David Coen, Alexander Katsaitis, and Matia Vannoni, Business lobbying in the European Union. Oxford University Press, 240 pp, 2021, ISBN 9780199589753.

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Conor McGrath
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2795

BOOK REVIEW

Business lobbying in the European Union

David Coen jAlexander Katsaitis, and Matia Vannoni

Oxford University Press, 240 pp, 2021, ISBN 9780199589753.

This book opens with an assertion by the authors that its value “lies in

its conceptual and empirical capacity”(p. vi)—a large claim, but one

which is very well-founded. Combining the political science and busi-

ness management approaches, it explores the nuances of

government-business relations in Brussels in exceptional detail on

multiple levels. While the book is relatively short, and dense with both

theory and findings, the authors deliver enormous insight for both

scholars and practitioners in a very accessible tone.

Private business—sometimes acting unilaterally and competitively

as individual companies, sometimes operating in its own right and

often through professional intermediaries, sometimes working collab-

oratively through sectoral and issue associations—interacts with EU

regulators and policymakers in multiple institutions and venues,

through formal and informal means, across a diverse range of policy

domains, using a variety of strategies, tactics and resources. And while

business seeks to influence EU decisions, it is at the same time being

influenced by those decisions. As the authors note, “the relationship

between business and government in the EU has moved from an

intermittent state to a continuous exchange”(p. 8). This book skilfully

mines this morass of overlapping activity by extracting real intelli-

gence (as opposed to mere information) from three perspectives. At a

macro level, the book considers the structural foundations of the rela-

tionship, how business approaches vary as the strength of, and bal-

ance of power between, the EU institutions has changed following

successive Treaty revisions. Second, a meso level analysis looks at

business interests within the EU's dynamic policy cycle and arenas.

And third, the book offers a most thoughtful and in-depth examina-

tion at the micro level of how firms' internal capabilities and resources

have affected the ways in which they deal with the EU. This combina-

tion produces a vivid and fresh picture of the interconnections

between business and the EU, filling a gap noted by the authors thus:

“the literature misses perspectives that blend the firm's day-to-day

actions with system pre-requisites”(p. 9).

A useful review of development from the EEC to the EU, during

which a series of Treaty reforms led to institutional and policy domain

expansion, highlights a number of “critical junctures that punctuated

the business-government equilibrium”(p. 22). The sheer scale of

change over time has been staggering. Consider, for instance, the orig-

inal incarnation of the European Parliament as an appointed consulta-

tive assembly, through the introduction of direct elections in 1979,

the expansion in MEP numbers as more nations joined the EU, its

increasing willingness to challenge the Commission, the development

over time of its control over the EU budget, its progressively more

proactive legislative procedures and assertive committees, the growth

of its policy expertise from fairly limited beginnings to now covering

the entire spectrum of the EU's agenda, its greater role in supervising

other institutions.

The infamous thief, Willie Sutton, is (incorrectly) said to have

answered, “Because that's where the money is”, when asked why he

robbed banks. Similarly, interest organisations will gravitate towards

power centres. The authors trace how business interests have over

the last 5 decades mirrored the EU's institutional changes. As one

institution gained power through a new Treaty, so it would become a

higher priority for business lobbying. The authors note, for instance,

that business lobbying approaches were “drastically altered”(p. 35) as

a result of legislative and procedural changes following the Lisbon

Treaty. And the policy influencing environment in Brussels has grown

substantially in recent decades. Individual companies and business

associations have large numbers of staff in Brussels, who are increas-

ingly consulted by EU officials. Individual businesses and associations

have been joined by public affairs agencies, think tanks, law firms,

management consultancies. Lobbying strategies have developed over

time, with firms running campaigns in Brussels which are supported

by efforts in the national capitals of member states; firms have pro-

gressively invested more and more resources in their Brussels lobby-

ing teams; firms increasingly focus on both co-operating through

industry associations and working alone to build long-term personal

relationships with policymakers; advocacy coalitions and grassroots

lobbying have become both more numerous and more sophisticated;

business interests have made substantial financial donations to politi-

cians and parties.

This book has much to say about the mobilisation of business

interests in Brussels. Policymakers' need for detailed policy expertise

and information on the likely consequences of policy alternatives; the

EU's constant desire to secure its own legitimacy by integrating sec-

toral and national interests into its sphere; the multi-venue and multi-

level opportunities offered by EU institutional arrangements; the

expansion of EU competencies; the creation of expert committees

and EU agencies—all have generated a demand for policy input and

business has sunk ever-greater resources into meeting that demand,

Received: 7 November 2021 Accepted: 8 November 2021

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2795

J Public Affairs. 2022;22(Suppl. 1):e2795. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of3

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2795