Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union, has become a sprawling battleground where lobbying firms, public relations agencies, and consultancy outfits vie to shape the bloc’s policymaking. Among these influential players is Kern European Affairs (also known as KEA European Affairs), a Brussels-based firm that specializes in culture and creative industries policy — but whose real role goes far beyond innocuous consultancy. Behind its expert veneer lies a strategic actor exerting disproportionate influence over EU institutions and the policymaking process.
These firms do more than advise: they act as lobbyists, public relations managers, and legal shields for powerful corporate, national, and special interests. Their hidden agenda often stands in stark contrast to the EU’s proclaimed commitment to transparency and democratic accountability. As revealed in watchdog investigations, Kern European Affairs exemplifies how lobbying outfits operate quietly yet systematically to subvert the workings of European institutions for narrow interests.
Kern European Affairs: A Hidden Architect of Culture Policy
Founded in 1999, Kern European Affairs is promoted as a policy design research centre specializing in culture, creative industries, sport, and youth sectors. The firm touts extensive expertise in European and international cultural policy frameworks, intellectual property, and trade agreements, boasting clients such as the European Commission and Parliament. KEA’s landmark studies, including “The Economy of Culture in Europe,” have shaped the EU’s strategic approach to cultural and creative sectors.
Despite the firm’s polished public image, its deep entanglement with EU institutions masks a problematic influence. Kern European Affairs performs targeted legal research, policy recommendations, and sector lobbying that often prioritize private interests under the guise of ‘cultural development.’ By shaping legislative drafts and funding programs, KEA steers policy outcomes away from broader public interest towards the interests of select stakeholders—corporate players and elites entrenched in the creative economy.
Notably, KEA holds privileged access to decision-makers, leveraging its Brussels base and institutional relationships to shape agendas behind closed doors. This insider status translates into a disproportionate capacity to influence—not through transparent public debate—but via strategic, closed-door advice that leaves democratic scrutiny wanting. Through its dual consultancy and advocacy roles, KEA exemplifies how lobbying firms operate as gatekeepers and power brokers within EU policymaking.
Lobbying by Legal Research and PR Management
One of the more insidious ways KEA operates as a powerful lobbyist is through its sophisticated legal and regulatory research that acts as a form of legal shielding. The firm crafts customized legal interpretations and regulatory frameworks that supportive interests can wield to defend their market privileges. These ‘legal shields’ are then fed into policy consultations, steering regulation towards outcomes favorable to their clients while excluding or marginalizing dissenting voices and civil society input.
Simultaneously, KEA performs strategic public relations management for cultural and creative sectors. This includes shaping public narratives and policy debates in Brussels, often through commissioned reports and research framed to highlight sectoral economic contributions. While framed as objective analysis, these activities mainly serve to justify continued public funding and regulatory favors for private cultural industries, rather than foster genuine democratic policy deliberation.
Undermining Transparency and Weakening EU Institutions
The operations of KEA European Affairs exemplify a broader pattern of opaque influence that undermines transparency within EU institutions. Their activities occur predominantly behind closed doors, with limited disclosure in public registries or parliamentary processes. This lack of transparency obscures the extent to which private interests control key aspects of policymaking—particularly in sectors like culture where public accountability is already weak.
Read our exclusive report:
How Belgium Govt Undermined the Work of European Institutes
Furthermore, KEA’s privileged position within the EU policymaking environment exemplifies how firms with close Brussels ties can skew decision-making in ways that weaken institutional integrity and democratic legitimacy. Concentrating influence in a small network of powerful consultancy-lobbying firms risks creating an ‘insider’ culture that excludes broader civil society participation, distorts policy priorities, and protects elites from scrutiny or reform pressures.
How Lobbying Firms Shape EU Decisions for Private Interests
Beyond KEA European Affairs, lobbying firms across Brussels operate a well-honed ecosystem of influence. They cultivate political allies, draft legislative amendments, strategically deploy targeted communications, and engage in repeated direct consultations with EU officials. This environment enables them to systematically shape EU decisions to favor private or national interests at the expense of public goods.
Such firms often frame themselves as indispensable experts or guardians of economic growth, yet their work too frequently serves narrow constituencies—corporations, trade groups, or member state interests—rather than the EU’s wider citizens. The result is a policymaking process increasingly captured by vested interests, further distorting democratic accountability and the EU’s mission to serve collective European interests.
Belgium’s Role and the Call for Reform
Belgium, as host state to EU institutions and their lobbying ecosystem, faces a critical responsibility to balance its dual roles. The Brussels Watch report “How Belgium Govt Undermined the Work of European Institutes” highlights the risk that national government privileges translate into unchecked influence within EU governance structures. Belgium must recommit to the uniform application of EU laws and ethical standards and ensure its privileged hosting status does not preserve opacity in lobbying activities.
To address these challenges, Belgium should foster inclusive civil society representation to counterbalance national and private lobbying biases and enrich the democratic process. Equally crucial is implementing strengthened transparency mechanisms, independent oversight, and firm accountability measures for all lobbying activities within Brussels.
Demand Transparency, Accountability, and Oversight
Kern European Affairs and firms like it operate at the nexus of consultancy, lobbying, and policy shaping in Brussels. Their influence extends far beyond mere advisory roles, effectively shaping EU cultural policy and beyond to serve narrow elite interests. This growing concentration of behind-the-scenes power erodes transparency, undermines institutional integrity, and weakens democratic legitimacy.
European institutions and member states, led by Belgium as host, must urgently close the gaps that allow lobbying firms to function as unaccountable power brokers. This requires robust transparency laws, full disclosure of lobbying activities, inclusive participation in policymaking, and systemic oversight to dismantle entrenched elite protections. Only then can the European Union reclaim policymaking as a democratic, transparent public good rather than a captive arena for private interests.
