Legislative Affairs

Active presence in the National Congress

CNI monitors legislative proposals of interest to industry that are brought before the National Congress, and evaluates and elaborates proposals and amendments to safeguard the interests of the industrial sector.
 
This task begins with the identification of those draft bills that are brought before the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate that may affect the performance of the productive sector. The proposals are brought before the Industry Federations and Associations who declare their opinions on them. 

Parallel to that, the technical areas of CNI's thematic committees offer legal opinions and judge the merit of the proposals and these serve as guidance for the stance to be adopted by the sector and the strategies for the legislative action to be taken.

CNI interests within the National Congress are defended in a formal and transparent manner in such a way that its arguments and reasoning may be seen as contributing towards the improvement of the legislation and the creation of an environment favoring the country’s growth.

The Legislative Agenda of Industry

An open channel for dialogue

The Legislative Agenda of Industry is an instrument enabling the industrial sector to communicate with the constituted powers, above all with the National Congress. Created in 1996, it is elaborated annually with the participation of the federations of industries, national associations of industry and CNI's thematic committees.

For each edition of it, the Councils and other entities define their positions in regard to the legislation being proposed and the most relevant ones are selected at their seminars. Those themes that will take priority in the definition of Industry’s formal position are then identified. The Legislative Agenda of Industry sets out the theses, demands and industry’s line of conduct in regard to essential issues being discussed in the National Congress.

It is with such transparency, alignment and objectiveness that the publication achieves various objectives and reaches out to various publics simultaneously.

•    To the Congress - it lets parliamentarians know beforehand what the industrial sector thinks, clearly delineating its position formally registered in the document. In that manner, it consolidates a firm and effective relationship in defense of: the country's economic development; free enterprise, and legislation that reinforces the competitiveness of the Brazilian economy;
•    To the Federal Government - it puts before the country's main policy-makers, industry's universal vision of those issues that directly interfere in the satisfactory functioning of companies, their business, contracts, property rights, and competitive capability;    
•    To industries - the Legislative Agenda sets out in detail and clarifies the proposals undergoing due process in the National Congress, disseminating knowledge of its contributions among the entities of the sector. It also draws attention to possible threats and suggests improvements and solutions;
 •    To Civil Society - it disseminates information with a view to: establishing transparent relations, guided by ethical principles, and explaining the industrial sector's position.

The effectiveness of Industry's Legislative Agenda has been confirmed by an academic study undertaken in 2003 which showed an acceptance rate of 67.8% among the 401 legislative proposals that appeared in the first eight editions - a percentage that indicates the growing receptiveness of the National Congress to the petitions of Industry.

The effectiveness of Industry's Legislative Agenda is also attested by the creation of legislative agendas in the states, after the year 2000. Examples of that can be seen in the publications issued by Federations of the States of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Acre, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Goiás, Tocantins and the Federal District.

Results: gains in credibility for the actions undertaken by CNI in defense of industry's interests; and heightened awareness of the legislative authorities in regard to the sector's needs.