22 November 2017
Madrid Headquarters
On behalf of the leading political parties, PP (Javier Maroto), PSOE (Susana Sumelzo), Podemos (Tania Sánchez) and Cuidadanos (Begoña Villacís) took part in one of the sessions on the programme entitled “Lobby and Advocacy”, now being held for the second time at DBS Madrid. The four politicians shared their points of view on lobbies in Spain with the students, who were from different corporate areas. The session ended with a talk by the Eurodeputy, Spanish socialist party (PSOE), Jonás Fernández, who spoke on the role of lobbies in European institutions.
Both the politicians and other professionals participating (ranging from business leaders to attorneys, economists, journalists, etc.) in the sessions, have examined in great detail the evolution of pressure groups in Spain. They concluded that they are increasingly common and more professional in our country.
However, it should be noted that many of them have highlighted the need for broader knowledge of what pressure groups' tasks involve. They also pointed out that companies, associations, employers associations, NGOs, foundations and other bodies that need to bring their interests before public authorities should know how and where to do so.
The seminar, Lobby and Advocacy, led by the partner and General Manager of MAS Consulting, Daniel Ureña, and the Director of Deusto Business School, Iñaki Ortega, focuses on informing and training professionals and executives who work in institutional relations and represent the interests of firms, employers’ associations, NGOs, foundations, consultancies, embassies, chambers of commerce, law firms, etc.
The programme places special importance on explaining to students how regulation of the different public administrations affects the private sector and civil society. For this reason, fluent and constant dialogue is needed between the former and lawmakers and politicians. For the above reasons, lobbying is increasingly important and the demand for professionals in this field is on the rise.
