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Abstract
Based on an empirical study of business associations, trade unions and value-based NGOs from new EU member states this contribution argues that interest groups from the new Central and East European member states could smoothly be integrated into the EU system of interest representation with the help of European umbrella organisations. European umbrella organisations offer immediate access to the EU level, provide a role model of engagement at the EU level and also increase information flows from the EU level to national interest groups and with that into national debates and national policy-making processes. Accordingly, theories of horizontal integration should not only look at the limited impact of interest groups on the implementation of the EU acquis communautaire, but also at the effects the smooth integration of new interest groups at the EU level has on the Europeanization of new and prospective member states.
Notes
1. With that the focus is put on strategies of interest representation as such and neither on their success nor on the degree of representation, visibility or influence of these interest groups. The reason for this is that the compatibility of newcomers with the EU system of interest representation depends foremost on the compatibility of their strategies with the established rules of consultation and decision-making within EU governance and only to a much lesser degree on the relative success or fair representation of new interests. For an assessment of the degree of representation and influence of interest groups from the new member states at the EU level, based on the data used in this contribution, see Pleines (Citation2010).
2. A broader overview of the state of research is provided by Pleines (Citation2011).
3. The study on environmental NGOs has been conducted as part of the Integrated Project ‘New Modes of Governance’ (www.eu-newgov.org), financially supported by the European Union under the 6th Framework programme (Contract No CIT1-CT-2004-506392). Interviews in Prague were conducted by Kristýna Bušková (then Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen, now Cambridge University) and in Brussels by Brigitte Krech (independent consultant). The study of trade unions and business associations has been funded by the Otto-Brenner-Foundation. Interviews were conducted by the Institute for Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Institute for Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Koszalin Institute of Comparative European Studies. Brigitte Krech was responsible for the interviews in Brussels. The interviews with business associations and trade unions have been documented in Kusznir and Pleines (Citation2008).
4. All organizations headquartered in a specific country which are formally members of the respective European umbrella organization have been counted. The respective membership chains from the EU to grass roots level can be rather complex. For an elaboration see Kohler-Koch and Buth (2008).
5. For a fuller discussion of this argument in relation to interest groups at the EU level see Beyers (Citation2010, 98–104). For an empirical test see Mahoney (Citation2007).
6. See Greenwood (Citation2007, 23–48) for a description of the two routes.
7. For details see Krech (Citation2008).
8. A comparison of Eastern enlargement with earlier enlargement waves, though, is only of very limited value, as the challenges during earlier waves were rather different due to the number and nature of the countries involved and, much more importantly, due to the fact that civil society organizations began to play a more important role in EU governance only at the time of the run-up to Eastern enlargement.
9. For a thorough discussion see: Beyers and Kerremans (Citation2007).