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Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether the increased amount of EU regulation in the field of
consumer policy has led to a Europeanization of consumer politics in Denmark. More specifically the
thesis analyses through which mechanisms the EU affects the relationship between the public
administration and the interest organizations, and how this relationship has undergone changes related
to the growing importance of EU in the area of consumer policy.
The theoretical approach of the thesis is based on Europeanization theory. While this theory has often
been used to study the Europeanization of policies, relatively little attention has been paid to politics. To
strengthen the analytical power of Europeanization theory in relation to our topic of research we have
combined it with elements from theories within the field of public administration and interest
representation – specifically Neo-corporatism and the Network Approach.
The analysis shows that the EU affects Danish consumer politics through the mechanisms positive and
negative integration, framing, and new incentives though these are not equally important. This EU
influence has led to important changes in the relationship between the public administration and the
interest organizations, yet the analysis also shows a high degree of continuity.
Overall, close ties between the public administration and the interest organizations continue to exist but
as a consequence of Europeanization we find a growing difference between the large and strong
organizations that have regular and institutionalized contacts with the administration, and the smaller
and less privileged organizations that do not possess the resources needed to participate. Secondly, for
the largest organizations the Danish decision making process is of less importance as an increasing
number of decisions are now taken at the EU-level. Hence, the organizations increasingly direct their
attention towards the EU rather than exclusively towards the Danish public administration.
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