EU lobbying is often associated with negative imagery. The lobbyists who participated in the study conducted by Doctoral Researcher Salla Mikkonen also talked about advocacy or interest representation rather than lobbying and they did not necessarily consider themselves lobbyists. However, the term lobbying is believed to have originated from the practice of influencing at the lobbies of parliaments in the early days of democracy.
“I was motivated by the need to understand current EU lobbying practices without making moral assumptions about its nature. At the same time, I wanted to make EU lobbying more understandable to the general public, decision-makers, lobbyists, other researchers and myself,” Mikkonen explains the background of her research.
In her doctoral dissertation, Master of Social Sciences Salla Mikkonen studied the everyday practices of EU lobbying and how lobbyists understand lobbying. Mikkonen collected her research data through ethnographic research in the period of 2017–2020 when the European Green Deal was emerging. Mikkonen observed EU lobbying in Helsinki and Brussels by shadowing the lobbyists in their everyday work. She also observed lobbying meetings at the European Parliament in Brussels and interviewed 59 people about their experiences of either lobbying or of being at the receiving end of lobbying.
The dissertation illustrates that long-term engagement is essential in EU lobbying, as well as conducting EU lobbying in both the Member States and Brussels. In addition, gaining trust before influencing is important. Trust is gained with sufficient financial resources that allow organisations to conduct creditable EU lobbying, by representing organisations with a good reputation in the EU circles and, above all, through social relations, which are also essential for acquiring informal information.
“For example, the European elections and election campaigning offer an opportunity to network with potential future EU decision-makers, including both MEPs and Commissioners,” Mikkonen says.
Hearing different voices beyond professional EU lobbying is important
Mikkonen’s research highlights the professionalisation of EU lobbying, to which other researchers have also drawn attention in the recent years. Mikkonen’s doctoral dissertation illuminates the importance of timing and the significance of who and how is conducting the lobbying. The study also highlights that lobbyists are able to gain a wealth of informal information, which is important for planning the timing of professional lobbying.
As part of EU lobbying, it is also essential to understand the preparatory work of lobbyists as they coordinate and make compromises and exclusions between them before the issues are advocated in the EU’s decision-making arenas. It is also essential to tailor the lobbying message to the prevailing political conditions and to each decision-maker, especially when the meetings take place behind closed doors.
“As such, the professionalisation of EU lobbying is not a bad thing. However, it is worth looking critically at whether different parties and different lobbyists are heard sufficiently or whether the experienced actors have been given too much space as gatekeepers of EU lobbying,” Mikkonen points out.
Mikkonen refers to the finding of her research that demonstrate that currently there seems to be a common understanding among lobbyists and decision-makers of what constitutes competent, professional EU lobbying. That is why actors who do not master the practices of EU lobbying are easily regarded as unprofessional and they do not get their voices heard or gain access to the decision-makers. Mikkonen emphasises that it is also essential to hear a wider range of actors and positions in the EU, and not just to hear the pre-filtered statements of trusted lobbyists. This need was also highlighted by several lobbyists and decision-makers who participated in the research.
Salla Mikkonen, who is originally from Oulu, is working at the University of Eastern Finland. She is a researcher in the Lobbying in Finnish Municipalities research project funded by the Kone Foundation.
Public defence on Friday 12 April
The doctoral dissertation of Master of Social Sciences Salla Mikkonen in the field of international relations titled EU Lobbying Through Everyday Practices. An ethnographic study on relational power in transnational in-house EU lobbying in Helsinki and Brussels 2017–2020 will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Management and Business at Tampere University at 16.00 on Friday 12 April 2024. The venue is Väinö Linna auditorium in the Linna building (address: Kalevantie 5, Tampere). The Opponent will be Professor Iver B. Neumann from Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Norway. Docent Eero Palmujoki from the Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University will act as the Custos.
The doctoral dissertation is available online.
The public defence can be followed via a remote connection.
Photo: Jonne Renvall / Tampere University