Legislative Lobbying in Context. The Policy and Polity Determinants of Interest Group Lobbying in the European Union

Rationale The role and position of interest groups in the European Union (EU) is widely debated in the media, in particular how these non-elected political actors affect the EU’s democratic legitimacy and deteriorate the transparency of its policymaking process. Moreover, the importance of group politics can hardly be underestimated as most theoretical approaches about European integration and European policymaking – ranging from neo-functionalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, supranationalism, to multi-level governance – emphasize in one way or another the relevance of interest groups. Furthermore, it is hard to imagine how the EU would operate without the informal involvement of non-state stakeholders. When the European Commission launches a new legislative initiative, this typically propels political activity of affected stakeholders as they mobilize to shape the outcome of the policy debate in their favor. In addition, the European institutions seek the expertise and support from organized interests and several EU-level interest groups have been established with the active support of the European Commission and the European Parliament.