From Opacity to Transparency? The Place of Organized Interests within the European Institutions

Regulació dels Grup d'interès en la governança europea és crucial per a una comprensió completa de com s'exerceix el poder a la Unió Europea (UE) i per a una descripció més precisa de com funciona el sistema polític de la UE (i dels seus principis subjacents). Un dels temes principals aquí és com els interessos privats o particulars comprometre amb un interès general o públic encarnat en una forma o altra per aquells que actuen per a la UE. Donada la varietat de temes sensibles en joc, no és d'estranyar que la qüestió de la regulació es troba amb una resistència considerable, sobre tot en la Comissió. No obstant això, els recents obstacles a la integració europea han tingut l'efecte de rellançar un debat que fa que l'ètica i la transparència de les peces centrals de l'agenda. Dinàmiques polítiques actuals semblen donar testimoni d'una creixent receptivitat de la UE a les reivindicacions del moviment ALTER-EU que busca un entorn molt més regulat per cabilderos i funcionaris comunitaris.Interest group regulation in European governance is crucial to a full understanding of how power is exercised within the European Union (EU) and for a more accurate description of how the EU political system functions (and of its underlying principles). One of the main issues here is how private or specific interests engage with a general or public interest embodied in one way or another by those acting for the EU. Given the range of sensitive issues at stake, it is hardly surprising that the question of regulation meets with considerable resistance, especially in the Commission. However, recent obstacles to European integration have had the effect of relaunching a debate that makes ethics and transparency core parts of the agenda. Current political dynamics seem to testify to a growing EU receptiveness to the claims of the ALTER-EU movement which seeks a more highly regulated environment for EU lobbyists and official

The Alter-EU Movement and European Governance

The recent obstacles to European integration have relaunched a debate that makes ethics and transparency core parts of the European agenda. This hints at the possibility of a more demanding regulation of lobbyists and, in broader terms, of all parties involved in the European Governance. The dynamics currently at work testify to growing receptiveness of EU officials to the claims of the Alter-EU movement; to the power struggles between representation models; and to the existence of more or less open, virtuous and/or citizen-controlled conceptions of public action that reflect differentiated national traditions and practices (...)

EU Member States’ Consultation with Civil Society on European Policy Matters

A study prepared in the framework of the European Union Democracy Observatory for the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). The present publication is an integral part of a larger comparative study on EU Member States consultations with civil society on European policy matters. Following a call for tenders launched by the EESC, the EUDO Observatory on Public Opinion, Political Elites and the Media was commissioned to carry out the study under the direction of Didier Chabanet and Professor Alexander H. Trechsel.The objective of this study is to describe the EU national governments’ consultation with civil society at national level, Member State by Member State. To achieve objective 1, each country expert has carried out internet investigations. Additional research has been realized (such as analysis of policy-making documents, legal texts, etc.), as well as phone inquiries with governments and CSOs in order to better understand their system of consultation with civil society. As a general rule, the country experts have interviewed two members (or representatives) of two different CSOs operating in two different sectors. These interviews do not constitute a representative sample but have nonetheless enabled us to add more information to that already available through official documents, and to read it from a different, often relatively critical, angle. On the basis of the information gathered by the country experts, the two project coordinators - Didier Chabanet and Alexander H. Trechsel - have carried out the most accurate possible synthesis. The description of each national government consultation with civil society is provided in four different sections, following the same pattern for each case examined. 1. Introduction 2. Formal Framework for Civil Society Consultation 3. European Issues Consultation 4. ConclusionThis study was funded by the European Economic and Social Committe

EU National Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions: A study prepared in the framework of the European Union Democracy Observatory for the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

The present publication is an integral part of a larger comparative study on EU Member States consultations with civil society on European policy matters. Following a call for tenders launched by the EESC, the EUDO Observatory on Public Opinion, Political Elites and the Media was commissioned to carry out the study under the direction of Didier Chabanet and Professor Alexander H. Trechsel. The publication is identical with the text published by the EESC: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/eesc-2010-21-en.pdfInspired by a European spirit, the EU’s national economic and social councils and the EESC worked together tirelessly to create a European network of economic and social councils. Thanks to the commitment of the presidents and members of all the councils, the network has helped forge systematic and structured cooperation on topics of practical relevance in EU policy. Today, the EU’s network of economic and social councils and similar institutions is a recognised institutional set-up which is consulted and listened to by the main EU institutions.This study was funded by the European Economic and Social Committe

When the unemployed challenge the European Union : the European marches as a mode of externalization of protest

The movement widely known as the European marches against unemployment, job insecurity and social exclusion—first demonstrated its mobilization capacity in Amsterdam on June 14, 1997, when almost 50,000 people turned out against the holding of the European Summit. What made the event even more remarkable was the presence of demonstrators from many countries. Nor was the event's impact short-lived: in June 1999 marches took place involving some 30,000 people in protests against the European Summit in Cologne. This chapter will first examine the conditions for the emergence of a most unexpected movement. It attempts to show how a small number of entrepreneurs, despite the weak support of the institutional representative frameworks, gave collective and political meaning to the dissatisfaction of the unemployed. We will also show that the movement was able, by means of the “march” format, to make itself visible to the media and, more generally, to public opinion, both of which were then used as resources. We will then identify the strategic duality that permeates the movement, leading to a new mode of Europeanization of action: “the externalization of protest.

Urban riots in France and in Great Britain : arguments in favor of political analyses

International audienc

L'Européanisation de l'action collective ? Quelques hypothèses, tendances et perspectives

International audienc

Local democracy under challenge : the work of the Agora Association in Vaulx-en-Velin, France

Ouvrage paru également en français sous le titre : "Démocraties métropolitaines : transformations de l'Etat et politiques urbaines au Canada, en France et en Grande-Bretagne" aux Presses de l'Université du Québec en mars 2004