Interviews  >  Steve Williams: Our man in Brussels

When the Channel Islands opened an office in Brussels in April 2011, many observers were unsure of what it hoped to achieve and, indeed, whether having a joint office for the islands was a good idea. Steve Williams came to the role of Director of European Affairs with 30 years' experience in the British Diplomatic Service having enjoyed overseas postings in Oslo, Buenos Aires, Brussels and Sofia (twice). His challenge was not only to win over the naysayers, but to fight Jersey and Guernsey's corner on the back of the financial crisis.

He sat down with businesslife.co to explain what his job entails and just a few of the things his office has achieved in the last two years.

Let's start at the beginning: why was the Channel Islands Brussels Office (CIBO) opened in the first place?

Back in 2007/08, Jersey and Guernsey signed framework agreements with the then UK government where, among other things, the islands were encouraged to do more to look after their own international interests. So it made perfect sense to have a presence on the ground right in the political heart of the continent. The reason it's a joint office is because it was decided that the promotion and protection of each Bailiwick's interests would be best served through presenting a ‘united face'.

In layman's terms, what does your job entail, and what does the office do?

Basically, our main function is diplomacy. So externally, in Brussels, we are the official representative of the States of Guernsey and the States of Jersey. We are the mouth, eyes and ears of the Channel Islands: the mouth, in that we have to ensure the islands' position on issues that matter to us is properly understood by the key decision makers and opinion formers; and the eyes and ears in that we have to constantly scan the horizon for things that might be under consideration that could impact on our interests.

Internally, it's our job to provide timely and high-quality information and policy advice to ministers and officials in both islands.

So what does CIBO cover?

We deal with anything where Channel Island interests are affected – that can be everything from agriculture to taxation. In recent weeks I've spent quite a bit of time on data protection, aviation and animal health. Of course, financial services are an important part of our work, but we cover the whole range of sectoral interests.

Does this mean you need to have a broad knowledge?

By definition we can't be specialists in all these fields. We need to have enough specialist knowledge by being well briefed so that we can hold our own in an exchange with people in the Commission or with member states. Crucially we need to be able to draw on the expertise of our colleagues in Guernsey and Jersey who have that greater specialist knowledge, so we can have the right level of information. And where appropriate, they can come to Brussels when we need a greater level of technical expertise.

It's the second anniversary of CIBO – what key areas have you covered, and what have you learned about dealing with the EU in a Channel Island capacity?

We've covered loads of things! Externally in Brussels we've been working hard on reputational issues, establishing contacts, building a better awareness of what the Channel Islands are and what they are not. Trying to dispel some of the deeply rooted prejudices is what I would call ‘platform diplomacy' – and it's crucial because without it you can't hope to exercise influence on specific policy priorities.

In terms of policy areas, let me give three examples. In the aviation field we have worked with government and regulators in the islands on a range of issues affecting our vital air links. In the tax field, I'd highlight the reviews by the EU's Code of Conduct Group of the corporate tax regimes in Jersey and Guernsey. We in CIBO worked closely in support of colleagues in both islands to ensure that both regimes were successfully assessed as being compliant. And in financial services, we've engaged with the Commission, the European Parliament and the European supervisory body (ESMA) on the detailed rules for the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), which is extremely important for both islands.

Internally, we've come a very long way in terms of integrating ourselves fully into public services in the islands. We visit the islands regularly, ministers and officials regularly come to our offices here, we've established a secondments programme and we have a clear corporate governance structure.

Do you find things in Europe are slow-moving?

All bureaucracies present their own challenges! It's fair to say that officials working in the different EU institutions are genuinely very busy, especially those dealing with issues related to the ongoing economic crisis. Yes it's often quite slow-moving. This is partly because some of these issues are really complex, and partly because it's not just about getting agreement between the 27 member states – in most cases, the European Parliament also has to agree. But equally, one has to recognise that things can suddenly move quickly and unexpectedly, so we need to remain alert.

How difficult is it for the Channel Islands to be heard among the noise of those 27 member states?

Attaining influence is part of our work, as it is of any diplomatic mission. And yes, Brussels is a very crowded place, so we have to be very focused and think carefully when we seek to call on people in the EU institutions – not only about what we want to achieve, but why the other person should devote time to us. If we do our homework carefully, target well, have a solid evidence base and follow up effectively then we'll be heard. If we don't then we won't.

How well are the Channel Islands regarded within Europe?

If you put together the full body of evidence, I think it's clear that Jersey and Guernsey, by all the key international standards, deserve to be viewed as cooperative, well-regarded jurisdictions. Both islands have been assessed by the IMF as doing better than virtually all EU member states in meeting all the key international regulations set out by the Financial Action Task Force on tackling money laundering, and we're in the top category of jurisdictions assessed by the Financial Stability Board. In December 2012, the Commission's report on the fight against tax evasion and fraud included a recommendation to member states that defined good tax governance with regard to international standards, and both Jersey and Guernsey meet these standards. Of course there are those that have a natural dislike of jurisdictions that have low tax rates, so not everyone's going to be happy.

Are there times when, as a diplomat, you feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall? Yes, but that's probably true in any job! You have to have a thick skin, and you have to be creative – if something hasn't worked we have to look at alternative ways of getting the same message across. You need to be persistent and adaptable and, above all, make sure that you're always grounding all your arguments solidly with evidence and facts.

How well do you find Guernsey and Jersey work together? And do you ever get caught in the middle?

We find the two States work well together when there are shared goals – and without blowing our own trumpet too much, CIBO has, to some extent, been a catalyst for increased inter-island cooperation to make us as effective as possible. In terms of when opinions differ, I think it's normal and healthy in any policy-making process for there to be differences of opinion – whether it's between the two islands or indeed within the same island – and that happens in any public administration. When you have different people and different policy objectives involved in any given area, there's always bound to be lively debate.

Last year, you published only 16 press releases on your website, which doesn't seem like much. Is most of your work done ‘under the radar'?

It's more to do with the fact that we don't really ‘do' PR. We set up the website, and because we're a small team we wanted something that was resource-light, but we included a news element to give some illustrative examples of our work that might be of interest. In Brussels, the work is largely ‘behind the scenes', and frankly it's best done that way. Our profile is not an end in itself – what matters is results.

The States of Guernsey and the States of Jersey each issue press releases on EU issues – we work closely with the communication teams in each island on such releases, but we won't issue a press release ourselves.

In the Channel Islands, it's important people know we're here and we're working on their behalf. It's taxpayers' money that's being spent on us, after all, and it's important for officials, industry and ministers to know that we're part of the wider public administration and that we're contributing to the collective goals. But that is done through the work itself and the results, not through PR.

Would you say it makes more sense to have better relationships with the bigger EU member states, or those that have similar interests to the Channel Islands?

It's a mix and match. There are some countries that, because of their economic and political weight, one ignores at one's peril – Germany, for example, is clearly a very important country within Europe. France is very important on an EU level, but is also our neighbour, so that's an important relationship. But there are countries like Ireland for example – a medium-sized EU member state – where there is a close relationship both economically and culturally, and which also currently holds the rotating Presidency of the EU. One shouldn't ignore any country just because of how big or small it is, but realistically we can't cover the whole of Europe equally, so we have to prioritise.

Finally, what are your main areas of focus in the next 12 months?

The broad areas of work for the next year are likely to be the same – platform diplomacy, reputation management, awareness raising and so on – as well as core areas around financial services and tax policy where there will continue to see plenty of things going on. And certainly the many other areas that affect us, such as aviation and data protection. We also want to continue building stronger relationships within the EU and we'll be wanting to engage with the important review that's being conducted over the next couple of years by the UK government on the so-called balance of EU competences, which is looking at how EU powers in different fields are currently exercised. So, rest assured there's plenty to keep us busy!

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