Influencing EU Politics: Mobilization and Representation of European Civil Society

Friedrichshafen, Germany
29 May 2013 - 1 June 2013


The conference will provide a forum for intense and structured exchange about ongoing research on the role of non-state actors in EU politics. It will bring together leading scholars and young researchers to discuss work in progress and identify future research needs. A number of analytically distinct but empirically related dimensions of interest group involvement in the EU's multi-level political system will be targeted:

  • populations of interest groups in the EU and the member states
  • professionalization of European civil society groups
  • strategies for influencing political decision making
  • strategic framing of policy issues
  • effective influence on EU policy outcomes
  • the intersection of interest groups and political parties
  • political advocacy of European bureaucracies
  • prospects and challenges for the effective regulation of European interest representation.


Reflecting the different stages and dimensions of the influence production process in the EU, these topics deal with some of the most pressing questions today within the research fields of civil society, lobbying and public policy.