"Soft law or no law ? The European Parliament's new role in the management of organized interests"

Lehmann, Wilhelm. (2007) "Soft law or no law ? The European Parliament's new role in the management of organized interests". In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 2007 (10th), May 17-19, 2007, pages 25, Montreal, Canada.

Abstract

The European Parliament continues to evolve into a classical parliamentary institution. It becomes more political (in terms of party politics) and deals with issues touching upon people's daily lives, thus creating incentives for new methods of participation in EU policymaking. In a changing regulatory environment there are, however, less legislative dossiers of a redistributive nature and more decision-making on the legal framework shaping the activities of economic operators and creating a tension between private actors' rights and the interests of public authorities. The paper intends to assess, on the one hand, the impact of new preferences for legal or para-legal instruments and of institutional demands on the methods and strategies of interest representation. On the other hand, it seeks to clarify the relationship between private interest preferences concerning the extent of regulation and the choice of governance tools by the EU legislator.