"The access of business associations to the European Commission: French, German, British and EU associations in a multi-level system"

Eising, Rainer. (2001) "The access of business associations to the European Commission: French, German, British and EU associations in a multi-level system". In: UNSPECIFIED. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This paper analyses the contact patterns of trade associations with the European Commission. Now why should one pay attention to these contacts? On the one hand, the European Commission is the central executive and administrative agency at the EU level and has a vital role to play in both legislative and executive processes. Its right of initiative grants the Commission a crucial role in the phases of agenda setting and policy formulation. Due to their limited resources, the Commission officials mobilise external expertise to assess technical, economic, political and administrative implications of their proposals. At the same time, the consultation of interest groups constitutes an attempt to build up societal support for policy initiatives. Thus, at the EU level the Commission is arguable at the centre-stage of the attention of interest groups.

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