Environmental groups and the EC: Challenges and opportunities

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Abstract
Even though the basic ‘rules of the game’ may be familiar to lobbyists at the national level, the EC policy process is in many ways unique. Its multi‐national, neo‐federal nature, the openness of decision‐making to lobbying, and the considerable weight of national politico‐administrative elites within the process create a rather unstable and multi‐dimensional environment to which all pressure groups must adapt. Environmental groups have at least three fundamental strengths in the context of this complex policy process ‐ a capacity to build European‐level coalitions in the form of Euro‐groups and umbrella organisations via the creation of cross‐national Euro‐level networks; an ability to contribute to European integration in the manner predicted by neo‐functionalist theory; and an ability to set the political agenda in the environmental sector. In contrast, they have several fundamental weaknesses ‐ they may be too dependent upon DG X1 and on the European Parliament; they may lack the resources or the will to participate within the policy process intensively from the initiation phase right through to implementation; other competing interests are becoming more effective in their mobilisation around the environmental issue; the environmentalists may also be in a degree of competition with each other; and their lobbying styles may limit their long‐term capacity to influence policies.

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