. While RDP is the last layer of protection for around one in three medicines, it will be factored into the decision-making process of 100% of medicines. This is why not only the pharma industry, but also Member States, research centers, and ultimately, the patients should be concerned by the proposal of the Commission and the Belgian position: 🏳 MEMBER STATES: Decreasing the RDP baseline to 6 years could significantly impact the European Union's (EU) attractiveness for global investments. Over the past few months, we've heard the Commission repeatedly state that every additional year of RDP would result in €1.2 billion in additional costs to Member States. This estimate, however, is based on the 'List Prices of medicines' - the publicly listed price before discounts, rebates, and clawbacks. A research study by the economic research agency, Dolon, has shown that reducing RDP in Europe would on the contrary cost €2 billion a year in lost R&D investment. #Belgium would be one of the most impacted Member States if the proposal of the Commission is adopted: the industry provides there 45,000 direct jobs and accounts for almost 15% of total Belgian exports. Over the last 5 years, the number of researchers working in the sector has increased by over 25%. In 2023, there were 6,706 researchers working in the sector. 🧪 RESEARCHERS: Fewer R&D initiatives in the EU and in Belgium would mean less clinical trials, which would greatly impact especially the academic hospitals, renowned globally as major centers for clinical trials. We often forget that hospitals are crucial players in the global scientific community, contributing to innovative research that shapes the future of medicines. 👩‍🔬 PATIENTS: Fewer clinical trials in Europe and in Belgium would mean less early access to highly innovative treatments answering unmet medical needs. To conclude: The EU is at a crossroads - will it be an innovation hub or a follower in the future? As a region, the EU has already lagged behind global competitors in terms of R&D and manufacturing, with lower investment, a smaller share of global clinical trials, and longer approval times for new medicines over the past 20 years. Belgium seems to have made its choice, let's hope they will reconsider their position 🙏. https://lnkd.in/dkVDyq8w #WeWontRest #EUPharmaLegislation #innovation #competitiveness

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❗ The energy challenges facing our politicians in the coming decades are enormous. Elia presented an energy compass with the main challenges but, above all, solutions 🗺 Read it here ⬇

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Building on the challenges that communicators must overcome to reach European citizens—fragmented media use, the rise of populist narratives, and an influx of unreliable AI-generated “news”—we explore how the EU can maintain consistency, visibility, and relevance in this rapidly evolving context. 

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