Public affairs surVEY 2013

52% YES

31%

N

O

51%

Synopsis

For the twelfth consecutive year, MSL Germany interviewed more than 300 public affairs professio-nals from leading companies and industry federa-tions, with over sixty replies being received. “At the end of this legislative period, we asked public affairs professionals in Germany to review the government’s record, track the latest trends in political communications and venture educated guesses about key future developments”, says Axel Wallrabenstein, Chairman of MSLGROUP Germany. “While the results are not representative given the relatively small number of public affairs professio-nals, they are highly instructive – and indicative of the perceptions and priorities of key actors in the public affairs sector in Germany.“

This document provides a summary of the most important results. The complete survey is available in German on our website (www.mslgroup.de).

INTRO

MSL GerMany PubLic affairS Survey 20133

Approval ratings among public affairs professionals for the sitting conservative-liberal government have improved significantly. 74 per cent now rate the

government‘s work as “good” or “very good” com-pared to just 34 per cent two years ago.

BefORe The elecTION: hIgheR appROval RaTINgs fOR geRmaN gOveRNmeNT

How do you rate the government’s work after its third year in office?

8%VErY good

66%good

26%Poor

0%VErY Poor

MSL GerMany PubLic affairS Survey 20134

GraNd cOalitiONCDU/CSU & SPD

rEd-GrEENSPD & The Greens

rEpEat Of Black-YEllOw CDU/CSU & FDP

Black-GrEEN CDU/CSU & The Greens

traffic liGht SPD & The Greens & FDP

rEd-rEd-GrEENSPD & The Greens & The Left

2%

56%

31%

2%

3%

5%

Which coalition do you expect after the federal election in 2013?

Public affairs professionals appear to be thinking along traditional lines: The majority expect a Grand Coalition consisting of Conservatives and Social De-mocrats as the most likely outcome of the election

in September. 31 per cent believe in a repeat of the governing coalition of CDU/CSU and FDP. All other coalitions are seen as very unlikely, including a part-nership between CDU/CSU and The Greens.

IN NO mOOd fOR expeRImeNTs: puBlIc affaIRs pROfessIONals expecT gRaNd cOalITION

MSL GerMany PubLic affairS Survey 20135

SOlviNG thE EurO criSiS

82%implEmENtiNG thE „ENErGiEwENdE“ (ENErGY traNSfOrmatiON)

70%

rEGulatiON Of thE fiNaNcial SYStEm

28%

dEEpENiNG Of EurOpEaN iNtEGratiON

16%5% imprOvEmENt

Of SOcial juSticE tax rEfOrm

39%7% climatE and EnVironmEnt ProtEction

5% uniVErsal minimum WagE

5% suPPort for innoVatiVE comPaniEs

3% PEnsion rEform

2% coPYrigHt rEform7% otHEr

Most public affairs professionals (82 per cent) think that solving the Euro crisis will be the next German government’s most important task. Other key policy

areas are the so-called “Energiewende” (energy trans-formation) at 70 per cent and tax reform (39 per cent).

sOlvINg The euRO cRIsIs mOsT ImpORTaNT Task fOR NexT gOveRNmeNT

What are the most important projects for the next federal government?

MSL GerMany PubLic affairS Survey 20136

There is cautious optimism among German public affairs professionals with regard to the country’s economic development. While almost two thirds (64 per cent) believe the country is set for a year of stagnating growth, about one third of respondents

(34 per cent) expect growth to continue. This figure is up from just eleven per cent in 2012 when 73 per cent expected stagnating growth and 16 per cent feared an economic downturn.

mOdesT ecONOmIc gROwTh TO cONTINue

How do you estimate the economic development for 2013?

i ExpEct cONtiNuEd GrOwth

34%i ExpEct StaGNatiNG GrOwth

64%i ExPEct an Economic doWnturn

2%

MSL GerMany PubLic affairS Survey 20137

do you seek dialogue with political parties to talk about the election and government programs?

Three quarters of public affairs professionals seek dialogue with political parties about their election manifestos and/or programmes for government .

21 percent prefer not to talk to politicians about their plans for the next legislative period.

mappINg OuT The ageNda fOR The NexT paRlIameNT

75% YES

21% NO

N/a4%

MSL GerMany PubLic affairS Survey 20138

Which tools do you use in order to maintain your political contacts?

Personal meetings remain by far the most impor-tant tool for public affairs professionals to maintain their political contacts (97 per cent), followed by political salons (66 per cent) and workshops (51 per

cent). Interestingly: The number of those using so-cial media in a public affairs context has decreased by 16 per cent to 28 per cent.

puBlIc affaIRs RemaINs a face-TO-face BusINess

PErsonal mEEtings WitH rElEVant Political dEcision-makErs

97% PanEl discussions

46%social mEdia

and WEb 2.0-ElEmEnts

28%

PEriodic mailings

36%nEWslEttErs

33%Political salons or EVEning EVEnts

66%

otHErs

3%WorksHoPs

51%

MSL GerMany PubLic affairS Survey 20139

How have your public affairs related activities developed in the current year?

Corporations and industry associations spend more on public affairs as the federal election approaches. 39 per cent have increased their expenditure for

public affairs related activities, and 43 per cent are using additional human resources.

puBlIc affaIRs speNdINg INcReases IN elecTION yeaR

additional Human rEsourcEs WErE usEd for Public affairs rElatEd actiVitiEs

lEss Human rEsourcEs WErE usEd for Public affairs rElatEd actiVitiEs

additional financial rEsourcEs WErE usEd for Public affairs rElatEd actiVitiEs

lEss financial rEsourcEs WErE usEd for Public affairs rElatEd actiVitiEs

43% 23%

39% 16%

mslgroup germany gmbHChausseestraße 810115 BerlinGermany

The complete survey in German is available for download here:

www.mslgroup.de

For more information please contact Florian Wastl

(+ 49 30 / 820 82 – 524, florian.wastl@mslgroup.com).

MSLGROUP Germany GmbH

Chausseestraße 8

10115 Berlin

Germany

89%

37%57% bErlin