Lobbying on Arts & Culture - Brussels (August 2026 edition)
European Publishers Council; Federation Internationale de l'Automobile; Global Water Intelligence; association of television and radio sales houses were unusually active lobbyists last month.
The Themes Hidden in July's Lobbying Data
Section A: The Themes Hidden in July's Lobbying Data
Commission Advances Cookie Reform Amid Publisher Lobbying
Ongoing reforms to EU cookie and data protection rules coincide with heightened lobbying by publishers and broadcasters, including direct engagement from the European Publishers Council with Comm McGrath (Justice) and from the association of television and radio sales houses with EVP Virkkunen (Digital Services). July 2026 saw increased sectoral engagement as industry groups responded to proposed changes affecting user tracking, advertising models, and compliance frameworks, reflecting concerns about the impact on digital privacy and media competitiveness.
📎 Freshfields analysis · POLITICO article
Media Sector Ramps Up Input for AVMSD Review
Intensified lobbying by the association of television and radio sales houses and the European Publishers Council comes as EU policymakers, including EVP Virkkunen (Digital Services) and Comm McGrath (Justice), prepare for a 2026 review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. July 2026 sector meetings focused on adapting media legislation to address the influence of digital technologies, influencers, and content moderation, contributing to ongoing discussions about consumer protection and media pluralism.
Book Trade Pushes for Customs Duty Exemption
Trade bodies in the books and publishing sector, including the European Publishers Council, intensified lobbying efforts in July 2026, urging exemption from a new EU customs duty on small parcels, including books and periodicals. Advocacy was framed around concerns for cross-border cultural exchange and impacts on smaller publishers, with discussions involving Comm McGrath (Justice), reflecting broader anxieties about trade competitiveness and regulatory burdens.
📎 Home - Culture and Creativity
Creative Industries Participate in Digital Water Consultation
Arts and culture sector organizations, including Global Water Intelligence and the association of television and radio sales houses, appear in lobbying records alongside the launch of the EU's Digital Action Plan for the water sector, with meetings involving Comm Roswall (Environment) and EVP Virkkunen (Digital Services). This cross-sector initiative highlights opportunities for creative industries to contribute best practices and digital innovation in sustainability, coinciding with Commission efforts to embed resilience and modernization across policy domains.
📎 EU Commission Seeks Input on Water Sector Digital Action Plan · Water - Environment - European Commission
Section B: Lobbying Activity by Industry
This section compares, by industry, the lobbying activity with the European Commission last month to its historical average.
Industry Lobbying Activity, July 2026
In July 2026, 3 industries from this sector were active in lobbying meetings with the European Commission, led by Book and Newspaper Publishing.
On the quieter side, Book and Newspaper Publishing, Sports, and TV Programming and Broadcasting saw notably less lobbying activity than their historical average.
Section C: Lobbying by Industry for the Past Year
To contextualize Section B, this chart shows the residual trajectory of the same top industries from Section B over the past 12 months — the deviation from what would be expected after accounting for seasonal patterns and the overall trend. Persistent above-zero values indicate sustained over-activity; persistent below-zero values indicate sustained quiet periods.
Sector Residual (July 2026)
This chart shows the 3 industries in this sector with the largest deviations from expected lobbying activity in July 2026. Positive values run above their seasonal trend, negative values below.
Sector saw lobbying notably below expected levels this month.
Section D: Lobbying Activity by Organization
In this section, we see the organizations with the most unusual lobbying behavior last month, defined by either unusually high or unusually low lobbying activity.
Organization Lobbying Activity, July 2026
In July 2026, 4 organizations from this sector took part in 4 lobbying meetings with the European Commission.
On the quieter side, Stichting BirdLife Europe, Spotify, Netflix International B.V., and Motion Picture Association EMEA saw notably less lobbying activity than usual.
New to the sector's lobbying records this month: Global Water Intelligence.
Section E: Lobbying of Government Institutions in the Past Month
Every lobbying meeting takes place with one of two types of European Commission body: a Commissioner's cabinet (political staff) or a Directorate-General (the civil service). This section shows the organisation-to-institution pairings with the most unusual lobbying activity last month, defined by the largest absolute difference between this month's meeting count and the pair's 12-month rolling average.
Lobbying of Commission Institutions, July 2026 vs 12-Month Avg
In July 2026, 4 organisations from this sector met with 4 Commission bodies across 4 meetings — split across 3 Commissioner cabinets and 1 Directorates-General.
Section F: Organization Lobbying by Subject in the Past Month
This section shows the organisation-to-subject pairings with the most unusual lobbying activity last month. Subjects are classified from each meeting's title text into one of 19 EU policy areas. A meeting covering multiple topics counts toward each of them.
Lobbying by Subject, July 2026 vs 12-Month Avg
In July 2026, 4 organisations from this sector lobbied on 5 policy topics across 4 meetings. Meetings may touch multiple topics, so subject totals can exceed total meetings.
On the quieter side, Stichting BirdLife Europe on Environment saw notably less lobbying activity than their historical average.
Section G: Most-Lobbied Officials
This section lists the most-frequent lobbying touchpoints between this sector's organisations and individual European Commission officials last month, compared to each pairing's average over the past year.
Most-Lobbied Officials, July 2026
In July 2026, 5 European Commission officials took part in 4 meetings with this sector's lobbyists.
The most-frequent meetings this month were European Publishers Council and Maria Zafra Saura at Comm McGrath (Justice) and association of television and radio sales houses and Thomas Schmitz at EVP Virkkunen (Digital Services).
Most activity came from Cabinet members (3 meetings), followed by Commissioner (1) and Head of Unit (1).
