The Brussels Business Page #4

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at the time was creating this entity ...

... that would prevent American firms

for beeing able to do business there.

And if you ask me to think

what was the role of business ...

... behind the single

market program ...

... what I could read and what have

been published at that time, ...

... really have suggested that it was

largely government led initiative.

But once I started

asking questions ...

... in meeting with different

people in Brussels ...

... it started a whole

different story.

I start to talking with some

of the CEO's and then ...

... particularlly with the Corporate

Affairs managers of these firms ...

... to ask them

what happened.

And everybody had a

little piece of the story.

And then I met with

Keith Richardson.

Keith and I would talk about

different things and ...

... he would give

me some ideas ...

... and I'd go and talk

with other individuals.

And then I come back

with more questions.

And sometimes used he had the

answers and sometimes he didnt.

And finally, I believe it was on

my seventh meeting with Keith, ...

... When I said to

Keith, 'You know ...'

'... I can write about this, I can

have all of these interviews, ...'

'... but I really want to

see the pieces of paper.'

And Keith said

to me, 'Well, ...'

'... I have a bunch of cardboard

boxes in the basement of ERT.'

'We have not opened them.'

'They are from the earlier days. We

just put this material in the boxes.'

And of course, in a back of my mind

I was very excited thinking this is it.

Maria Green Cowles

came across a telex.

It was from Wise Dekker,

CEO of Philips.

In December 1985. he

wrote to the heads of state.

Just before the signing of

the single European act ...

... which started the process

of the single market.

The crux of the telex

was as follows ...

... 'We dont know what you are

going to do, but we want you to act.'

'You can act one

way or another.'

'If you choose not to have

a single market program ...'

' ... then you have given us

no choice but perhaps ... '

'... take our

business elsewhere.'

This was a clear threat.

ERT represented 60% ...

... Western Europe's

industrial output.

This was blackmail.

Why didnt single government say

anything about the Dekker telex?

Or about the other

threats that followed?

They were all elected

representatives.

We felt that this

was a betrayal.

And we wanted to do

something about it.

It was important that bigger

public to know about this.

And we decided

to publish a book.

Besides collecting data we

started to make interviews.

Undercover interviews.

Erik was the perfect person

for doing these interviews.

At that time, Press Accreditation

was easy to obtain.

For a magazine or journal,

and you are a journalist.

I mean, it was not

completely untrue, ...

... it was also not

completely true.

By the mid 90s the

ERT was everywhere.

In advisory boards

for the Commission, ...

... in export groups, in research

institutes and Think tanks.

Some people said that it was

hardly lobby group anymore but ...

... already part of

the EU institutions.

However, the ERT was only one out of

over 2,000 lobby structures in Brussels.

We started to dive

into the lobby world.

In business federations,

lobby consultanties, ...

... in Public

Affairs offices, ...

... in Think tanks.

Finally in spring 1997., we assembled

the results of our investigations ...

... and interviews

into the report ...

... 'Europe, INC'.

We scheduled a book launch for

big EU summit in Amsterdam.

All the media will be there.

We were excited.

We have prepared a book

launch and a half-hour before ...

... first friends started

to arriving. But ...

... very little or no

Press showed up.

So yes, that was

disappointing.

We thought we had some

very exciting material ...

... presented in

a nice way and ...

... it is clear that is

disappointing that the ...

... media didnt

take up that story.

A very large part of companies

investing abroad are actually ...

... discriminated toward

the local competitives.

Sometimes they dont give you the

licences all day. Wait very much all day.

Put a lot of taxes, they

find ways and means ...

... to slow down your

business. You are obviously ...

... not in the level playfield and

that is your disadvantage, so ...

... my job is actually about

removing these difficulties ...

... and sometimes

through barriers.

When I was a little boy

I remember one of my ...

... dearest toy was

actually the globe that ...

... I've been offered once

for Christmas. And ...

... I was looking at this world

and all the different countries ...

... and I was dreaming

about it and I felt ...

... 'One day I hope

I'll be able to travel.'

We have just concluded

most ambitious ...

... of market opening and

rule making exercise ...

... strengthing rules based

system of multilateral trade.

And perhaps

most important, ...

... the establishment of a stronger

and more broadly based ...

... World Trade

Organization.

When I started to work on financial

services GATTs negotiations, ...

... that was really a time when

I've discovered that this is ...

... really interesting and

I really liked to do that.

What is interesting in

international trade is ...

... international treatty

signed by the EU.

Even if it is not European legislation

is above European legislation.

And all countries of the

EU have to respect ...

... an international treatty

that the Union has signed.

We've come to the end

of the most far-reaching ...

... trade negotiations ever.

You, the negotiators of the

117 governments involved ...

... have achieved

extraordinary success.

With your

approval therefore ...

... I gavel the Uruguay

round is concluded.

The internal market of

the EU was becoming an ...

... a very important

market, rich market.

With the highest

GDP per capita and ...

... that when the EU was going

outside and negotiate as a block ...

... they had a real power. Because

it was the biggest exporter, ...

... biggest importer,

biggest foreign investor.

But sir Leon Britain, ...

... trade commisioner EU was

complaining that every time ...

... he was going to negotiate

with the United States ...

... in front of him he

will see his counterpart.

And on his back he will

have CEO's of big banks ...

... and big insurance

companies telling him, ...

... 'Please do that for me,

please do that for us.'

But when sir Leon Britain was turning

his back to see where his support was ...

... he was actually had only

some ministers that saying ...

... 'Dont do this, dont do that.

Please do that only but no more.'

And he was really

not very happy.

We discovered that there is a whole

world of lobbyists in Washington.

To tell their government what they

want in the Trade Organisation.

And we thought this is

the way we have to go.

We have to do

something like that.

European institutions

is asking for it.

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