General Counsel at EFPIA - It’s a lawyer but not as you know it
19.04.18
Nothing they teach you at law school prepares you for life inside an industry association. Even many years working in-house for a pharmaceutical company could not fully prepare me for challenges of a members led industry association like EFPIA.
EFPIA is the voice and face of the pharmaceutical industry operating in Europe – 40 member companies and 33 industry associations. Its role is to address policy and legislative challenges at a European level, as well as supporting national associations and businesses with European arguments and solutions. As General Counsel (“GC”) my role is to mobilise the legal arguments and support to let that voice be heard loud and clear.
My role description includes :
- thinking proactively to identify and address future legal issues,
- providing strategic legal advice, and
- supporting outreach to the European institutions, regulators, national associations and other relevant actors.
And after spending the first week working out how to make the coffee machine work, who to call for the latest European insights and the fastest way through the morning jams to make it to my usual 8:00 start, that’s what I’ve mainly been doing. Well that, and finding out who best in the office to tap when in urgent need of a chocolate fix.
So six months on what have I learnt about life as a GC for EFPIA?
First, delivering real value means getting to know your organisation and learning to look not just from the perspective of one firm, but from the diverse perspective of the whole industry. This then needs to be translated in which can add value across the whole membership, but without reducing this to some bland compromise position based on the lowest common denominator.
Second, it’s all very well lining up arguments that industry can unite behind, but these then need to be translated into language that speaks to policy-makers. They need to be relevant to the priorities that are important to all of us be it improving health outcomes, innovation, growth or jobs. This is particularly important in the context of the preparations for the change of the guard at European Parliament in June 2019 and the Commission in autumn 2019. It is not just having the right legal arguments to support your position; it is understanding how to articulate them within the policy context set by the Commission, 28 Member States (soon to drop back to 27) and 751 Members of the European Parliament. This is akin to multi-dimensional chess… and all this while keeping your members’ interest to heart and aligned.
Now you start to understand the need for chocolate.
Third, the real challenge is not to enter meetings as a lawyer, but as a policy strategist who understands and contextualises the legal framework within which policy is being set.
A GC can add value in this provided he/she does it right, i.e. does not explain the legal arguments as a lawyer but keeps in mind that decision makers deal with many different issues. Legal arguments may work before a judge but not so much with decision makers who see things in terms of deadlines, priorities, policy objectives, etc. A good GC weaves the law into the politics and policy. It’s all about explaining that broader context in the hope that decision makers can then make more informed policy decisions.
Last but not least, as GC I need to be a team player at all levels: with members as well as within the association. Legal arguments are only one part of the process, they are often used like newspaper to wrap up the economics, trade implications and policy content of our positions. This brings in a wide skill set from across our organization, drawing both on specialists within EFPIA, but equally important the views, expertise and knowledge of our members and specialist committees.
Keeping up with so many disciplines and brilliant colleagues is both challenging and rewarding, as we constantly learn from each other.
I am still on a learning curve, but six months on I can at least say I can see the summit, in contrast to the start where it was not always clear which way was up or down.
Onwards and upwards as we push forward the case for our industry in Europe as a major factor for innovation and above all as a force for better health.
