Research Papers

Research on European interest intermediation thus far has primarily focused on specific aspects of lobbying with a bias on structural and environmental preconditions for interest intermediation. Based on the notion that influence is not measurable many scholars have retreated to examining interest group populations, actors’ constellations and access to political decision-makers. In doing so most studies neglected an important aspect of interest intermediation that is: lobbying strategies. They thus fell short of reaching viable conclusions about which factors in effect determine successful interest intermediation. Arguing, first, that the influence of specific societal and business interests on policy outputs indeed can be identified and, second, that this is not possible by confining the analysis of lobbying to an examination of its structural and environmental preconditions, the present paper therefore suggests a more comprehensive, process oriented approach. This approach tries to incorporate the still rather separate fields of research on lobbying conditions and lobbying strategies into a comprehensive framework fit for the analysis of interest intermediation in the EU’s multi-level decision-making process. The ability of a lobbying actor to successfully influence decision-makers in this context is impacted on the one hand by structural and environmental determinants and on the other hand by the actor’s strategic decisions regarding the questions of when, where and how to intervene in the policy process. The proposed framework now shall allow identifying the factors that account for successful influence on European decision-making in a given policy field by enabling to establish links between policy outcomes, preconditions for interest intermediation and lobbying strategies of stakeholders involved.