As a food or pharma business operating in Europe, you are faced with a growing number of questions. What European legislation applies to my business? How am I affected by the many new rules emerging from the EU process? Can I have advance warning so my business has more time to adapt? How can I have a say? Whom should I contact? Do I want to work with other likeminded businesses to influence European policy?

ECCO can provide you with answers and opportunities. With in-depth practical knowledge of decision-making procedures we know our way through the maze and understand how key institutions interact to produce the rules that apply to the food and pharmaceutical sectors. We have the contacts and the communication skills to ensure that the right message is put to the right decision-makers at the right time.

At ECCO we pride ourselves on providing a flexible service, tailored to suit your business needs. Whether you require day-to-day administrative management of a trade association, advice on a lobbying strategy to best obtain your targets or detailed technical regulatory advice from our experienced staff, we have a solution to offer you.

For more information on the services we can provide, please select from the key options below:

Regulatory
Our services in regulatory affairs include informing clients about the latest EU developments, from detailed technical matters to general progress and orientation of EU food and pharma policy. We monitor decision-making procedures, interpret legislative proposals and provide in-depth analysis of these developments in a client’s field of interest, in order to provide a comprehensive and clear understanding of how these changes will have an impact on a client’s business. Liaising with EU institutions such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, EFSA, EMEA, EDQM (Council of Europe), and Member State authorities, as well as major stakeholders in food related industries, clients trust us to represent their needs before these key decision makers. At an international level too, we monitor developments and represent clients at several international institutions active in developing rules for the food and pharma sectors, including Codex Alimentarius, JECFA, WTO, WCO, WHO, PDG and ICH.
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EU Public Affairs
Based at the heart of EU decision-making in Brussels, we draw upon a wide range of contacts and sources of information to keep our corporate clients and trade associations abreast of EU policy developments. We draft position papers, prepare lobbying strategies and advise clients on the courses of action available. We identify and interact with key people responsible for dossiers at the European Commission, engaging in technical discussions on behalf of clients and presenting their point of view. Following dossiers through the political channels, we propose and implement lobbying strategies to best defend the interests of the client, including representation at meetings with Members of the European Parliament and cooperation with key stakeholders to try to ensure a coordinated approach and find the best solution.
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Communication
In order to support our work in regulatory and European public affairs, our monitoring and policy analysis services are backed by clear recommendations for action. We implement political communication strategies to ensure that a client’s interests are understood and properly taken into account by policy-makers.

We also develop communication policies to promote knowledge and awareness of food ingredients to wider audiences, including work on websites and print materials. We are equipped to deal with media enquiries on the client’s behalf and our team can provide clients with events organisation services.
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Trade Association Management
In addition to our regulatory, communications and public affairs’ services, we of course provide day-to-day administrative management of trade associations and Secretary General duties including a regular flow of information to clients, facilitating and organising client meetings, support with budget proposals and maintaining client websites.
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