No simple dichotomies : lobbyists and the European parliament

Judge, David and Earnshaw, D. (2002) No simple dichotomies : lobbyists and the European parliament. Journal of Legislative Studies, 8 (4). pp. 61-79. ISSN 1357-2334

[thumbnail of No_simple_dichotomies_lobbyists_and_the_European_parliament.pdf]
Preview
 PDF
No_simple_dichotomies_lobbyists_and_the_European_parliament.pdf
Accepted Author Manuscript
Download (172kB)| Preview

    Abstract

    To call lobbyists of the European Parliament ‘unelected legislators’ is somewhat misleading. Similarly, to talk of ‘inspired legislation’, where laws, or more particularly amendments to legislation, are ‘written by a lobby group from the civil society and more or less rubber stamped by a public body’1 is to over-simplify a complex and mediated relationship between elected ‘legislators’ and unelected ‘interest representatives’. Indeed, in the case of the European Union (EU), identifying a single ‘public body’ as a ‘legislator’ is problematic in itself as all three major institutions – Commission, Council and European Parliament – perform legislative roles. Moreover, securing a single, clearly defined imprint of a ‘rubber stamp’ on legislation is difficult given the inter-institutional bargaining that results in blurred and smudged legislative imprints at the best of times.

    CORE (COnnecting REpositories)