Who needs lobbying? The usefulness of interest representation in the European Union from the European Commission's point of view

Abstract

The article addresses issues related to the use of cooperation with lobbying groups for the European Commission. The main subject of the paper is the representation of interests in the European Union arena and the Commission’s exercise of its treaty competences. The analysis focuses on the use of expert knowledge and legitimacy provided by lobbying groups in the context of their usefulness in the process of fulfilling the Commission’s legal obligations. The arguments are classified into four groups: legislative, executive and supervisory, organisational, and legitimacy. In each of the groups, the Commission’s Treaty obligations are analysed, as well as the use of particular goods provided by lobbying groups in the course of their implementation, which allows to determine of the scope of benefits resulting from such cooperation. The purpose of this article is to examine the usefulness of lobbying in fulfilling the Commission’s Treaty functions.