Nav 6-1: Interest groups and Commission consultations

Length

Browsing: 20 minutes Reporting: 30 minutes (400-1000 words)

Goals

To examine the mobilization of interest groups with respect to legislative proposals, and analyze their arguments.
To familiarize yourself with the European Commission’s ‘Have your say’ website.

Introduction

The EU has attracted many interest groups across a wide range of issues. These interest groups seek ways to influence public policy. One way to see how interest groups mobilize is to examine their opinions submitted to legislative proposals through the online consultation system the European Commission employs.

Steps

The European Commission has a ‘Have your say’ website where you can search for consultations through this form.
On the left side, under Feedback Status please select “Closed”, and under Type of Act, “Legislative Proposals”.
You will now see a list of completed consultations.
There is a Statistics tab, as well as a tab that allows you to look at individual submissions.

Questions

Select a consultation that interests you. Provide its name and its link.
Now consult the statistics tab. Does the distribution of interests that have submitted opinions correspond to what is said in chapter 6? Are there any remarkable figures that deviate from the trends outlined in the book? Why?
Now go to the other tab and analyze three submissions: one from a company, one from an NGO, and one from an individual citizen.
Briefly summarize their views on the proposal. Are they in line with the nature of the organization examined? Closely scrutinize the submission by the individual citizen. Does it come across as authentic or do you feel that it has been (pre)written by a specific interest group?

Links

Have your say website

Search field with ‘closed’ and ‘legislative proposals’

Cambridge University Press

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