The lobby influence of local government on EU decision-making – A literature review (WORKING PAPER)

EU policy and legislation have an increasing financial and administrative impact on local government (Callanan, 2012, p. 753). In response to this, local government will try to find access to EU institutions and influence legislation (Heinelt & Niederhafner, 2008). While the act of lobbying is a topic that is often studied, the specific lobbying of local actors on EU level is somewhat underexposed. This research tries to fill this gap. The first goal of this research is to give a clear overview of the existing knowledge on lobbying. The second goal is to consider if there are unique traits in the lobby relationship between local actors and European institutions. In this research, local actors represent the lowest tier of government (i.e. towns and cities), including inter-municipal companies and the (umbrella) organizations they are part of. Influence is defined as the capacity to shape European legislation in line with one’s preferences (Dür, 2008). We build on the existing model of Verhelst (2018) to map out the determinants of successful lobbying of local government in the EU. To fulfill the first goal, we will provide an extensive literature study. This study will also help us reach the second goal: to uncover the unique traits in the relationship regarding lobbying between local actors and European institutions. Callanan, M. (2012). Subnational collective action: The varied patterns of mobilisation of local government associations. Local Government Studies, 38(6), 753–775. https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2012.683863 Dür, A. (2008a). Interest groups in the european union: How powerful are they? West European Politics, 31(6), 1212–1230. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402380802372662 Dür, A. (2008b). Measuring interest group influence in the EU: A note on methodology. European Union Politics, 9(4), 559–576. https://doi.org/10.1177/1465116508095151 Heinelt, H., & Niederhafner, S. (2008). Cities and organized interest intermediation in the Eu multi-level system. European Urban and Regional Studies, 15(2), 173–187. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969776408090023 Verhelst, T. (2018). Inside the municipal lobby: Explaining local government influence on the new eu public procurement directives. Lex Localis, 16(1), 193–214. https://doi.org/10.4335/10.4335/16.1.193-214(2018)