Le danger des affaires publiques mal coordonnées[en] 

Public affairs and public communications have different, but related roles for corporations. A seminar at the European Communications Summit attempted to establish the pros and cons of greater coordination between the two roles. 

Brussels based public affairs (PA) departments and companies communicate with EU policy makers on the development of legislation, while public relations (PR), or corporate communications, is involved in communicating the corporation’s goals to a wider public.

Public affairs has seen significant growth in Brussels, with many PA departments evolving from corporate communications teams. As the field has developed many companies have separated the two areas into distinct departments, but panelists attending the seminar questioned the logic of this split. 

The European Communication Summit 2009, hosted by the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD) and the professional magazine Communication Director, took place on 2 and 3 July. The summit brings together the leading communications professionals from around Europe. 

Barbara Helfferich, spokesperson for EU Environment Commissioner Dimas, warned that an overly aggressive communications campaigns can be “counterproductive” for companies when dealing with the EU institutions. 

“If a company puts an ad in the newspaper criticising the Commission, or brings up an issue that we didn’t know about in the press, then that creates an atmosphere where cooperation becomes difficult,” she said calling for public relations and communications efforts to be better integrated, Helfferich stressed that such an uncoordinated approach can often result in the two efforts canceling each other out. 

The Commission spokesperson admitted that it did not happen in the “majority of cases”, but she warned the assembled communications professionals, that once it happens “it heightens the mistrust” felt by the Commission. 

Roberto Zangrandi of the Italian utilities company Enel told the seminar that public affairs and corporate communication make for good bedfellows, with many professionals moving between the two fields during their careers. 

Enel takes the integration of public affairs and public communications into a single PA sphere very seriously, according to Zangrandi. “We chose three years ago to merge public affairs with corporate communication,” he revealed, noting that ENEL public affairs professionals even coordinate with ENEL’s advertising department to see if a new advertisement can be used advance a Brussels-to-Brussels message. 

But, while Zangrandi would consider using media relations as a lobbying tool, he would “never go beyond the threshold, in terms of aggression, or attacking a Commissioner,” said the Italian lobbyists. 

Ben Atfield, director of Ellwood and Atfield, suggested that there could be a conflict between the long-term orientation of public affairs and the short-term goals of corporate communications short-term. 

However, Zangrandi pointed out that it would be counterproductive to split the public affairs and corporate communication departments, reiterating that a director of communications cannot “renounce responsibility for public affairs”. 

Adding that it is often a matter of making efficient use of resources, Fiona Wilkinson of Visa Europe argued that, “public affairs and public relations works very well as a whole because we need as much fire power as possible”.