With over 30,000 lobbyists in town, Brussels is often called the European capital of lobbying. Despite this, little is known on how this political system works in practice.
This book offers an unprecedented window into the everyday relationships between bureaucrats and interest representatives. Where the media only shows lobbyists as they meet MEPs and submit amendments, the book argues that the bulk of their work is done in close contact with EU bureaucrats - a form of 'quiet politics' (Culpepper) developed by the business community, targeting officials with little public exposure. Based on official archives, the book first sets the historical picture for the emergence of a new layer of bureaucrats. Fuelled by European and transatlantic capitalism, it altered the political facade of the business community to fulfil its need for legitimacy. Drawing from observations of internal meetings of the main lobbies operating in Brussels and interviews with lobbyists and Commission officials, the book then shows lobbyists at work.
This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of the European Union, interest groups, and more broadly to political science and sociology.
Author(s): Sylvain Laurens
Edition: Hardcover
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 0
Cover......Page 1
Half Title......Page 2
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright Page......Page 5
Table of Contents......Page 6
List of figures......Page 9
List of tables......Page 10
Acknowledgements......Page 11
Prologue......Page 12
Introduction......Page 14
Beyond media portrayals of lobbying......Page 15
Revisiting the relations between capitalism, bourgeoisie and bureaucracy at the European level......Page 19
Exploring what the power of an administration does to the market and to business representatives......Page 20
A socio-history of the “discreet” relations between EU officials and the staff of business associations that become “European”......Page 22
An enquiry into everyday relations between bureaucrats and representatives of interests......Page 24
1 Entanglement: a new administration in search of economic interlocutors (1958–1980)......Page 27
The primitive accumulation of bureaucratic capital......Page 28
The CAP and the obligatory grouping of the food industry......Page 36
An administrative world looking to business......Page 40
2 1970–2010: how Brussels became crucial to the private sector......Page 48
Business representation mirroring EEC institutions......Page 49
The explosion of lobbying with the Single European Act: companies gain direct access to the Commission......Page 57
Selling access to a closed administrative world: the emergence of a market in the representation of business interests......Page 65
3 Lobbying: harnessing bureaucratic resources as a weapon for business......Page 75
Different levels of company investment in lobbying: different degrees of dependency on Commission resources......Page 76
Investing in Brussels to influence market standardisation......Page 86
4 Routine lobbying: the personal appropriation of administrative knowledge......Page 97
Lobbyists: an intellectual, intermediary element of the business bourgeoisie......Page 99
Arranging tours and drafting position papers: lobbying on behalf of a business association......Page 110
Lobbying dependent on administrative timeframes......Page 130
5 Containing the political and depoliticisation: behind the closed doors of the administration......Page 139
“Hello again”: regular returns to the Commission......Page 140
The parliament as a snapshot of power relations for Commission officials......Page 150
Back inside the closed doors of the bureaucracy after the parliamentary interlude......Page 161
6 Serving the scientific standardisation of markets: the technical extension of commercial wars......Page 169
Business association staff and standards......Page 170
Partial repoliticisation … but initiated by the business community......Page 181
Not “lobbies” but “institutes”: business associations transformed into forums for standardisation conducted by experts......Page 188
From enlisting science to guiding the science......Page 192
7 Expertise in the service of business: lobbying and the European Chemicals Agency......Page 201
“Of Mice and Men”: toxicological language in support of business coalitions......Page 202
The reception of “scientific” arguments by officials who are “technical specialists”......Page 211
What is produced by the critical mass of a bureaucracy?......Page 220
Lobbying as a race to manipulate bureaucratic capital......Page 221
The emergence of a new disenfranchisement......Page 222
Democratic deficits and repercussions for national politics......Page 223
Bibliography......Page 226
Index......Page 234
