Interests and resources : the formation of national positions regarding EU-policies

Abstract

The leading research question of this comparative, quantitative study is, whether the influence of interest groups on the formation of national positions on EU-policies is better explained by the environment of an actor (system of interest intermediation or policy field) or by individual attributes of his (resources). Mixed evidence was found: On the one hand, we did not find strong evidence for systemic differences, when controlling for other factors. On the other hand, we did find no evidence for the impact of individual attributes (in terms of the possession of resources).<br />The analysis has been performed using descriptive statistics, analysis of co- variance and multiple regression analysis. The data used are from the research project The Relevance of Threats and Promises in EU Decision making (Th. König/ G. Schneider, University of Konstanz, funded by the German national science foundation). The dataset contains information regarding 15 Commission proposals (117 issues) in Germany, Great Britain, Finland and The Netherlands for the period 1998/9.