In EU policy making, does the influence of private interest groups dwarfs those of publice interest groups - A discussion

Résumé du document

The European Commission recently counted that there were over 900 organizations interested to operate in Brussels. Most interested groups emerged after the post-war in Europe. The construction of organizations developed in the early 1990s which is the prime growth period in the European terrain. This growth phase coincided with the relaunch of the European integration through the Single European Act in 1986 followed by the treaty of Maastricht in 1992. The special institutional character of the EU and in particular its fragmented system of power creates a unique environment in which private and public interests can operate simultaneously. As the range of European policy-making has been extended, and the European legislation has become more technical and detail oriented more and more interests have been created paving the way for recognition with regard to the European public policy being a key feature of their organizational environment. Both private interest groups, (profit organizations), and public interests (non-profit interests) are prevalent in Brussels with the aim of influencing the process of decision making and the European legislation. The European interest group system is now extremely extensive and widespread.

Extraits

[...] EU policy-making private interest groups' influence dwarfs that of public interest groups'. Discuss. Introduction: The European Commission recently counted over 900 interest organizations operating in Brussels. Most interest groups emerged as Europe's post war construction developed, with a key growth period appearing to be the early 1990's coinciding with relauching of European integration through the Single European Act in 1986 and the treaty of Maastricht in 1992. The special instutional character of the EU and in particurlar its fragmented system of power creates a unique environment in which private and public interests can operate. [...]

[...] Because of these difficulties, more and more individual firms and more and more national associations have established their own offices in Brussels. Despite Commission's officials' clear preference for dealing with Euro-associations, officials now tend to consult firms or national associations to obtain reliable information, quickly. But problems remain within the large firms representation system. Like some associations, large companies can also be slow to reach decisions. So we can consider large firms are just a segment of business interest representation. [...]

[...] -Mazey, S & Richardson, J Logic of Organisation: Interest Groups' in Richardson, J European Union - Power and Policy-Making. London: Routledge pp.200-215. -Pijnenburg, B. (1998) Lobbying by ad hoc Coalitions: An exploratory Case Study', Journal of European Public Policy, Vol.5(2), pp.303-321. -Richardson ‘Interest groups' in Hayward J and Menon Governing Europe, Oxford, University Press chapter 13, pp.208-231. -Warleigh, A. (2000) Hustle: Citizenship Practice, NGOs and “Policy Coalitions” in the European Union', Journal of European Public Policy Vol pp. [...]

[...] ] The more open structures facilitate legitimation and identification of key actors and likeky ‘sticking points'. The more restrictive structures facilitate the detailed technical negociation and bargaining, resulting in practical proposals.' As a result, more and more groups are participating. It gives a new opportunity for the public groups interests to be heard by the European institutions. Conclusion: To conclude, we can say that the influence in the EU policy-making between public and private interest groups is more balanced than before. [...]

[...] For some authors, the price that ETUC has paid has been high, being drawn into an agenda of liberalization and monetary union from which it was unlikely to benefit. To sum, we can argue that public interests are not just occasional beneficiaries of the need of producer interests to make concessions to them to maintain their broad support for the wider prize of European Integration. Public interests have made a real impact upon the climate of ideas in which policy making arises, on the thinking of policy participants despite of weakenesses (cf the few influence of the territorial interests). [...]