For the 14th consecutive year, we asked public affairs professionals in Germany to evaluate the political status quo and tell us about the latest developments in the public affairs sector. The following is a summary of the key results of this year’s survey: Confidence in politics restored Following a notable dip in the first year of the Grand Coalition (22 per cent), confidence in politicians and their actions bounced back this year, with 39 per cent of respondents saying that politicians were ‘reliable partners’. Christian Democrats received the greatest vote of confidence. 89 per cent of respondents considered their relationships with the CDU to be ‘constructive’. Government’s approval ratings improve Similarly, confidence in the Grand Coalition’s performance went up. 57 per cent said that the Federal Government was doing a ‘good job’, an improvement of 14 per cent on last year. Especially the Government’s foreign trade policy, which includes TTIP, was rated favourably by public affairs professionals. Opposition parties (i. e. Greens and Left Party), on the other hand, were given negative ratings. Public affairs spending goes up Corporations and trade associations increased their spending on public affairs in the past 12 months. 39 per cent spent more on public affairs personnel, while 45 per cent increased their spending on external service providers, including consulting work. Of these, more than half favoured full-service consultancies with a strong public affairs offering, as opposed to public affairs only outfits or law firms. Digital public affairs continues to grow The use of social media is becoming even more commonplace in public affairs. 52 per cent of respondents use Twitter, while 36 per cent rely on Facebook, 29 per cent on the German-centric career platform Xing, and 25 per cent on its international counterpart LinkedIn.

1. Public Affairs-
Survey 2015

2. For the 14th consecutive year, we asked public affairs
professionals in Germany to evaluate the political
status quo and tell us about the latest developments in
the public affairs sector. The following is a summary of
the key results of this year’s survey:
Confidence in
politics restored
Following a notable dip in the first year of the Grand
Coalition (22 per cent), confidence in politicians and
their actions bounced back this year, with 39 per cent of
respondents saying that politicians were ‘reliable part-
ners’. Christian Democrats received the greatest vote
of confidence. 89 per cent of respondents considered
their relationships with the CDU to be ‘constructive’.
Government’s approval
ratings improve
Similarly, confidence in the Grand Coalition’s per-
formance went up. 57 per cent said that the Federal
Government was doing a ‘good job’, an improvement
of 14 per cent on last year. Especially the Government’s
foreign trade policy, which includes TTIP, was rated
favourably by public affairs professionals. Opposition
parties (i. e. Greens and Left Party), on the other hand,
were given negative ratings.
Public affairs spending
goes up
Corporations and trade associations increased their
spending on public affairs in the past 12 months. 39
per cent spent more on public affairs personnel, while
45 per cent increased their spending on external
service providers, including consulting work. Of these,
more than half favoured full-service consultancies with
a strong public affairs offering, as opposed to public
affairs only outfits or law firms.
Digital public affairs
continues to grow
The use of social media is becoming even more com-
monplace in public affairs. 52 per cent of respondents
use Twitter, while 36 per cent rely on Facebook, 29 per
cent on the German-centric career platform Xing, and
25 per cent on its international counterpart LinkedIn.

3. Policy-makers …
Do you consider policy-makers
to be reliable partners for your
company/association?
45 %
… are already
less reliable
partners today
2 %
… are no longer
reliable partners
14 %
… will be less
reliable partners
in future
39 %
… are, and will
remain, reliable
partners
3 MSL Germany Public Affairs Survey 2015

4. With which political
party, or parties, do you
work most closely?
(multiple answers possible)
The Left
4 %
Liberals
29 %
Green Party
16 %
Social
Democrats
59 %
Christian Social
Democrats
34 %
Christian
Democrats
89 %
4 MSL Germany Public Affairs Survey 2015

5. 2 %
no answer
57 %
good
41 %
poor
How do you evaluate the
Grand Coalition’s performance
after the first half of the
current legislative term?
5 MSL Germany Public Affairs Survey 2015

6. How do you rate the federal
government’s performance?
(in the following policy areas)
verygood
good
poor
verypoor
noanswer
Energy
Transportand
infastructure
DigitalPolicy
Laborand
SocialAffairs
Defense
Foodand
Agriculture
29 %
34 %
30 %
2 %
5 %
4 %
2 %
39 %
37 %
20 %
7 %
2 %
18 %
50 %
23 %
2 %
21 %
43 %
23 %
11 %
2 %
48 %
29 %
1 %
4 %
5 %
32 %
45 %
14 %
20 %
1/2
6 MSL Germany Public Affairs Survey 2015

7. Consumer
Protection
Environment
TaxandFinance
Economy
Education,Research,
Technologyandinnovation
Health
ForeignTrade
16 %
14 %
7 %
61 %
2 %
50 %
36 %
9%
2 %
3 %
46 %
11 %
38%
4 %
1 %
7 %
5 %
2 %
43 %
43%
0 %
39 %
34%
11 %
16 % 12 %
25 %
59 %
4 %
0 %
14 %
11 %
73 %
2 %
0 %
verygood
good
poor
verypoor
noanswer
2/2
How do you rate the federal
government’s performance?
(in the following policy areas)
7 MSL Germany Public Affairs Survey 2015

8. Did you increase or
decrease resources
allocated to
public affairs the
past year?
(multiple answers possible)
5 %
No change
5 %
No answer
5 %
No change
5 %
No answer
45 %
We allocated more
financial resources
to public affairs
39 %
We allocated more
human resources to
public affairs
20 %
We allocated fewer
financial resources
to public affairs
32 %
We allocated fewer
human resources to
public affairs
human
resources
finance
8 MSL Germany Public Affairs Survey 2015

9. 13 %
Agencies specialized
on public affairs
55 %
Full-service agencies
with expertise in public affairs
10 %
Business
consultancies
8 %
Law firms
12 %
Independant
consultants
Which types of
consultancy do
you work with?
(multiple answers possible)
9 MSL Germany Public Affairs Survey 2015

10. MSL Germany Public Affairs-Umfrage 201510
When using digital channels
in your public affairs work,
which ones do you use?
(multiple answers possible)
YouTube
14 %
Facebook
36 %
Twitter
52 %
Xing
29 %
Blogs
13 %
Own policy
channel /
Micro-Site
7 %
LinkedIn
25 %
5 %
Wikipedia
2 %
Periscope
2 %
Instagram
10 MSL Germany Public Affairs Survey 2015

11. facebook: www.facebook.com/MSLGroupGermany
twitter: @MSL_Germany
The complete survey in German is available for download here:
www.mslgroup.de
For more information please contact Simon Temps:
Phone: + 49 30 / 820 82 – 525 | E-Mail: simon.temps@mslgroup.com
MSL Group Germany GmbH
Leibnizstraße 65, 10629 Berlin