Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
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POLISH BUSINESS REFERENCES LITERATUR – POLITICS RELATIONS<br />
of mobilization and exerting influence at the<br />
EU level. Reflection on Polish interest groups<br />
in a comparative perspective leads us to the<br />
conclusion that their resources are rather<br />
scarce, which results in weaker mobilization<br />
and influence compared to groups from<br />
Western Europe.<br />
In terms of membership and funding, a<br />
comparison of Spanish and Polish member<br />
organizations of Business Europe (largest EUlevel<br />
business umbrella organization) shows<br />
that while Polish PKPP has 3000 members,<br />
Spanish CEOE accounts for 1 million of<br />
them (in both cases these are mostly SMEs).<br />
This is translated into 1.5 million euro in<br />
membership fees for Polish organization and<br />
more than 20 million euro for the Spanish one;<br />
however, their membership fees in Buiness<br />
Europe are roughly the same (Karaszewska,<br />
04.08.2009). The Brussels office of PKPP<br />
employs 2 lobbyists, whereas CEOE employs<br />
6. Not only does this juxtaposition indicate<br />
important disparities in terms of capacities<br />
of exerting potential influence, it also points<br />
to the fact that activities at the European<br />
level constitute a huge financial effort for the<br />
Polish organization, incomparable with the<br />
one the Spanish association is experiencing.<br />
The importance of sector consolidation is<br />
best depicted by the example of the chemical<br />
industry. A relatively small number of large<br />
companies allows for more efficient<br />
mobilization, both at the domestic<br />
Seite Page page 54<br />
and European level. In fact, the<br />
sectoral EU umbrella association,<br />
CEFIC, with its huge funding and<br />
relatively smooth and timely decision-making<br />
process, is typically mentioned as one of the<br />
most efficient corporate groups in Brussels.<br />
However, the critical resources approach does<br />
not offer plausible explanations to a number<br />
of questions, which are particularly evident in<br />
the CEE context. Why do large and wealthy<br />
Polish companies not engage in EU level<br />
lobbying or only at a very late stage? Why<br />
do groups and companies with substantial<br />
resources tend to choose the national route of<br />
influencing EU affairs, even if they are aware<br />
of the fact that the number of national officials<br />
occupying key Brussels posts is extremely<br />
limited? Why do Polish representatives of the<br />
chemical sector not see themselves influential<br />
despite relatively high sectoral consolidation<br />
and active participation in CEFIC works? In<br />
order to solve these dilemmas, I offer three<br />
additional explanations based on the argument<br />
of direct impact of domestic business-politics<br />
relations on mobilization patterns and lobbying<br />
strategies at the EU level.<br />
It is widely acknowledged that EU impact is<br />
largely mediated through, and conditioned<br />
by, existing domestic institutions, policies,<br />
cultures and identities. There is no automatic<br />
shift of loyalties and activities to the European<br />
level (Ladrech, 1994). Much of the literature<br />
emphasizes that the Europeanization process of<br />
interest groups is constrained at both European<br />
and national levels (Woll, 2007). Notably, a<br />
negative correlation is found between the extent<br />
to which a group is embedded in domestic<br />
policy networks and the extent of its integration<br />
in European networks (Beyers & Kerremans,<br />
2007). Thus, mobilization and lobbying<br />
strategies of interest groups are conditioned by<br />
the immediate institutional and organizational<br />
environment of the domestic groups and the<br />
level of dependence or autonomy of groups visà-vis<br />
this environment.