?The word lobbying had a very negative connotation in Europe and I gather that it?s the same here. Even there, initially, the business was not regulated from the inside or from outside, it didn?t explain itself and India seems to be facing similar challenges,? says Jean-L?opold Schuybroek, chairman, International Communications Consultancy Organisation. He believes it to be just a matter of perception, which needs to be cleared and corrected. ?The solution is to get out, be transparent and explain what public affairs, lobbying and PR actually do and how this business contributes in a democracy through representation,? he adds. In India for Public Relations Consultants Association of India?s (PRCAI) annual summit and to help the association to instil ethical practices and standards in the PR industry, Schuybroek gets candid with Sukalp Sharma on lobbying, a matter subject to intense, and often an acrimonious debate in the country.
What is your impression of the PR industry in India?
From whatever I have seen in India and what I gather from the newspapers, public affair is going through normal evolution as seen in the US and Europe. Public affairs is being recognised as a service, as an industry, which has some specific needs and is now getting out of its infancy and becoming more professional. This also brings along issues that confront it. It needs to now look at itself and regulate itself to be accepted. We in Europe have also gone through the same process.
Lately, there has been quite a storm in India over the issue of lobbying and its ethical issues. Many people have an extremely negative impression of lobbying. Is there anything at all like ?ethical lobbying??
Lobbying can be as ethical as any other business. The problem is that people don?t understand what lobbying really is and thus negative activities are common under the garb of lobbying. I would say you can?t do a number of things in lobbying. The most obvious ones are corruption, manipulation, misleading information, and if someone indulges in that, then it?s not lobbying. Lobbying has somehow ended up with a negative perception for people. We now prefer to call our business as public affairs and not lobbying because of that wrong perception. Lobbying has nothing to do with buying influence or buying power. It is a business, which is needed as it brings more representation in a society. By coming out and talking about what the business actually is, we also expel the black sheep in the industry.
So, how do you define lobbying or ethical lobbying, to be more precise?
Lobbying is representing the interests of a client and it is a commercial activity. The client can be a company, an association, an NGO, or even another country or region, of which we represent interests with policy makers. That is mainly what it is ?representation of individual interests in the context of political decision making. It is related to legislative decision-making and policy processes and not things like tenders. We bring the information and arguments of one party in front of the political decision makers. Their role is to listen to all the stakeholders, from consumers, to NGOs, to opponents and then on that basis they would write legislation after really knowing what is the issue. And now even governments and the European Union have started recognising the need to have all stakeholders adequately represented to make informed political decisions.
How good an option is to legalise lobbying to clean the PR industry?
I would say regulating definitely helps. That?s has happened in the US and Europe. Legalisisng doesn?t mean that till now it was illegal, it just means that the profession was unregulated. So, in order to avoid problems, I feel a set of regulations is a very good thing. Then again there are two sorts of regulation. Firstly, the industry needs to auto-regulate itself and it is extremely important. After that, the authorities should come in to fill whatever is left. That is important as you show, as an industry, your goodwill, ethics, and most importantly for this business, transparency. The more the society is open and democratic, the lesser problems it has in a political environment. You?ll always have more lobbyists in a society, which is relatively more open and democratic.
How can associations of PR firms be effective? What specific role do you see for the PRCAI?
An association is important as otherwise you?ll have different people doing different things under the garb of PR. You then have one black sheep contaminating the whole business and invite a bad name and bad reputation for the business. The industry is not really regulated, so you need to have somebody who owns this space. I think that?s a major role for the PRCAI in India. And in order to own it, you need to set up some rules in the form of a code of conduct. And then invite companies to join the association only if they agree with the code of conduct. This is the first step that would bring clarity into the market and will separate those who are willing to work under that code of conduct and those who aren?t. It?s also important to ensure that companies that are a part of the association have systems in place to control their actions according to the code. Then it is at a later stage when outside regulators can come up with addition regulation if they feel that those already in place aren?t sufficient.
