Intermediation of Interests in the European Union. Questionnaire for EU-level organisations

Transcription

1 Intermediation of Interests in the European Union Questionnaire for EU-level organisations Mannheim University Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Beate Kohler-Koch Dr. Christine Quittkat Contact: EUROLOB publications can be found under:

2 1 If you prefer to answer the questionnaire online, please consult: In order to participate online, you need to enter the token send to you in the accompanying letter. Guidelines for filling in this questionnaire In most cases, you simply need to tick the box ( ) which corresponds most closely to your opinion. Any row of boxes forms a continuum between two extremes. Example: not important very at all important Please answer the questions in the given order and jump ahead only when asked to do so in the text as follows: Please continue with question No.... If you wish to make comments on any of the questions, or wish to give a more detailed answer, please feel free to do so using the last page of this questionnaire (indicating to which question your statement relates). Having completed the questionnaire, please return it to: EUROLOB II Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) University of Mannheim D Mannheim In case of further questions do not hesitate to contact us: Dr. Christine Quittkat: Prof. Dr. Dr.hc.mult. Beate Kohler-Koch Tel.: +49-(0) Tel.: +49-(0) christine.quittkat@mzes.uni-mannheim.de beate.kohler@mzes.uni-mannheim.de Thank you very much for your time and effort, it is sincerely appreciated.

3 2 Intermediation of Interests in the European Union Our research project analyses the relations between interest representatives and political institutions in the European Union (EU). Its aim is to identify the advantages and deficiencies of the existing system of interest intermediation. On the basis of this questionnaire, we would like to ask you about your opinion on this topic. Definition of terms: When we refer to associations the term association relates to all forms of interest organisations, including federations, confederations, networks, etc. For the purpose of this survey we summarise all associations which have the task of representing their members interests vis-à-vis the EU institutions under the term EU association. Under the term trade association we subsume business interest associations, professional, producers and employers associations. I. First, we want to examine the relations between associations on the one hand, and European and national institutions, on the other hand. This allows us to determine the importance of the various political institutions for the representation of your interests. 1. Contacts with the EU institutions a) Do you maintain contacts with the EU institutions? If not, please continue with question 3. yes no b) If yes, please indicate how often you have contacts with EU institutions. (Please tick a box in every row.) none yearly ½ a year ¼ a year monthly weekly European Commission - Top level (Commissioners and cabinets) - Working level (e.g. director-general, desk officer) EU regulatory and standardisation authorities (e.g. CEN, CENELEC) EU agencies (e.g. EEA (environment), EFSA (food safety), ECHA (chemicals), EU-OSHA (safety and health at work), etc.) European Council (EC) Council - Level of Ministers - COREPER, working groups - General Secretariat of the Council European Parliament (EP) - Committees and rapporteurs - Individual members of the EP and their assistants - Secretariat of the EP

4 3 2. Please characterise your relations to the EU institutions in more detail. (Please tick a box in every row.) a) In order to represent your association s interests, how important are contacts with the EU institutions? no not important very contact at all important European Commission - Top level (Commissioners and Cabinets) - Working level (e.g. director-general, desk officer) EU regulatory and standardisation authorities (e.g. CEN, CENELEC) EU agencies (e.g. EEA (environment), EFSA (food safety), ECHA (chemicals), EU-OSHA (safety and health at work), etc. European Council (EC) Council - Level of Ministers - COREPER, working groups - General Secretariat of the Council European Parliament (EP) - Committees and rapporteurs - Individual members of the EP and their assistants - Secretariat of the EP b) Would you characterise your relationship to EU institutions as cooperative or as conflictual? no contacts cooperative conflictual - European Commission - EU regulatory and standardisation authorities - EU agencies - European Council (EC) - Council - European Parliament c) Is it difficult for you to obtain information from the EU institutions? not difficult very at all difficult - European Commission - EU regulatory and standardisation authorities - EU agencies - European Council (EC) - Council - European Parliament

5 4 3. Contacts with national institutions concerning EU law making. (Please tick a box in every row.) a) Do you maintain contacts with national institutions concerning EU law making? yes no If not, please continue with question 5. b) If yes: How often do you maintain such contacts? none yearly ½ a year ¼ a year monthly weekly National governments/administrations - Top level (e.g. Prime Minister, ministers) - Working level (e.g. permanent secretary, desk officers) National regulatory and standardisation authorities National agencies Houses of Parliament - Parliamentary parties - Individual members of Parliament - Parliamentary committees Others: c) Which are the three member states to which you have the most frequent contacts? (Please use capital letters.)

6 5 4. Please characterise your contacts with the national institutions. (Please tick a box in every row.) a) How important are your contacts with the national institutions with regard to EU law making? no not important very contact at all important National governments/administrations - Top level (e.g. Prime Minister, ministers) - Working level (e.g. permanent secretary, desk officers) National regulatory and standardisation authorities National agencies Houses of Parliament - Parliamentary parties - Individual members of Parliament - Parliamentary committees Regional governments b) Would you characterise your relationship to the national institutions as cooperative or as conflictual? no contacts cooperative conflictual - National government - Nat. regulatory and standardisation authorities - National agencies - Houses of Parliament - Regional governments c) Is it difficult for you to obtain information from the national institutions? not difficult very at all difficult - National government - National regulatory and standardisation authorities - National agencies - Houses of Parliament - Regional governments 5. Please note the three political institutions which are most important for the representation of your interests in the EU and with whom you maintain contacts. (In order of importance. You can note national and EU institutions.) (Please use capital letters.)

7 6 6. Do you take recourse to legal action in order to represent your interests? (Please tick a box in every row.) a) How often do you take recourse to litigation in order to represent your interests? never very often b) How important is legal action for the representation of your interests? not important at all very important c) Did your recourse to legal action lose or gain importance? The recourse to legal action... lost in importance remained on the same level gained in importance II. So far, we have examined the general importance of several political institutions. Now we want to assess if their relevance has varied over time or in different policy areas and issues. 7. In the past decade, the powers of the different EU institutions have changed and the competences of the European Union have been extended. Did the importance of the following institutions decrease or increase? (Please tick a box in every row.) remained on decreased the same level increased - European Commission - EU regulatory and standardisation authorities - EU agencies - European Council - Council - European Parliament - National governments/administrations - National regulatory and standardisation authorities - National agencies - Houses of Parliament - Regional Governments 8. Changes concerning EU-level interest representation. a) Did the conditions for EU interest representation change since the 1990s? Yes No

8 7 8. b) What changes do you observe at the EU-level with regard to the following points? remained on decreased the same level increased - Competition between interest organisations - Access opportunities to the European Commission - Access opportunities to the European Parliament - Access opportunities to the European Council - Access opportunities to the Council - Political (rather than technical) considerations by EU-institutions 9. Political observers often emphasize that the right timing of representing interests is very important. When do you represent your interests vis-à-vis... (Please tick a box in every row.) a) EU-institutions? never sometimes often - When the political agenda is set - When the Commission formulates its proposal - During the debate in the European Parliament - During the debate in the Council - When EU law making is transposed into national law - During the implementation by the national administration b) national institutions? never sometimes often - When the political agenda is set - When the national position with regard to the Commission proposal is formulated - When EU legislation is transposed into national law - During the implementation by the national administration 10. Which relevance do the following criteria have when you select your contact partners? (Please tick a box in every row.) a) EU institutions not important at all very important - Nationality - Language - Personal relationship - Administrative responsibility - Party membership b) National institutions not important at all very important - Regional origin - Personal relationship - Administrative responsibility - Party membership

9 8 11. There are many ways of representing your association s interests in the EU. How useful do you find the following ways? (Please tick a box in every row.) not useful very at all useful - Position papers - Personal contacts - Regular contacts and background information - Targeted contacts and information - Participation in - committees and expert groups - policy forums, platforms, hearings - online-consultations - conferences - Presentation of scientific expertise - Mobilisation of the public and the media - Others (please specify): 12. Who mostly initiates the contacts with the political actors? (Please tick a box in every row.) a) On the EU-level never sometimes often - Your organisation - Member associations or their members - Other associations or their members - European Commission - EU regulatory and standardisation authorities - EU agencies - European Council - Council - European Parliament b) On the national level never sometimes often - Your organisation - Member associations or their members - Other associations or their members - National government - National regulatory and standardisation authorities - National agencies - Houses of Parliament - Regional Governments

10 9 13. How important are the following interest organisations at the EU level? (Please tick a box in every row.) not important very at all important - National trade associations - EU trade associations - International trade associations - Companies - Consultants - Scientific organisations - Trade unions - National NGOs - EU NGOs 14. Are the following interest organisations less or more important at the EU level than on the national level? (Please tick a box in every row.) more important same more important at national level importance at EU level - National trade associations - EU trade associations - International trade associations - Companies - Consultants - Scientific organisations - Trade unions - National NGOs - EU NGOs 15. Cooperation with other organisations in EU interest intermediation. a) If you cooperate with other organisations: How useful do you find this cooperation? no not useful very cooperation at all useful - National trade associations - EU trade associations - International trade associations - Companies - Consultants - Scientific organisations - Trade unions - National NGOs - EU NGOs

11 15. b) Do you think that cooperation between trade associations and NGOs is the same today as it was 10 years ago? remained on decreased the same level increased At national level At EU-level 10 c) In how many EU associations is your association a member? more than If you need expert knowledge, who provides it? (Please tick a box in every row.) never sometimes often - External consultancies - Scientific institutes - Governmental institutions - Your organisation (including your members) - Other associations - Other companies 17. Which kind of information do political institutions ask from you? (Please tick a box in every row.) never sometimes often - Legal expert knowledge - Technical expert knowledge - Economic expert knowledge - Assessment of political effects - Other (please specify): III. In the following part we want to concentrate on the role of the European Parliament (EP). 18. Some political observers emphasise that the influence of the European Parliament varies due to the characteristics of political problems. How do you asses its influence? (Please tick a box in every row.) Influence of the European Parliament no influence very at all high a) in detailed technical questions b) in questions of general public interest

12 Like all parliaments in democratic systems, the European Parliament has different functions. How important are the following activities of the European Parliament for its influence in EU decision making processes? (Please tick a box in every row.) not important very at all important - Legislative function - Agenda setting - Consultations with the Council - Consultation with the European Commission - Parliamentary control of the Council - Parliamentary control of the European Commission - Representation of the European public 20. A member of the European Parliament should be in contact with as many stakeholders as possible. Which interested actors should get more attention and which should receive less attention? less more attention attention - Trade associations - Companies - Consultants - Trade unions - Political parties - NGOs IV. In the final part of the questionnaire we want to gather some information about your association and as regards business associations about the structure of the economic sector your association represents. 21. Is your association registered at the joint Transparency Register of the European Parliament and the European Commission? yes no 22. Branch classification of your association. (Only to be answered by business interest associations; NGOs Please continue with question No. 23). a) Please indicate how many branches your association represents. The association represents - part of an economic sector (e.g. industrial chemicals) - the whole sector (e.g. chemicals) - more than one sector (e.g. chemicals and pharmaceuticals)

13 b) Which economic branch does your association represent in the logic of the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE)? NACE Group or Class: 23. Organisational characteristics of the association. a) How many employees does your association have? more than 100 b) When was your association founded? Year: c) How many direct members does your association have? more than 500 d) How many of the potential members (according to your statute) are represented by your association? 1-25 % % % % e) What is the budget of your association in Euro? up to up to up to up to 1 Mio. up to 3 Mio. up to 5 Mio. more than 5 Mio. f) How is your association financed? (Please quote in percent of the total budget. Total: 100%) - membership subscriptions % - revenues for services % - national project funding % - EU project funding % - national subsidies % - EU subsidies % - other financial sources: %

14 g) Does the association, according to its statute, admit to regular membership...? yes no - individuals - companies - associations - other organisations h) Are all EU member states represented in your association? yes no 24. Which economic characteristics do your member companies and your sector display? (Only to be answered by business interest associations; NGOs Please continue with question No. 25). a) How many employees do your member companies have in total? Up to up to up to more than b) What percentage share does your members foreign turnover have in their total turnover? % % % % c) What percentage share do the three biggest companies have in the total turnover of your member companies? % % % % 25. Activities of your association. (Please tick a box in every row.) a) Please estimate the proportion of resources spent on the following activities. (In percent; total: 100 %.) - representation of interests % - provision of services % - market coordination respectively standard setting % - other: % b) With regard to the representation of interests, do you practise the following activities? yes no - Monitoring of political developments - Informing the members about political developments - Representation of the members in political committees and hearings - Representation of interests vis-à-vis other interest organisations - Representation of interests vis-à-vis trade unions

15 c) Do you provide the following services? yes no - Statistics and branch information - Market research - Individual legal and economic consulting - Access to consultancies - Advertising and public relations activities - Furthering education and qualification of members d) With regard to market coordination, do you practise the following activities? (Only to be answered by business interest associations; NGOs Please continue with the indications below). yes no - Definition of technical norms and standards - Setting quality and education standards - Coordination of research and development - Regulation of market entrance - Issuance of licences and certificates - Resolution of conflicts between members Please don t forget to send us the questionnaire: EUROLOB II Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) University of Mannheim D Mannheim If you would like to receive a short version of our results, please send an to: eurolob@mzes.uni-mannheim.de We would highly appreciate if you could also send us your latest annual report and the statute of your association, if these are not available online. Your cooperation is sincerely appreciated. We thank you very much for your time and effort! Comments:

16 15 Comments: