Rainer Steffens sees his colleagues and himself as „a special kind of lobbyist.“ He was already head of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) representation to the EU in Brussels from 2011 to 2018. Since November 2022, he has now stood up for the interests and concerns of the federal state for the second time. However, due to the openly accessible information on finances and employees, he sees a clear difference in his work compared to classic lobbying, says Steffens. As a native of Lower Saxony, he nevertheless has a family connection to NRW through his wife from the Rhineland and his father-in-law. He is pleased to be able to represent the state, which has a population of around 18 million, not least because it has „the greatest economic power of any region in Europe.“