There is no clear view on how accountability is organised in the context of transgovernmental networks. In literature there is predominant view that accountability is threatened by the existence of... Show moreThere is no clear view on how accountability is organised in the context of transgovernmental networks. In literature there is predominant view that accountability is threatened by the existence of transgovernmental networks. This dissertation takes a micro-level approach by focusing on participants of transgovernmental networks, to understand the dynamics of accountability in this setting. This dissertation makes use of theory building and testing. A theoretical model links the function and governance style of a transgovernmental network to the type of accountability that can be expected. Four distinct empirical cases show that there is a link between the level of formalisation of a governance style and the extent of control. Moreover, this research shows that the function of a transgovernmental network is indicative for the source of control. Show less
Interest groups are often described as transmission belts that connect the preferences of their members with public officials in policymaking processes. Through this linkage, public officials can... Show moreInterest groups are often described as transmission belts that connect the preferences of their members with public officials in policymaking processes. Through this linkage, public officials can obtain relevant information and gain legitimacy from those affected by public policies. However, this important intermediary function is not a straightforward endeavor as interest groups often struggle to reconcile their dual function of representing their members while being politically active. This dissertation unpacks interest groups mobilized at the European Union level and examines how they are organized so as to function as transmission belts. Subsequently, it analyzes the effects of this transmissive role for the level of access and influence obtained by groups in policymaking processes. The findings shed light on the difficult task of groups in balancing member involvement while being politically active and the implications for the legitimacy of our governance systems. Show less
This article introduces a special issue that investigates the interplay between domestic socio-political orders and changing external influences – of the EU, Russia, Turkey and other external... Show moreThis article introduces a special issue that investigates the interplay between domestic socio-political orders and changing external influences – of the EU, Russia, Turkey and other external actors in the region. In this introduction, we lay the conceptual framework and propose theoretical mechanisms linking state capacity and the actions of external actors to the likelihood of transformations from limited to open access orders. Previewing the findings, we note a fundamental asymmetry: while external actors have many levers to undermine the establishment of an open access order, they are more limited in how they can support reforms towards liberal democracy and free-market economy. Show less
Wonka, A.; De Bruycker, I.; De Bievre, D.; Beyers, J.; Braun, C. 2018
Contemporary studies on interest group politics have mainly used single interest organizations as their central objects of study. This has led to a rich body of knowledge on the motivations of... Show moreContemporary studies on interest group politics have mainly used single interest organizations as their central objects of study. This has led to a rich body of knowledge on the motivations of interest group mobilization, strategy development and even policy access and influence. The focus on single interest groups, however, has resulted in limited knowledge on aggregate patterns of interest groups’ activity. This article seeks to address this lacuna, by examining patterns of mobilization and conflict of interest groups’ activity in EU legislative policymaking. To do so, it adopts a unique policy-centred research design and an empirical assessment of policy mobilization for a sample of 125 EU legislative proposals based on extensive media coding as well as structured elite interviews. We find that levels of policy mobilization vary substantively across different legislative proposals and that political conflict between interest groups is remarkably low. This suggests that interest group conflict and mobilization contribute little to EU politicization and that in cases where interest groups voice opposing positions, conflicts do not occur between business and non-business groups. Our findings have important implications for our understanding of interest groups in EU legislative policymaking. Show less
Scholars of mobilisation and policy influence employ two quite different approaches to mapping interest group systems. Those interested in research questions on mobilisation typically rely on a... Show moreScholars of mobilisation and policy influence employ two quite different approaches to mapping interest group systems. Those interested in research questions on mobilisation typically rely on a bottom-up mapping strategy in order to characterise the total size and composition of interest group communities. Researchers with an interest in policy influence usually rely on a top-down strategy in which the mapping of politically active organisations depends on samples of specific policies. But some scholars also use top-down data gathered for other research questions on mobilisation (and vice versa). However, it is currently unclear how valid such large-N data for different types of research questions are. We illustrate our argument by addressing these questions using unique data sets drawn from the INTEREURO project on lobbying in the European Union and the European Union’s Transparency Register. Our findings suggest that top-down and bottom-up mapping strategies lead to profoundly different maps of interest group communities. Show less
The European Union interest group population is often characterised as being biased towards business and detached from its constituency base. Many scholars attribute this to institutional factors... Show moreThe European Union interest group population is often characterised as being biased towards business and detached from its constituency base. Many scholars attribute this to institutional factors unique to the EU. Yet, assessing whether or not the EU is indeed unique in this regard requires a comparative research design. We compare the EU interest group population with those in four member states: France, Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. We differentiate system, policy domain and organisational factors and examine their effects on interest group diversity. Our results show that the EU interest system is not more biased towards the representation of business interests than the other systems. Moreover, EU interest organisations are not more detached from their constituents than those in the studied countries. Everywhere, business interest associations seem to be better capable of representing their members’ interests than civil society groups. These findings suggest that the EU is less of a sui generis system than commonly assumed and imply the need for more fine-grained analyses of interest group diversity. Show less
While subnational authorities strongly mobilize in Brussels, they do not lobby all EU-level venues to the same extent. This article explains the varying intensity with which regional offices... Show moreWhile subnational authorities strongly mobilize in Brussels, they do not lobby all EU-level venues to the same extent. This article explains the varying intensity with which regional offices interact with various EU-level policy-making venues when seeking to influence EU policies. Theoretically, we complement an exchange-based perspective with political-institutional and contextual factors, such as regional political autonomy and the degree of preference alignment with key policy-making venues. To test our hypotheses, we rely on evidence collected through 33 face-to-face interviews with regional representations concerning their lobbying activities in four salient policy processes. Our results highlight that while most offices regularly interact with both national and supranational venues, the central government representation in Brussels is always, irrespective of what is at stake, the most important contact point. Furthermore, we also find that policy alignments shape venue selection, indicating some evidence of strategic manoeuvrin Show less
The dissertation examines the application of EU farm animal welfare legislation in 27 member states. It develops a theoretical framework that applies insights from the transposition literature to... Show moreThe dissertation examines the application of EU farm animal welfare legislation in 27 member states. It develops a theoretical framework that applies insights from the transposition literature to the post-transposition phase of implementation and derives hypotheses to explain cross-national variation in implementation success. The hypotheses are centered on the notion that the pressure to adapt to EU requirements makes post-transposition application difficult. Countering adaptation pressure, the presence of discretion, whereby member states have some flexibility to adapt requirements to their national circumstances, helps to alleviate the difficulties brought on by adaptation pressure. Additional hypotheses are derived from the transposition literature concerning the geographic and organizational decentralization of implementation authority and the length of transposition delay prior to application. The hypotheses are tested through a mixed methods design that combines a set of case studies and a quantitative analysis of the implementation of all major requirements applied in 27 member states in the legislation within this policy area. Support is found for the adaptation pressure and discretion hypotheses, while limited support is found for the hypotheses concerning the decentralization of implementation authority Show less
The European Council, the institution bringing together the Heads of State and Government of the European Union member states, has played an important role in steering the European integration... Show moreThe European Council, the institution bringing together the Heads of State and Government of the European Union member states, has played an important role in steering the European integration process. This dissertation analyses the nature of the European Council’s agenda in relation to the institution’s standing in the EU policy-making framework, focusing on the magnitude and level of attention changes. The studies then delve into on specific aspects which could potentially act as agenda determinants and critically evaluate their role in analyses covering long-term periods. Factors belonging to three broad categories are considered – institutional conditions (the Presidency), external stakeholders’ effect (public opinion) and the ‘problem stream’ (economic indicators and focusing events). Show less
he creation of European Union agencies is arguably one of the most prominent institutional innovations at the EU level in recent history. Especially since the early 1990s, the EU and its member... Show morehe creation of European Union agencies is arguably one of the most prominent institutional innovations at the EU level in recent history. Especially since the early 1990s, the EU and its member states delegated a wide range of (semi-)regulatory, monitoring, and coordination tasks to a quickly growing number of agencies. Most existing research focuses on the creation of these agencies. As a result, we do not know much about how agencies develop after their creation. EU agencies are formally independent, but do they also behave autonomously in practice? How does actual autonomy vary across EU agencies and how does this affect the role these agencies play in the multi-level system of European governance? This study addresses these questions theoretically and empirically by comparing six EU agencies – the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Environm ent Agency (EEA), the European Monitoring Centre for Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), Europol and Eurojust. It shows how some of these agencies develop into relatively autonomous entities by acquiring a distinct organisational character and by generating support from actors in their environment, whereas other agencies do so to a much lesser extent or not at all. Show less
Many legislative decisions of the Council of the EuropeanUnion are de facto made in preparatory bodies by national officials anddiplomats. Ministers rubber-stamp these committee decisions without... Show moreMany legislative decisions of the Council of the EuropeanUnion are de facto made in preparatory bodies by national officials anddiplomats. Ministers rubber-stamp these committee decisions without discussion.Drawing on statistical as well as case study evidence, the study investigatesthe extent to which this actually occurs. Based on a formal-theoreticaldiscussion of possible explanations, the study also examines the causes for whycertain decisions are made by committee members and others by ministers. Ingeneral, the empirical findings alleviate concerns about the democraticlegitimacy of Council decisions. Show less
Better regulation in the European Union cannot be achieved without serious attention to transposition of EU law into national legislation. As a matter of fact, EU member states breach EU law __... Show moreBetter regulation in the European Union cannot be achieved without serious attention to transposition of EU law into national legislation. As a matter of fact, EU member states breach EU law __ perpetuately. Why do member states miss deadlines when transposing EU internal market directives? What factors determine delays when transposing EU directives? How do these factors influence the timeliness of the national transposition processes? And under what conditions are transpositions of directives delayed? This study analyses the timeliness of national transposition processes across nine member states of the 2004 EU transport acquis. Based on a truly mixed-method approach __ a new quantitative data set with further insights gleaned from four controlled case studies and a concluding fuzzy set analysis - this study shows that the European Union has a serious transposition problem. Almost 70 percent of all national legal measures transposing the transport acquis cause problems, either because they are transposed too late, risking the opening of an infringement proceeding, or because they are too early (gold-plating), risking warping effects on the regulatory environment for business and citizens in the EU alike. Furthermore, this book provides some progress regarding the conditions under which transposition performance of member states could be improved. Seven potential European and national drivers and constrainers for timely transposition can be identified with different effects on the lengths of transposition delays. Distinguishing between three outcomes of transposition process (on time, short and long delay) it is the specific features of European directives that account for short term delays, whereas serious time lags of more than six months are a result of domestic factors. Furthermore, the timing of general elections in a member state and policy sector-related crises retard or rather accelerate national transposition processes just as political priority represents a significant necessary condition for timeliness. Show less
