Interest Groups and Experimentalist Governance in the EU

Imaginative, smart, and thorough are the first words that come to mind when describing this magnificent book. Douwe Truijens successfully manages to link two scholarly fields on European decision-making procedures which thus far have developed in isolation, but as the case studies convincingly highlight, have so much to offer to each other. In an academic world slowly evolving into hyper-specialism, this book feels like a breath of fresh air.

• Marcel Hanegraaff, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  Governance is changing, with claims that it has become less hierarchical and more experimental. This book engages deeply with core debates about its development that are crucial both for theory in public policy, administration and political sociology, as well as for practice. Its investigation covers case studies that are varied and vital- industrial data protection, occupational retirement, and protection of children. Its excellent investigation is invaluable for those interested in contemporary governance.

  • Mark Thatcher, Professor of Political Science, Luiss University, Italy This book researches the role that interest groups play in new modes of EU governance, with a specific focus on the role of interest representation in experimentalist governance frameworks. The research asks how lobbying in the legislative process contributes to the governance framework and its institutional arrangements and subsequently asks how the relevant interest groups participate in policy implementation - in which broad policy goals are concretised. The research is based on four in-depth case studies: the Industrial Emissions Directive, the General Data Protection Regulation, the Combating Child Abuse Directive, and the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision Directive. Of special interest in these cases are the balance between types of interest groups (most notably business and NGOs) in policy formulation and implementation, and the changing dynamics between interest groups and public policy-makers in such 'horizontal' governance. The book's findings are required reading for all those concerned with effective and democratic policy-making in the EU. Douwe Gijs Truijens is a researcher at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His research interests include policy-making processes in the EU, lobbying (or 'interest representation'), and theoretical and philosophical debates on democracy and democratic legitimacy. He is specialised in new modes of EU governance, and 'experimentalist governance' in particular, with a specific focus on the role of interest organisations and other non-state actors in such policy-making processes.

Auteur
Douwe Gijs Truijens is a researcher at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His research interests include policy-making processes in the EU, lobbying (or 'interest representation'), and theoretical and philosophical debates on democracy and democratic legitimacy. He is specialised in new modes of EU governance, and 'experimentalist governance' in particular, with a specific focus on the role of interest organisations and other non-state actors in such policy-making processes.

Résumé

This book researches the role that interest groups play in new modes of EU governance, with a specific focus on the role of interest representation in experimentalist governance *frameworks. The research asks how lobbying in the legislative process contributes to the governance framework and its institutional arrangements and subsequently asks how the relevant interest groups participate in policy implementation in which broad policy goals are concretised. The research is based on four in-depth case studies: the Industrial Emissions Directive, the General Data Protection Regulation, the Combating Child Abuse Directive, and the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision Directive. Of special interest in these cases are the balance between types of interest groups (most notably business and NGOs) in policy formulation *and implementation, and the changing dynamics between interest groups and public policy-makers in such 'horizontal' governance. The book's findings are required reading for all those concerned with effective and democratic policy-making in the EU.

Contenu

1. Introduction.- 2. Interest representation in experimentalist governance: a theoretical framework.- 3. Studying the reciprocal interaction between experimentalism and lobbying: research design.- 4. Dual lobbying in the Industrial Emissions Directive.- 5. Do-It-Yourself Involvement in the European Data Protection Regulation.- 6. Combating child sexual abuse: implementing broad policy goals in an institutional void.- 7. Mobilisation by mistrust in EU pension funds regulation.- 8. Comparing four cases of lobbying for new modes of governance.- 9. Conclusion: new modes of lobbying for new modes of governance.- 10. Bibliography.