Pressure Groups and Policy Formation in the European Communities

The author considers the role of pressure groups within the established decisionmaking framework of the European Communities and the internal pressures to which European pressure groups are subjected. Two case studies are then examined: the agreement of the 1977 directive harmonising banking laws which was achieved only after making great concessions to the banking lobby, especially in Britain; and the organisation of the European Regional Development Fund where initial pressure group interest has been stilled by the insistence of national governments on controlling the Fund’s day-to-day administration but over which the European Parliament has exercised some decisive influence. The author concludes that pressure group activity in E.C. policy formation largely reflects the extent to which Brussels rather than national governments is in control of policy and administration on any subject, and that there are more opportunities for significant pressure group influence on policy development than adherents to the ‘intergovernmentalist’ model of the E.C. suggest

Administration (probate law · Directive · Economic policy · Economics · Parliament · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Subject (documents · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies