Proa Comunicación and Vae Solis Europe build an alliance
to provide EU expertise and Public Affairs advisory to Spanish companies
Interview with Paul d’Amécourt and Olivier Benoist, representing Vae Solis Europe.
What are the specificities of Vae Solis Europe?
The Vae Solis Europe team is specialized in European public affairs. Based in the EU capital and at the center of the European decision process, we are an international and multidisciplinary team passionate about the EU decision process.
We help companies, federations, associations and regions to better understand the EU decision process and to make their voice heard.
Why is Brussels so important ?
Brussels is the capital of the European Union and is where the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament (with Strasbourg) are situated.
The EU institutions are composed of a bit less than 50 000 civil servants or equivalent, which is comparatively small compared to any national administration. There is a strong need for experts from the civil society in order to regulate on complex EU issues.
In sectors such as environment, technologies, finance, fishing, digital or agriculture more than 50% of the decisions are taken at EU level. All countries have built strong teams to promote their national interests, some regions (such as Bavaria or Ile de France) have a permanent representation in Brussels and corporations, associations, federations, universities and NGOs participate in the EU debate.
What do you offer?
We help our clients to understand and react to the impact of European and national legislation on their businesses. It is important for us to give them the means to participate in decision-making processes while providing the tools to build influential outreach campaigns. We help our clients to build legitimacy and momentum by creating and managing interest coalitions. As our clients cannot always be in Brussels we represent them in EU meetings and can be their eyes in ears.
What sectors do you cover?
We work with corporate level clients, as well as federations, start-ups but also public institutions. Our strength is in helping them build a European strategic vision and then to put in place an operational influence campaign. We are generalists and our clients generally recognize our knowledge in the fields of digital & data, circular economy, services, fintechs and trade.
We have a diverse team with an international background and with a formal education in economics, philosophy, law and EU politics. The whole team has a hands-on approach.
Why is the timing good to speak at EU level ?
A new Parliament was elected last May with 61% of newly elected MEPs, a new President of the European Commission was designated and the new Commissioners-designate will be heard by the European Parliament between 30 September and 8 October in Brussels.
A first work program for the European Commission has been issued and there will be a strong need from input from the whole civil society. Regional, National and European actors which want to integrate changes in European regulation in their strategy have the unique opportunity to act at a very early stage in the decisions process and to put forward their arguments in a democratic way.
How to build a message at European level ?
The EU decision process is relatively slower than the national one, essentially because of the number of actors which have to be consulted. When companies and federations build messages at EU level, they need to have a long-term strategic vision which has to be built early in advance. This is why it is so important to have a Spanish based company such as Proa Comunicación -which understands the priorities of a local company- work hand in hand with experts in Brussels in order to build relevant messages and campaigns which have a long-term impact.
For more information visit: Vae Solis or Lighthouse Europe