How to Shoot Where the Ducks Are: Firms' Multilevel Lobbying Strategies in EU Free Trade Negotiations

Why do companies (not) lobby certain levels of government? Our previous research on regional authorities’ control over EU free trade negotiations, showed that regions lack input from the private sector to formulate a position. Firms and (business) associations with economic interests do not contact the regional authorities on trade policy matters. In order to investigate this, we need to look at the motivations of firms, namely ask why and under which circumstances do firms lobby regional, national and European authorities, and are they willing to put in the required investment in time and effort? There are several possibilities. Firstly, firms can target different levels of public actors, namely government authorities at the regional, national and/or European level. Secondly, firms can engage in direct lobbying, or work through a regional, national or EU-association. Our research focuses on factors that may influence firm behavior. Does the firm sell goods or services? Is it part of a highly concentrated sector and is it a large enterprise or does it belong to the group of small and medium enterprises? We will present results based on semi-structured interviews with companies to answer these questions.