Business Lobbying In The European Union

This book systematically maps and assesses business lobbying in the European Union, drawing from political science and business studies.

Many citizens, politicians, and political activists voice concern about the political influence of business in the European Union. But do business interests really pull the strings in Brussels? Contrary to expectations, this book shows that business interests are no more influential than other interests in shaping contemporary EU policies. Andreas Dür, David Marshall, and Patrick Bernhagen present an original argument that stresses the role of public actors in facilitating or impeding interest groups’ lobbying success. Novel data on a large number of legislative proposals on the EU’s agenda and three case studies present strong support for this argument. The Political Influence of Business in the European Union offers new insights into how lobbying success depends on the demand and supply of information, as well as new ideas on how to measure lobbying success. The book advances a fresh perspective on the question of business power and shows why business interests often lose in the policy struggle.

This book explains when and how interest groups are influential in the European Parliament, which has become one of the most important lobbying venues in the EU. Yet we know little about the many ways in which interest groups and lobbyists influence parliamentary politics. The author offers insights on four key cases of lobbying, based on the analysis of EU documents, lobbying letters, and 150 interviews. She argues that lobbying success depends on a number of factors, most notably the degree of counter-lobbying, issue salience, and committee receptiveness. These factors are brought together in the framework of “Triple-I” - interests, issues, and institutions – to determine the success or failure of lobbying. This book will be of use to students and scholars interested in EU politics and governance, EU decision-making, and interest group politics, along with policy-makers and practitioners.

This book sheds new light on how lobbying works in the European Union. Drawing on the first-hand professional experience of lobbyists, policymakers, and corporate and institutional stakeholders, combined with a sound academic foundation, it offers insights into successful lobbying strategies, such as how alliances are formed by interest groups in Brussels. The authors present key case studies, e.g. on the shelved EU-US trade deal Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), lobbying scandals, and the role of specific interest groups and EU Think-Tanks. Furthermore, they highlight efforts to improve transparency and ethical standards in EU decision-making, while also underscoring the benefits of lobbying in the context of decision-making. Understanding the tools and techniques of effective lobbying, as well as the dynamics and trends in EU lobbying, will allow professionals involved in the lobbying process, such as policymakers and corporate and institutional stakeholders, to improve their performance and achieve better results when pursuing their respective interests.

It is universally accepted that there has been a huge growth in EU lobbying over the past few decades. There is now a dense EU interest group system. This entirely new volume, inspired by Mazey & Richardson's 1993 book Lobbying in the European Community, seeks to understand the role of interest groups in the policy process from agenda-setting to implementation. Specifically, the book is interested in observing how interest groups organise to influence the EU institutions and how they select different coalitions along the policy process and in different policy domains. In looking at 20 years of change, the book captures processes of institutional and actor learning, professionalisation of lobbying, and the possible emergence of a distinct EU public policy style. More specifically, from the actors' perspective, the editors are interested in assessing how the rise of direct lobbying and the emergence of fluid issue-based coalitions has changed the logic of collective action, and what is the potential impact of 'venue-shopping' on reputation and influence. From an institutional perspective, the contributors explore resource and legitimacy demands, and the practical impact of consultation processes on the emergence of a distinct EU lobbying relationship. It will be essential reading for academics and practitioners alike.

This book provides a clear, systematic and up-to-date picture of the vast and dynamic industry of lobbying and Public Affairs in Europe, not only at EU level, but specifically in each of the 28 EU Member States. Using contributions from political scientists and lobbyists from each country, the volume offers a comprehensive review of the European lobbying industry, tackling elements such as the institutional framework and the political culture of each country, the perception of lobbyists by public opinion and politicians, the professionalization and the numbers of the industry in each country, the regulation of the sector (through dedicated laws, self-imposed ethical codes, etc.). This is a benchmark publication for all those studying or working in the field of Lobbying, Public Affairs, Communication and Business and Politics in or with EU countries.

Having information is key in most political decisions – for both decision-makers and societal actors. This is especially crucial in democratic countries where external stakeholders are invited to participate in decision-making processes. Assuming that every actor who gets involved in decision-making processes has a certain lobbying goal, we face a heterogeneous set of actors competing against each other to provide information to the decision-makers. This competition leads some stakeholders to be more successful in achieving their goals than others. Frames and the framing of information play an important role in such lobbying success. In this book, Daniel Rasch questions if and how information impacts lobbying success and shows how groups perform in three instances of European decision-making. He does so by combining findings from a qualitative content analysis with the results of a cross-case analysis using the quantified qualitative data. The new dataset contains a representative sample of over 200 position papers from EU level and national consultations, press releases and evidence from national stakeholders from Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Lobbying Success in the European Union effectively bridges research from interest mediation and framing studies and offers a new model about how to measure stakeholders’ success. This new and pragmatic approach to study lobbying success with a traceable and easy to use instrument can be used and adapted to any policy analysis and issue.

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1,3, University of Constance, language: English, abstract: With my study I want to contribute to the current debate on the influence of so-called lobby coalitions on policy outcomes with a focus on the way the lobbying process in the European Commission is organized. Since this is a rather new field that still lacks empirical research, I will analyse the influence of lobby coalitions in European policymaking with the help of a representative case. I will focus on business lobby coalitions especially. In the end of November 2017, the German Minister of Agriculture voted surprisingly for a further use of the herbicide Glyphosate in the Council of the European Union. However, Minister Schmidt did neither concur with his national coalition partner SPD nor with the World Health Organisation, which declared that Glyphosate could foster cancer. Did Schmidt give the agriculture lobby a voice with his vote? Companies like Monsanto, being part of the German Giant Bayer and the agriculture lobby, would have lost its main field of business with a decision against the herbicide. The controversial case of Glyphosate revives the old debate on the role of business interest lobbyism in the EU. Frequently, the process of policy making is under critic by the public for its lack of transparency in regard to the influence of powerful business lobbies. Particular the European Commission (EC), which on one hand has an exceptional role in the European legislation and on the other hand relies on input legitimacy for their policy-making, which is mainly provided by experts (interest groups) and on their expert information.