The role of lobbies in the process of European construction

Abstract

In the process of European integration, citizens and organisations can participate through specialised bodies such as political parties, but also interest groups (Aron, 2020; Dür, Bernhagen and Marshall, 2015). This article shows how lobbies are using political communication tools to influence public institutions. This proposal aims to analyse the communication strategies of lobbies in Europe and which institutions they focus their activities on, the European Commission or the European Parliament. The aim is to find out the audiences with which they establish relations in their communication activities, to analyse which countries and which types of lobbies have the greatest presence in the register of interest groups, and how they manage their communication tools.  To carry out this study, two research techniques were chosen, content analysis and survey, for which a stratified probabilistic sampling was carried out using the organisational typologies contemplated in the European Union Transparency Register as a stratum, obtaining 363 interest groups. Subsequently, for the content analysis, all registered lobbies related to both European institutions were chosen. The main findings reveal that the European Parliament is the main target of NGOs, trade union associations and companies, while employers' and academic associations focus their efforts on the European Commission. Business and employers' organisations have a stronger presence and influence in the European institutions than self-employed and faith-based organisations. Belgium is the country with the most registered lobbies. The lobbying sector is dominated by middle-aged men with legal training and professional experience who prefer direct lobbying and make marginal use of indirect lobbying tools.