DAFF 25A76 - Business Power and Lobbying in the EU

DAFF 25A76 · Semestre d'automne 2026-2027

Langue d'enseignement
English
Type d'enseignement
Cours séminaire
Nombre d'heures
24
Crédits
5

Informations

Descriptif

The class aims to provide students with the necessary theoretical and analytical tools to

reconstruct and assess interest groups' roles, resources, action strategies, and influence capacity

in EU policymaking, with a focus on business groups. This will be done through an in-depth focus

on the factors, institutional venues, processes and dynamics specifically shaping business

interests’ lobbying and influence in the EU. The concepts and approaches presented during the

course will be applied to a set of relevant policy case studies, so as to analyze and learn how

lobbying concretely works and when it proves to be successful. Thus, the class mixes the theory

and practice of corporate lobbying in the EU, providing students with a comprehensive preparation

on the subject.

At the end of teaching, the students will be able to:

  • reconstruct and analyze interest groups’ role, strategies of action, and influence on the EU

policy processes

  • master the key concepts in the analysis of business power and lobbying, such as “structural

power”, “instrumental power”, “inside/outside” lobbying, “coalitions”, “salience”, and

“politicization”.

  • understand the ways in which EU policymakers and interest groups interact in the setting,

formulation, and implementation of the EU policies.

  • have a deeper knowledge of the EU decision-making process, its actors, and

characteristics, in order to critically assess their quality.

  • understand and implement the main methodological approaches in the analysis of interest

groups’ lobbying, with a focus on qualitative methods.

Pré-requis

Prior basic knowledge of the European Union institutions is recommended. There are no

mandatory preliminary readings

Format pédagogique

Lectures, group activities in the classroom and seminars

Mode de validation

1 individual seminar presentation with a topic approved by the instructor50%
- 1 written assignment (report of a lobbying case study)30%
  • Student engagement during the semester (participation in class discussions during the

class, ability to ask questions, and class citizenship etc.) 20%

Lectures

Lectures principales 5

  1. Coen, D. (2009). Business lobbying in the European Union, in D. Coen and J. Richardson (eds.), Lobbying the European Union: Institutions, actors and issues, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 145-168.

    Lire en ligne

  2. Coen, D., Katsaitis, A., & Vannoni, M. (2021). Business lobbying in the European Union. Oxford : Oxford University Press, Chapters 4-6

    Emprunter

  3. Greenwood, J. (2017). Interest Representation in the European Union. London : Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapters 2 and 4.

    Emprunter

  4. Van Apeldoorn, B. (2001). “The struggle over European order: Transnational class agency in the making of ‘embedded neo-liberalism’”. In A. Bieler, A. D. Morton (eds.) Social forces in the making of the New Europe: The restructuring of European social relations in the global political economy (pp. 70-89). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK

  5. Van Schendelen, R. (2013). The art of lobbying the EU: More Machiavelli in Brussels. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press (Fourth edition), Chapters 1-3

    Lire en ligne

Lectures secondaires 13

  1. Baumgartner, F. R. (2007). EU Lobbying: A view from the US. Journal of European Public Policy, 14(3), 482-488

    Lire en ligne

  2. Bell, S. (2012). The power of ideas: The ideational shaping of the structural power of business. International Studies Quarterly, 56(4), 661-673.

    Lire en ligne

  3. Berkhout, J. (2013). Why interest organizations do what they do: Assessing the explanatory potential of “exchange” approaches. Interest Groups & Advocacy, 2, 227-250.

    Lire en ligne

  4. Bernhagen, P., & Bräuninger, T. (2005). Structural power and public policy: A signaling model of business lobbying in democratic capitalism. Political studies, 53(1), 43-64.

    Lire en ligne

  5. Beyers, J., Dür, A., & Wonka, A. (2018). The political salience of EU policies. Journal of European Public Policy, 25(11), 1726-1737.

    Lire en ligne

  6. Bouwen, P. (2004). Exchanging access goods for access: A comparative study of business lobbying in the European Union institutions. European Journal of Political Research, 43(3), 337-369

    Lire en ligne

  7. Bowman, J. R. (1982). The Logic of Capitalist Collective Action. Social Science Information, 21(4–5), 571–560.

    Lire en ligne

  8. Bunea, A. (2018). Legitimacy through targeted transparency? Regulatory effectiveness and sustainability of lobbying regulation in the European Union. European Journal of Political Research, 57(2), 378-403

    Lire en ligne

  9. Bunea, A., & Ibenskas, R. (2015). Quantitative text analysis and the study of EU lobbying and interest groups. European Union Politics, 16(3), 429-455.

    Emprunter

  10. Chari, R., Hogan, J., Murphy, G., & Crepaz, M. (2020). Regulating lobbying: a global comparison. In Regulating lobbying (second edition). Manchester University Press.

    Emprunter

  11. Coen, D., Katsaitis, A., & Vannoni, M. (2021). Business lobbying in the European Union. Oxford University Press.

    Emprunter

  12. Cowles, M.G. (2002). Large Firms and the Transformation of EU Business Associations: a Historical Perspective. In: Greenwood, J. (eds) The Effectiveness of EU Business Associations. Palgrave Macmillan, London.

    Emprunter

  13. Culpepper, P. D. (2015). Structural power and political science in the post-crisis era. Business and Politics, 17(3), 391-409

    Lire en ligne

Unités pédagogiques

N° d'UPType d'UP Unités pédagogiquesEnseignants Nombre d'heuresCrédits
20166Cours séminaire Business Power and Lobbying in the EU Giuseppe MONTALBANO245

Enseignants

  • Giuseppe MONTALBANO

Dans les maquettes

Contacts et ressources

Contact pédagogique
NICOULEAU Svetlana