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Lobbying via Consultation — Territorial and Functional Interests in the Commission’s Consultation Regime

Abstract Starting off with a short introduction to the current Commission’s consultation regime the paper analyses participation of various actors in different consultation instruments of Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and Directorate General Health and Consumers based on quantitative data. Analyzing participation patterns of different groups of actors, we explain differences in participation patterns recurring to actor’s resources and the properties of the instrument as a means to effectively advocate positions. In particular, we test whether the new consultation instruments, designed to counter-balance the dominance of specific groups and professional lobbyists, meet their intended purpose in that they effectively reach out and include new, additional sets of actors. Our results indicate a spill-over between consultation and lobbying and underline the different roles attributed to different actors such as functional and territorial interest representatives in the Commission’s consultation regime.