For the second year running, students of this programme are participating in the European Lobbing Competition organized by the consulting firm Spin Partners and the internet site Lobbying-Europe.com with the chance to use their knowledge, understand the importance of lobbing on the EU level and acquire valuable experience for their professional life.

The objective of the competition is to promote the practice of lobbying as a tool of dialogue between professionals and lawmakers. It is only open to the Master's students of five leading business schools in France  and is designed to give students with diverse backgrounds the opportunity to measure their knowledge of EU affairs in a real-life context. Participants have to move through the European cogwheels, offer their consulting expertise on up-to-date topics proposed by the sponsors of the competition.

The sponsors (companies and professional/public associations) offer real-life topics and benefit from the free research and advice they get from these high quality competitors. Through the competition, sponsors develop their understanding of the European environment and the opportunities available to them to promote their interests.

Each school forms teams of 3 to 6 people for each topic and the students are given three months to do research, meet with  the sponsors, gather the necessary documents and meet people from EU institutions. As a last step each team submits a written analysis and recommendation plan which are evaluated by a committee representing the sponsor and an official of the lobbying sector. The winning teams are awarded prizes of up to €1500.

Beside this competition, EDHEC students work in several lobbing projects as part of their studies. These small-scale projects where students work for local institutions and businesses help to strengthen EDHEC's links with the local communities and the fact that EDHEC students have the chance to visit EU institutions, meet decision makers and create networks is particularly useful in their professional careers.

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RESULTS:   After 5 months of competition:

EDHEC's Master of Science in European Business won 3rd place in the school ranking and 3rd place in the individual ranking.