National Economic Interest Groups and Policy Formation in the EEC

Abstract

z One of the most fascinating aspects of the decision-making process in the European Economic Community is what Leon Lindberg has called the constant and complex interaction and interpenetration between Community and national institutions, policies, and processes.' To comprehend fully the background, evolution, and implications of major Community decisions, they must be analyzed in terms of interaction and interpenetration between the pursuit of goals by internal political forces within the member countries, the domestic politics of each member state, the interstate politics within the Community, and pressures exerted by third countries both on the national and Community level. This article will focus on a small but significant segment of this complex Community decision-making process, namely, the general strategies and techniques that influential national economic interest groups in the member states employ for the eliciting of favorable decisions and policies by the Community institutions. This discussion will concentrate on national interest groups and not on the European-level umbrella organizations such as COPA, UNICE, or