Andeas Dur, ‘Interest Groups in the European Union: How Powerful Are They?’, West European Politics, 31:6 (2008), pp,

Interest Groups in the EU  Introduction (General Points)  There is an increase in the number of interest groups from the mid  Their main objective is to influence policy outcomes  Theories of European Integration, neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism ascribe a major role to interest groups.   Basic Research Question  Which are the basic parameters affecting the degree of influence of the interest groups?

Interest Groups in the EU  Parameters  1. Interest Group Resources  (money, legitimacy, political support, knowledge, expertise and information)  Money : they use their financial resources to support an incumbent or a challenger in electoral contests  Legitimacy: By dealing with certain political or bureaucratic actors (in particular EU officials that are not elected, such as those in the European Commission) interest groups are legitimized.  Political Support: Interest groups can express their support for a politician in exchange for policies favouring their own economic or other interests.  Knowledge, expertise and information: Interest groups may have knowledge, expertise and information that can facilitate the task of decision-makers. For example, groups may have information on market conditions (eg. about problems of implementation, about probable policy results, about the support a specific policy or outcome will receive, etc.), about the consequences of a policy.

Interest Groups in the EU  Structural characteristis of a group (such as size, type of membership, internal organization, the degree of geographical distribution of the interest group membership.  5.1 The size: the larger the size of an interest group, the more legitimacy a group may be able to claim.  5.2 The type of membership: is important, as one expect groups composed of firms to be well equipped with monetary resources and groups made up of individuals to find it easier to mobilize personal resources. In addition, business interests that control investment and production decisions in different countries may possess specific information that other groups lack.  Internal organization: hierarchically structured groups may be better at providing information than groups that have to live with internal conflict.  The geographical concentration: there is doubt as to what extent the geographical concentration of the interest groups membership affect its resource endowment. It has been accepted that: Geographically concentrated interests may find it easier to overcome collective action problems. Geographical dispersed interests that manage to organize themselves have the advantage of being represented in several electoral districts at the same time.

Interest Groups in the EU  Some more general points for the resources as a parameter of influence.  interest groups exchange their resources for political influence.  But influence is a related concept, depending on political actors’ demand for such resources: this depends on the type of uncertainty they are facing: eg. incomplete information about the transformation of decisions into outcomes (policy consequences) or incomplete information about the strength of different constituencies. .Two factors have an effect on this demand  a. the value of the resources for public actors in terms of achieving re-election (office-seeking politicians) or specific policy objectives (policy-seeking politicians).  b. the availability of alternative sources of resources (either from other groups or from one’s own resources.,  THE GENERAL RULE FOR THE RESOURCES PARAMETER:  Interest groups’ capacity to supply, and decision-makers’ demand for resources, mutually determine the influence groups may gain over policy outcomes.  Some other points:  a. The interest groups may use their resources to shape public actors’ beliefs, ideas, cognitive frames and preferences (they opt for arguing rather bargaining in order to convince public actors).  In the EU, the European Commission, which is characterized by ‘an extensive policy agenda’ and ‘limited policy resources’, may depend more on interest groups resources.  The EU’s ‘democratic deficit’ and ‘contested legitimacy’ may also create greater demand for interest groups input by public actors.  For the case of the European Parliament, electoral needs may limit EP’s ability to yield to interest groups demands: once elected politicians have publicly taken position on an issue, and therefore they may find it difficult to change it.

Interest Groups in the EU  Parameters  2. Political Institutions  Political institutions affect the degree of interest group influence on policy outcomes mainly by shaping societal actors’ access to policy -making process.  Problem. No agreement exists whether the vertical and horizontal division of power in the EU facilitates or impedes the access of societal actors to decision-makers.  One argument is that intergovernmental cooperation at the EU level strengthens the power of the state vis-à-vis domestic actors. How this happens? By giving executive control over domestic agendas; providing the executive with asymmetric access to information; and facilitating the ideological justification of policies.  Even if we will take into account the two-level game assumption that domestic constraints increase the bargaining power of chiefs of governments, it can be hypothesized that politicians use cooperation at the EU level as a device to loosen the constraints imposed on them by interest group pressures in the domestic arena.  A counter argument is that the EU multi-level system strengthens interest groups by increasing the number of potential access points. Societal actors have many access points in the EU since they can lobby at both the domestic and the EU level. In addition, at the EU level, institutions as the EU Parliament and the Commission seem exceptionally accessible to interest groups.

Interest Groups in the EU  Parameters  3. Issue Characteristics  Issue characteristics concern policy type, degree of technicality, and public salience  Policy type: whether an issue is of a regulatory or distributive kind. In distributive politics, where the benefits of action are concentrated on a specific group, and the costs are widely dispersed, groups representing concentrated interests tend to win out over diffuse interests. The main advantage of the former is that they can better monitor the implementation of policies that affect their economic well being than diffuse interests that face collective action problems.  Regulatory decisions generally entail concentrated benefits for one and concentrated costs for another group. In this situation, at least two groups with opposing interest should clash, imposing a limit on the power of individual groups.   Technicality of an issue: some scholar argue that interest groups have more influence on technical issues rather than on issues of ‘high politics’.  Explanation: politicians’ demand for information- and hence dependence on interest groups is highest in technical issues. Apart form that, interest group influence on policy outcomes may be higher because decision-makers have to rely on domestic actors’ cooperation in the implementation phase of the policy cycle.  Public salience: Interest groups should find it difficult to influence policy outcomes when the public is highly attentive to an issue. On such issues, legislators should fear electoral punishment if they implement policies that favour concentrated interests to the detriment of diffuse interests.

Interest Groups in the EU  Parameters  4. Interest Group Strategies  Strategies are a final parameter shaping interest group influence.  To maximize influence, interest groups have to employ their resources effectively given the opportunities provided by the institutional structure, the characteristics of the issue, the preferences they advocate and their strategies.  Picking up the most effective lobbying strategy is important and can take the form of several options:  (a) lobby at the national or EU level  (b) lobby the EU Commission, the Parliament or the Council of Ministers  (c) lobby directly via national associations or via European Associations  (d) lobby at the time the Commission becomes active when a directive is discussed in the Council, or when it is implemented and enforced at the national level.  Only if a group manages to choose the ideal strategy among these many options will it be able to maximize its influence on policy outcomes.