Challenge

Alber & Geiger was engaged by Xiaomi, the best-selling phone manufacturer in the EU to fend off against initiatives in the member states’ that could spill-over into the European Union. Our team was called in to provide strategic support, monitoring and analysis of ongoing EU policy initiatives and member states cybersecurity reports that had the potential to affect Xiaomi’s business in Europe.

Strategy

Alber & Geiger engaged on a plethora of issues, including EU-China relations, cybersecurity, right to repair, cyber resilience act, corporate sustainable due diligence, sanctions as well as the digital markets act, by providing high-end analysis and advise on content and engagement with the European Institutions, including the European Parliament and the European Commission. We also helped compile language to assist Xiaomi in addressing European Parliament concerns on the need to protect consumers from Chinese mobile phones by highlighting Xiaomi adherence to EU GDPR standards and norms.

Results

We were able to learn firsthand of ongoing EU initiatives in the Commission or in the European Parliament affecting Xiaomi, and quick to provide analysis and message to advocate vis-à-vis the institutions. Alber & Geiger addressed the concerns raised in reports, letters and policy initiatives. This approach enabled us to protect the image of Xiaomi, and its position in the European market.

Challenge

We were hired by the Council for a Democratic Iran (CDI) to raise political awareness and build support for the CDI before the EU. The hurdle here was to promote the very specific foreign policy position of the CDI, with the Member States governments, with conflicting positions on Iran. The subtle CDI policy locus fell in between confrontation and accommodation. This had to be done in a universal, politically neutral manner.

Strategy

The strategy relied on a data collection and dissemination process based on our distinct EU lobbying infrastructure. We gathered a detailed pool of information from a holistic range of institutional, local, NGO and inter-governmental sources.

Subsequently our team translated the data to be compatible with the policy structures of the EU institutions. We tailored the message to different audience catchments of Member States. Overall the strategy outlined an accurate overview of the scale of repression and human rights violations in Iran. Concurrently it promoted positive transnational tools to tangibly shape policy accordingly.

Results

CDI’s message was successfully transplanted into the divergent attitudes of the EU Member States and EU institutions. We helped CDI contribute to greater coherence in the perception of Iranian politics and policies. Ultimately we prevented the subtleties of diplomacy from concealing the human rights violations in Iran. This created a context for more constructive and bold communications from media outlets and government officials with respect to the repressive actions.

Challenge

Alber & Geiger assisted a US Fortune 500 chemical company to tackle the issue of illegal trade of refrigerants. For years, illegal trade of old generation refrigerants in Europe, prevented and delayed the introduction of high-end, climate friendly solutions. In parallel, the ongoing revision of the EU F-Gas Regulation was not delivering the expected results on phasing down the use of HFCs, as stricter penalties and measures to control illegal trade could only be enforced on a Member State level.

Strategy

Our team therefore embarked on a legislative initiative in Germany, which would offer a national solution that would inspired other Member States to use the German law as a blueprint. Alber & Geiger enforced a strategy which appealed to all levels of the German political institutions and administration. We supported the proposal on the level of the federal government, while in parallel gathering support at various political levels. Moving forward successfully, we managed to get our arguments through to stakeholders also in the European Union.

Results

On a first stage, Alber & Geiger supported a draft legislation which was in favor of our client’s expectations. On a second stage, our team also saw through the clearance of the German legislation from the EU Commission and inspire other Member States follow the German path. Finally, we locked the support from the German upper house and rapporteurs of the lower house, succeeding in the eventual speedy adoption of the legislation, which will be hopefully used as a blueprint solution in the EU.