Interest groups in the EU's social policy

Résumé du document

In order to create appropriate and legitimate policies, the European Union's institutions maintain relationships with the civil society, which take different forms. Interest groups are one of these intermediary organizations that link European institutions and the citizens of the EU. Indeed, in 2000, the European Commission listed over 900 such organizations, operating in Brussels. The EU is very open to interest groups and considers their involvement as essential in the development of legitimate and suitable policies. They encompass a wide system of interest intermediation which includes "the process of translating interests into policy, through the medium of interest organizations", and exists presently in the EU. So, while their power is difficult to assess, interest groups are present in the EU policy making guidelines.

Extraits

[...] Multiple points of access are open to interest organisations in the EU. First, the interest groups are involved in EU through their access to the EU institutions. They are essential constituencies of the Commission and the Parliament. They define, aggregate, and articulate the interests of their members and increase legitimacy of EU policies. The European Commission is the most important point of access for interest groups. Interest groups are involved in the different stages of the policy making process. The draft of the bills in the Commission is an essential moment. [...]

[...] In fact, it seems that interest groups do not act totally independently from the states, and national governments consequently remain fundamental actors in the EU policy process. First, within the Council, member states can represent an intermediary between domestic interest groups and EU institutions. This function is far from being monopolized by EU level interest groups. Indeed the Council is highly relevant for interest groups. "It is rarely lobbied directly. Rather domestic interest groups tend to address their concerns to particular governments department, representing specific sectoral interest at national level". Moreover, the ability of interest groups to form transnational associations can be questioned. [...]

[...] So, while their power is difficult to assess, interest groups are present in the everyday EU policy making. In the literature on EU interest groups, these non-governmental organizations are defined in different ways. Several terms, such as lobbies, pressure groups, interest groups or interest organisations, are commonly used. They refer to societal organizations, which try actively to influence political authorities and decision-making process, in a direction that correspond to the interests they share and support. The different terms stress on some particular aspects of these organisations. [...]

[...] They are now highly, and often informally, involved in the EU decision making process, especially in the social policy. Consequently, in accordance with the governance approach, the EU can be regarded as a multi-actors system, implying that many different agents are involved in EU policy making at different levels, especially non-state actors, such as interest groups. Their growing role, specifically in social policy, raises some important theoretical issues and especially whether interest groups implication in EU policy has altered the relevance of the state within the EU. [...]

[...] In fact, there is an explosion of the number of interest groups in Brussels. Actually, since the early days of European integration, the EU has extended its competences to include a huge variety of policy areas. Consequently, the number of interest groups operating at the European level has regulary increased. Many of these groups were founded as a response to the expansion of European regulation. So, there are now a huge number of interest organisations operating at the level of the EU. [...]