Business Lobbying in the European Union

At a time when Europe and business stand at crossroads, this study provides a perspective into how business representation in the EU has evolved and valuable insights into how to organize lobbying strategies and influence policy-making. Uniquely, the authors analyze business lobbying in Brussels by drawing on insights from political science, public management, and business studies. At the macro level, we explore over 30 years of increasing business lobbying and explore the emergence of a distinct European business-government relations style. At the meso level, we assess how the role of EU institution, policy types, and the policy cycle shape the density and diversity of business lobbying activity. Finally, at the micro level we seek to explore how firms organize their political affairs functions and mobilized strategic political responses. The study uses a variety of methods to analysis the business government relations drawing on unique business and policy-maker surveys; in-depth case studies and elite interviews; large statistical analysis of lobbying registers to assess density and diversity across policy areas and EU institutions; and managerial career path and organizational analysis to assess corporate political capabilities. In contributing to discussions on corporate political strategy and interest groups activity, this monograph should be of interest to public policy scholars, policy-makers, and businesses managers seeking to understand EU government affair and political representation.

David Coen is Professor of Public Policy at the Department of Political Science, and founding Director of the Global Governance Institute at University College London. His publications include The Handbook on Business and Government (OUP, 2010) and Lobbying in the EU (OUP, 2009) and he has published extensively in leading journals such as American Review of Public Administration, Journal of European Public Policy, Journal of Public Policy & Administration, and European Journal of Political Research. Alexander Katsaitis is Fellow in Public Policy & Administration at London School of Economics. He has published in journals such as Journal of European Public Policy, Public Administration, Journal of Common Market Studies, and the Journal of Legislative Studies. Matia Vannoni is Lecturer in Public Policy in the Department of Political Economy, King's College London. He has published in journals such as Political Analysis, American Review of Public Administration, Political Science Research and Methods, and Journal of Public Administration Research.