In April 2024, barely two months before the European elections, the Directorate General for the Environment (DG ENV) launched a consultation on the revision of Annex 3 of the Nitrates Directive. DG MARE is consulting on the protection of sharks, DG MOVE on the greening of company vehicle fleets.... These initiatives are just some of the many consultations launched by the European Commission since January. Although these consultations do not immediately lead to legislative proposals, they can give an indication of the work that European officials wish to pursue.
For European lobbyists, these consultations represent a strategic opportunity. Their job is to ensure that the interests they represent are taken into account in the work of the future Commissioners. However, it has to be said that not everyone seizes this opportunity in the same way. Take, for example, the consultation on the revision of the Nitrates Directive: a total of 180 contributions were received. However, the participation of French organizations was particularly low, with only six contributions, compared to other European countries.
This low level of French involvement in the consultation is not an isolated case. Since the beginning of 2024, the number of French contributions to European public consultations has been particularly low, especially when compared with that of the much more active German players.
In a "normal" year, the gap between French and German contributions is around 20%, roughly in line with the population differences between the two Member States. During this interim period, it is around 40%.
The low level of French participation in the European Commission's public consultations should be a wake-up call. To remain influential in the European decision-making process, France needs to mobilize its stakeholders even before the elections, to ensure that their interests are properly represented. A comparison with Germany suggests that such mobilization is not only possible, but necessary.
