Keeping an Eye out for Each Other? Complementary or Parallel Activities of Regional Authorities and Regional Civil Society Actors in EU Consultation Procedures

One of the key questions the study of EU interest representation concerns the diversity of interests that get represented and the type of competition that prevails in specific lobbying processes. This issue has been mostly studied with an eye on functional interests. This paper considers the diversity and density of lobby patterns in four EU level policy processes in which territorial interests or sub-national authorities are closely involved (CAP Reform, TEN-T, Horizon 2020 and Cohesion Policy). Based on 15 online consultations that took place in these fields we map and analyze the diversity of the interest group population. More precisely, empirical we will - discern the level of competition between regional authorities and other organized interests by analyzing all the actors involved in a specific policy processes. - examine variation in the activity patterns of different organized interests across policy domains. A key question here concerns the balance between public (regional) authorities, city governments, national governments and functional interests? - examine the interaction between local and regional civil society actors and regional representations. The paper has, despite its focus on the involvement of territorial interests in public consultations, broader ramifications. Public consultation and more specifically online consultations have been judged by some to be an effective instrument of including actors that would otherwise not participate in the policy process. On the other hand other scholars argued that public consultations are a playground of lobbyists and that business and older EU member states are overrepresented. It is only by systematically scrutinizing existing consultation that one can arrive at robust conclusions in this field.