Representing Interests in the EU
II. An Emerging European Identity?
II. Groups/Parties within the European
Parliament
III. European Interest Groups
A. Types of Eurogroups
B. Factors Determining
g Influence
IV. Interests and Democracy in the EU
I. An Emerging European Identity?
Nature of Identity
„ Citizenship and Identity
„ European Public Opinion and Identity
„
– National v. European Identity, Common
Culture, Democracy
„
European Identity and the Outside World
?
“Who
Who will die for ‘Europe’?”
Europe ?
II. Groups/Parties
p /
within the EP
„
„
Limited Role of Parties in EP
Largest Parties
– European People’s PartyParty-European Democrats (EPP
(EPP-ED)
– Party
P t off E
European S
Socialists
i li t (PES)
„
Smaller Parties
–
–
–
–
–
European United Left
Left--Nordic Green Left (EUL(EUL-NGL)
The Greens
Greens--European Free Alliance (Greens
(Greens--EFA)
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN)
Independence and Democracy (IND/DEM)
Seats in the Current European
Parliament
P t Group
Party
G
Id l
Ideology
European People's Party-European
Democracy (EPP-ED)
Center-Right
S i li t Group
Socialist
G
(PES)
Socialist
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for
Europe (ALDE)
Liberal-Centrist
Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN)
Right-wing/Gaullists
Greens-European Free Alliance (GreensEFA)
Greens and Regionalists
European United Left
Left-Nordic
Nordic Green Left
(EUL-NGL)
Far Left
Independence/Democracy Group (ID)
Eurosceptics
Non-affiliated
Non
affiliated MEPs
TOTAL
MEPS
288
215
100
44
43
41
22
30
785
III European Interest Groups
III.
700 or so active “Eurogroups”
Eurogroups in Brussels,
2/3 of which represent business and
industryy
„ Many umbrella groups for national
g
organizations
„
– UNICE
UNICE:: Union of Industrial and Employers
Confederation of Europe
– ETUC
ETUC:: European Trade Union Confederation
„
Difficulties of Lobbying the EU
Factors Determining the Influence
off G
Groups on the
h EU
„
Control of Key Information
– Symbiotic relationship with Commission
Economic Weight
„ Political Weight
„
– EX: Farmers
„
Genuine Representational
p
Claims
– Multiple states with broad membership
„
Cohesion