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How external interests enter the European Commission: Mechanisms at play in legislative position formation

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  • Hartlapp, Miriam
  • Metz, Julia
  • Rauh, Christian

Abstract

The European Commission, Europe's central supranational bureaucracy, is often depicted as a playground for external interests. The scholarly literature offers a range of sensible explanations how the Commission position is bound by national, organised societal, or party political interests. Despite substantial contributions, the empirical approach supporting such arguments often focuses on the mere comparison between a particular external interest and the legislative outcome. In this paper, we aim to add a more process-based, mechanismic perspective by empirically focussing the question how certain external interest found their way into a Commission position as captured by a legislative proposal. Against the background of a larger research project which analyses 48 position formation processes in the Commission on the basis of 133 in-depth interviews with participating officials, this paper presents mechanisms linking external interest to the final Commission position and that are transferable across specific drafting processes and across different policy fields.

Suggested Citation

  • Hartlapp, Miriam & Metz, Julia & Rauh, Christian, 2010. "How external interests enter the European Commission: Mechanisms at play in legislative position formation," Discussion Papers, Schumpeter Junior Research Group Position Formation in the EU Commission SP IV 2010-501, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wzbpfe:spiv2010501
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Simon Hix & Abdul Noury & Gérard Roland, 2006. "Dimensions of Politics in the European Parliament," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(2), pages 494-520, April.
    2. Miriam Hartlapp & Julia Metz and Christian Rauh, 2010. "The agenda set by the EU Commission: the result of balanced or biased aggregation of positions?," Europe in Question Discussion Paper Series of the London School of Economics (LEQs) 1, London School of Economics / European Institute.
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