The access of business interests to EU institutions: towards élite pluralism?

Abstract It has often been suggested that bias in the access of interest organizations to policy-makers leads to biased policies. The paper analyses the access of interest organizations to the EU institutions drawing on data from 800 business interest associations and 34 large firms. Exploring the proposition that some form of élite pluralism may emerge in the EU, it argues that the contact patterns derive from resource dependencies among the political actors and the interest groups, institutional opportunities in the EU, and the characteristics of the interest organizations. The study identifies imbalances in the access of EU associations, large firms, and national associations to the EU institutions, with large firms being in the forefront. Nonetheless, the evidence does not hint at the emergence of élite pluralism in the EU but points to important variations across the EU institutions and among the working level and their political leadership in each institution.