Alber & Geiger

Alber & Geiger is a political lobbying agency and a European-based government relations law firm, lobbying EU institutions in Brussels. The firm has also a litigation practice at the European Court of Justice and has offices in Brussels, Berlin, Beijing and Washington D.C.[1][2]

Alber & Geiger
TypeGovernment Relations Law firm
IndustryLobbying
Founded2007
HeadquartersBrussels, Belgium. Berlin, Germany
Key people
Andreas Geiger, Managing Partner
Websitehttps://www.albergeiger.com

Among the firm's partners are the former Secretary General of the European Commission, the former Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano, Guus Houttuin from the European External Action Service, and former members of the European Commission Carlo Trojan, Erik Nooteboom, and Gustaaf Borchardt.[3]

History

The firm was founded in 2007 as a spin-off of leading US lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates by its former European CEO Andreas Geiger, and former CDU politician and former member of the German Bundestag Siegbert Alber.[4][5] Before that, Geiger was Head of the EU Law Center of Ernst & Young in Brussels and attorney at the law firm Taylor Wessing. He wrote a handbook on EU lobbying.[6][7]

Lobbying practice

Alber & Geiger is one of few EU lobbying firms that are vocal about their lobbying activities, and advocated for a mandatory transparency register in the past.[8][9][10]

Besides lobbying for corporate clients, the firm represents foreign governments. Alber & Geiger received media attention for representing the Bulgarian government on matters relating to EU funds.[11][12] They represented Morocco in challenging the EU's negative perception of Morocco's position on Western Sahara,[13][14] India on its free trade agreement with the EU, and the political opposition of Iran.[15] They represented Panama regarding its inclusion on the EU's money laundering blacklist following the Panama Papers incident.[16][17]

Their corporate cases include a win against Microsoft before the EU Commission in the EU "browser war",[18] and assistance to Piraeus Bank during the financial crisis in Greece.[19] They represented the infrastructure company Terna for the construction of the E65 in Greece.

The firm has a history of lobbying for companies from the chemical industry, like Teflon producer Chemours on the EU PFAS regulation, and Australian agro company Nufarm on EU biofuel policy under the European Green Deal.[20][21][22][23][24]

Furthermore, they lobbied for Papier-Mettler regarding the EU plastic bag ban,[25] as well as on the state monopolies for gambling laws within the EU.[26][27] The firm also represented American energy interests in the Balkans against Russian influence.[28][29]

According to the Transparency Register of the European Union, they currently do lobby for organizations including Nuseed, Xiaomi, Ingevity, Infinium, Huawei, and the Embassy of India among others.[30]

Controversy

In June 2012, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Independent, a leading UK newspaper, revealed how senior members of the House of Lords failed to disclose their business interests in a public inquiry. On Lord Plumb's entry in the register of interests he lists his only remunerated employment/profession as 'farming' despite his involvement with the Brussels-based lobbying firm Alber and Geiger since 2007.[31] According to The Independent, Lord Plumb insists, he did not need to register his involvement because he had never been in employment, paid or unpaid by the firm which is typically the case in law firms with non-executive senior members.[32]

References
  1. "Our Offices". Alber & Geiger – European Lobbying – Diplomacy – Litigation. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  2. "Richter lehnen Extrawurst für Zentralbanker ab" [Judges reject special treatment for central bank workers]. Die Welt (in German). 23 February 2014. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
  3. "Team". Alber & Geiger – European Lobbying – Diplomacy – Litigation. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  4. "Cassidy EU Team Quits to Launch New Lobbying Firm". PRovoke Media. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  5. "Deutscher Bundestag: Web-Archiv". webarchiv.bundestag.de. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  6. Geiger, Andreas (2012). EU lobbying handbook (2nd ed.). Brussels. ISBN 978-1-4751-1749-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. "Dr. Andreas Geiger".
  8. "Beat the Berlaymont". POLITICO. 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  9. Korkea-aho, Emilia (January 2021). "Legal Lobbying: The Evolving (But Hidden) Role of Lawyers and Law Firms in the EU Public Affairs Market". German Law Journal. 22 (1): 65–84. doi:10.1017/glj.2020.97. ISSN 2071-8322.
  10. "Lobbyists target 'black sheep' lawyers". POLITICO. 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  11. "Lawyer: Bulgaria wrongly portrayed as EU's bogeyman". www.euractiv.com. 2008-11-18. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  12. "Lobbyisten für Bulgarien – DW – 07.01.2009". dw.com (in German). Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  13. "Arguments sent to European Parliament FOR the fisheries". 2011.
  14. "Morocco And The Western Sahara". Alber & Geiger – European Lobbying – Diplomacy – Litigation. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  15. "Political Opposition in Iran". Alber & Geiger – European Lobbying – Diplomacy – Litigation. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  16. "The Panama Papers". Alber & Geiger – European Lobbying – Diplomacy – Litigation. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  17. humans.txt. "PRCA Public Affairs Awards Half Day Conference Agenda". Public Affairs Networking. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  18. "Lobbying-Paradies Brüssel - fm4.ORF.at". fm4v3.orf.at. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  19. "POLITICO Brussels Influence: You've got mail — Locked out of the Parliament — Trump ties". POLITICO. 2017-10-06. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  20. "Bananas are early battlefront in EU bid for greener farm standards". POLITICO. 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  21. Lane, Jim (November 25, 2019). "NuSeed acquires Agrisoma carinata assets". Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  22. "Toxic lobbying: the titanium dioxide label debate continues | Corporate Europe Observatory". corporateeurope.org. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  23. Bott, Ian; Ting-Fang, Cheng (2023-05-22). "The crackdown on risky chemicals that could derail the chip industry". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  24. "Alber & Geiger | lobbyfacts". www.lobbyfacts.eu. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  25. "The Plastic Bag Ban". Alber & Geiger – European Lobbying – Diplomacy – Litigation. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  26. "EU Gambling Bans". Alber & Geiger – European Lobbying – Diplomacy – Litigation. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  27. "Alber & Geiger | lobbyfacts". www.lobbyfacts.eu. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  28. "Protecting American Energy Interests In The Balkans". Alber & Geiger – European Lobbying – Diplomacy – Litigation. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  29. Balser, Markus; Ritzer, Uwe (2016). Lobbykratie: wie die Wirtschaft sich Einfluss, Mehrheiten, Gesetze kauft. München: Droemer. pp. 18–21. ISBN 978-3-426-27660-0.
  30. "Transparency Register". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  31. Newman, Melanie; Wright, Oliver (20 June 2012). "Chamber of secrets: House of Lords exposed". Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
  32. Newman, Melanie; Wright, Oliver & McClenaghan, Maeve (20 June 2012). "Undeclared interests: Peers fail to register business roles". Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
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