The responsiveness of national and supranational actors to interest groups in the EU

To what extent and under what conditions are the policy demands expressed by interest groups and other stakeholders congruent with policy positions subsequently taken by legislative actors? The principle of consultative policymaking is enshrined in European Union rules that mandate extensive consultations prior to the formulation of important legislative proposals. This principle suggests that during the process of legislative decision-making, legislative actors should collectively represent a broad range of concerns previously expressed by affected interests. We aim to describe and explain which stakeholders’ demands are most likely to be represented by which EU actors: focusing on the supranational Commission and European Parliament, and national governments in the Council. We examine whether the Commission and EP are more responsive to the demands of EU-wide actors; contrary to the conventional wisdom, we find that they are not. We also examine whether national governments are more attuned to the demands of stakeholders from their own country, and find that they are. These and related findings indicate that a broad range of stakeholders’ demands are reflected in the positions taken by the national and supranational actors involved in the EU’s legislative process.