Interest groups

The European institutions are sometimes depicted as a ‘lobbyists’ paradise’ where especially business interest representatives will find a favourable hearing for their wishes, concerns and political interests. We identify a number of unique features of the EU lobbying environment: narrow EU-only media environment, multilevel institutional structure and market-regulatory policy focus of the EU. We subsequently discuss existing academic studies into the mobilisation, strategies and policy influence of all organizations that attempt to influence EU decision-making. Due to the Transparency Register, the organizations mobilized to lobby the EU are currently relatively well-known, and, seemingly largely attracted to the policy areas where the EU has strong legal competences such as competition and market regulation. Cause groups narrowly target their engagement and in particular circumstances benefit from several EU-funding schemes. The EU political opportunities are especially conducive to ‘inside lobbying’ compared to ‘outside lobbying’. Interest groups also strategically select the most favourable institutional venues for their messages. Academic studies are inconclusive regarding the relative policy influence of different types of interest groups. They suggest that particular issue characteristics such as salience in public opinion or media attention largely determine whether business interest representatives or other actors find their preferences attainted in public policy outcomes.