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Daniel Hannan

Daniel Hannan is a writer and journalist, and has been Conservative MEP for South East England since 1999. He speaks French and Spanish and loves Europe, but believes that the EU is making its constituent nations poorer, less democratic and less free. He is the winner of the Bastiat Award for online journalism.

Brussels has become the world's lobbying capital

By Daniel Hannan Politics Last updated: September 19th, 2010

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National governments may be in denial, but the private sector is in no doubt about the extent to which the EU now writes the rules. As legislative authority has shifted to Brussels, lobbyists have followed in their swarms. A new report by Ellwood & Atfield contains some eyebrow-raising facts:

Posts at the head of consultancies and trade associations are some of the most lucrative jobs in European public affairs… The managing director of a consultancy can earn between €300,000 and €400,000 – as much as the head of European public affairs at a big company or the secretary-general of a trade association – but much more than a director of communications, who can earn up to €260,000.

Ben Atfield, a partner in the firm, explains why: “In the past Brussels may have been seen as a place where corporate executives went to pasture at the end of their careers. But no longer. With up of 80 per cent of legislation in certain policy areas emanating from Brussels and an expanded EU of 27 countries, most interest groups are scaling up their representation.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the EU was designed by and for corporate interests.

Tags: eu, Eurosceptic, lobbying