Finsbury International Policy & Regulatory Advisors
Finsbury International Policy & Regulatory Advisers (Fipra) is a European public affairs consultancy network specialising in advice on political and regulatory issues. It claims to be the only consultancy with public affairs advisers in Brussels, throughout the Member States of the European Union (EU), as well as the Commonwealth of Independent States and China.
It is made up of a network of senior public policy and regulatory advisers specialising in 'strategic government relations'. Advice includes: UK and EU political contact programmes; select committee training; and integrated political and media campaigns.[1] Work is handled either locally by the companies in our group or centrally by Fipra EU - a company owned by its UK Partner Finsbury, a financial, regulatory and political communications firm."[2]
At some point it seems to have changed its name from 'Finsbury' to 'Foresight International Policy and Regulatory Advisers'.
EU lobbying
FIPRA International were among the top spending UK based lobbying firms offering lobby services to paying clients operating in Brussels in 2014, spending between €3,250,000 and €3,500,000. The lobbying company declares 26 lobbyists with 21 of those holding European Parliament passes, allowing the bearer virtually unlimited access to the Parliament's buildings.[3]
People
- Peter-Carlo Lehrell, chairman, Fipra International Ltd (London-based)
- Laura Batchelor, director of Fipra Brussels office
Revolving door
- John Bowis - former British MEP who joined Fipra as a 'special adviser' for health and environmental policy in June 2009. [4] Bowis was one of a number of MEPs involved in an EU lobbying scandal in 2008, when it was revealed they sat on a special board for 28 multinational companies that had set up a lobbying office in the European Parliament using a parliamentary telephone number and address.[5]
Contacts
Website: http://www.fipra.com
BRUSSELS
- Rue de la Loi 227
- 1040 Brussels
- Belgium
- Tel.: +32 2 613 2828
- Fax: +32 2 613 2849
LONDON
- Tenter House
- 45 Moorfields
- London EC2Y 9AE England
- Tel.:+44 207 251 3801
- Fax:+44 207 256 9552
References
- Jump up ↑ Fipra website, accessed Feb 2009
- Jump up ↑ Finsbury website, accessed November 2008
- Jump up ↑ Finance industry is UK's biggest lobbyist in Brussels Lobby Facts, 26 January 2015, accessed 3 February 2015
- Jump up ↑ John Bowis, Fipra, accessed 4 November 2014
- Jump up ↑ The European Alliance of EU-Critical Movements, Secret multinationals’ office revealed in the European Parliament, www.teameurope.info, 24 April 2008, accessed 5 March 2010