Collaboration and Consultation: Functional Representation in EU Stakeholder Dialogues

Abstract

In the past decade, the EU has experimented with various types of consultation mechanisms intended to address perceived deficits in policy knowledge and decision-making legitimacy within the European system. I examine attempts by the European Commission to build up its decision-making legitimacy and inform policy via various formal mechanisms, focusing on the extent to which the relationship between the Commission and its civil society groups is collaborative or consultative. In particular, I examine two such experiments: The DG Trade Civil Society Dialogue (CSD) and the DG SANCO platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. DG Trade, a strong and relatively autonomous DG, developed a consultative model of engagement, gaining legitimation by consulting with advocacy groups. DG SANCO, working in areas where the EU competencies are weak, adopts a collaborative model in which it can set the agenda and structure debates but fundamentally depends on industry association partners, rather than its own legal powers, to achieve its goals.

Key Words:

• Public health
• trade
• lobbying
• European Union

Notes

1. This article refers to stakeholder consultation. As Quittkat and Kotzian in this volume explain (pp.401–18), the Commission also frequently consults with scholarly subject experts and the public.

2. Personal communication, 20 November 2009.

3. Personal communication, 22 July 2010.

4. Personal communication, 14 September 2009.