URL: Latest posts
the value of framing concepts
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Framing concepts are definitely very helpful for analysing - or in a first step heuristically describing - policy making processes in complex environments like the European Union.Two important reasons stand out in this regard: Firstly the very limite...
time is running
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It has again been many months since the last post here, and despite the fact that theory-building has to some extend been pushed onto to the backseat (at least in any direct, concretely manifested manner) due to more pragmatic, in-the-field research...
ETI - still alive
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The ETI is still ravelling along. Proof of its existance are the contributions to a recently finished public consultation on a proposal for code of conduct for interest represenatives. To be found here:European Commission - Consultation on a Code of...
quoted on euractiv.com
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The RCIPM blog has been mentioned (or listed - to be honest :-) on a EurActiv.com article about "Blogs: Filling the EU's 'communication gap'?".interest intermediation in the European Union...
ETI update
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I just attended a talk with a Cabinet Member of Commissioner Kallas who informed an interested audience about the ETI. As news, it was understood that the COM currently negotiates with the EP to broaden the scope of the register to cover lobbyists wo...
berlaymonster blog
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While staying here in Brussels, doing some field research in the nitty-gritty details of technology policy making in the EU, i came across a number of things that some people call the EU ecosystem in Brussels. Since this ecosystem is a hugely importa...
inner dynamics of bureaucracies
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Large bureaucracies are very complex organizations. Indeed, in terms of procedures, inner workings and resistance to change this is well known. But astonishingly, these complexities have a very serious impactl on the output capabilities of such an o...
expertise requirements in policy making
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One of the fundamental questions regarding the need for information input into policy making processes is that of the assumed correlation between administrative resources and the need for outside information. In a nutshell, this assumption says: beca...
reframing
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Reframing of issues in new contexts is a fundamental process in policy making. Interest frame are aggregated and integrated in policy processes, hence the cognitive environment of an issues changes. This change affects basically everyone involved –...
“windows of opportunity” and “policy frames”
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The question of the relationship between “windows of opportunity” and “policy frames” is an especially interesting one, because by answering it one has to bridge the difference between two perspectives on the policy process. One the one hand...
political strategies as policy frames
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The EU Commission fairly regularly publishes broad policy strategies that address specific societal concerns and define policy priorities accordingly. There are numerous examples for this among the current activities of the EU policy-maker. One could...
two aspects of successful politics
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There are at least two different notions of success in the political system of the EU. One kind is more “political” and media/attention savvy, the other is more “policy-oriented” and results-focused. What does this mean? Politicians need succ...
COM consultations a pivotal sphere of interaction
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The COM depends to an important extend on outside expert knowledge to draft policy proposals. That is, interests have to be consulted prior and during the process of developing a policy. One of the main reasons are the COM’s limited resources in co...
company interests and discursive policy making
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In an interview with a Brussels-based representative of a leading energy company, we discussed several important aspects of the communication process that links private interests and the COM.In general he stressed the importance of Eurogroups that is...
black box and source of information
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For stakeholders the COM represents both a black box and a vital source of information. For representatives in Brussels the knowledge what the COM plans is a basic resource and since, especially with respect to future activities, it resembles a black...
discursive politics and the role of politicians I
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Politics is a discursive process. At its heart the process consists of actors in the political system who take up problems/ issues, which are dealt with in other subsystems such as the economy, and frame it as a political problem. In doing so, a poli...
a response, part III / ETI
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Response to the “European Transparency Initiative” as presented by the European Commission on May 3, 2006 Response to Section II “Transparency and Interest Representation (Lobbying)” Question 3Question 4Final Recommendation. 4 Que...
a response, part II / ETI
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Response to the “European Transparency Initiative” as presented by the European Commission on May 3, 2006 Response to Section II “Transparency and Interest Representation (Lobbying)” Question 2 Do you agree that lobbyists who wish...
a response, part I / ETI
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As you know the European Commission held a public consultation on its European Transparency Initiative (ETI), which has been open until the end of August. Although I wasn't interested in participating in the consultation myself, I worked together wit...
policy networks bibliography
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A bibliography with policy networks literature. Prepared by Mariangela Petrizzo. Thank You!Bibliografia sobre Policy Networks / Policy Networks Bibliography: "by Mariangela Petrizzo"interest intermediation in the European Union...
