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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 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.

With over 30,000 lobbyists in town, Brussels is often called the European capital of lobbying. Despite this, little is known on how this political system works in practice. This book offers an unprecedented window into the everyday relationships between bureaucrats and interest representatives. Where the media only shows lobbyists as they meet MEPs and submit amendments, the book argues that the bulk of their work is done in close contact with EU bureaucrats – a form of ‘quiet politics'developed by the business community, targeting officials with little public exposure. Based on official archives, the book first sets the historical picture for the emergence of a new layer of bureaucrats; fuelled by European and transatlantic capitalism, it altered the political façade of the business community to fulfil its need for legitimacy. Drawing from observations of internal meetings of the main lobbies operating in Brussels and interviews with lobbyists and Commission officials, the book then shows lobbyists at work.This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of the European Union, interest groups, and more broadly to political science and sociology.

Having information is key for most political decisions – both for decision-makers and societal actors. This is especially crucial in democratic countries where external stakeholders are invited to participate in decision-making pro- cesses. Assuming that every actor that gets involved in decision-making processes has a particular lobbying goal, there is 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 whether and, if so, how, information impacts lobbying success and shows how various actors 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 in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom.Lobbying Success in the European Union effectively bridges research on interest mediation and framing studies, and offers a new model for measuring stakeholders'success. This new and pragmatic approach to study lobbying success using a traceable and easy to use instrument can be adapted to any policy analysis and any issue.

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.

S'il semble acquis que Bruxelles, comme Washington, est le lieu d'action privilégié du « lobbying européen », consistant pour des acteurs privés à infléchir les décisions publiques perçues comme sous influence, la théorie critique du lobbying entend réfuter ce lieu commun. Mobilisant une sociologie des groupes d'intérêts, cette enquête montre que l'identité promue par une organisation professionnelle résulte de plusieurs logiques : autant de luttes internes évolutives que d'actions qui en font des vecteurs de la Polity européenne oeuvrant aux décisions et projets européens.

This book examines lobbying in EU foreign policy-making and the activities of non-state actors (NSAs), focusing on EU foreign policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It sheds light on the interactions between the EU and NSAs as well as the ways in which NSAs attempt to shape EU foreign policies. By analysing issues that have not yet received systematic attention in the literature, this book offers new insights into lobbying in EU foreign policy, EU relations surrounding the conflict and the EU's broader role in the peace process. The book will be of key interest to scholars and students of political science, international relations, EU politics, EU foreign policy-making, Middle East studies and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This book provides an innovative account of how the globalization of production and the emergence of global value chains impacts on trade preferences, lobby strategies and the political influence of EU firms. It sheds new light on the complex EU-China trade relations.

Every day in Brussels, countless governmental and civil society interest groups seek to influence the policies of the European Union (EU). Many groups, once they have established themselves in the EU capital, apply the insights of Public Affairs (PA) management, the modern art of lobbying. Many PA practitioners in the EU as well as academics specialised in EU and PA studies developed fresh insights on ‘how to influence the EU better'. This manual brings together the most up-to-date collection of PA expertise available to anyone desiring to enhance the success of their efforts to influence the EU. This new edition of the best-selling title is filled with new details, cases, findings and practices. This fully revised and updated fourth edition of the 2002 bestseller offers compelling new insights into the most advanced practices of influencing the decision-making in the European Union's corridors of power. The author's uniquely privileged position as advisor to a wide range of lobby groups from several different countries throws much-needed light on best practice and success in public affairs management.

• Why is the EU so reliant upon exchanges with interest organisations?• What safeguards have been developed to prevent capture by special interests, and how effective are these?• How does the EU system of interest representation compare with those of other systems, and what are its unique features?The fully revised third edition of this highly-acclaimed book provides an authoritative and comprehensive assessment of the role of organized interests in the EU. Showing that interest representation is a key aspect of the European project, it examines the significance of interests for everyday policy-making, for European integration, and for the democratic legitimacy of the EU. Accessibly written and thoroughly updated, the new edition contains additional material on the regulation of lobbying and the European Transparency Register.

Collective Action in the European Union addresses fundamental questions surrounding the European political economy. The impressive array of contributors ask how and why collective action is formed at the European level. They also consider whether collective action at the transnational level is driven by rational, utility maximising behaviour, or whether explanations couched in social terms are more convincing. Many of the chapters introduce fresh empirical studies, in the domains of business, the professions, consumers and environmental interests.