Articles

Het (Belgisch) middenveld en de Europese beleidsvorming : institutionele factoren binnen een meerlagig systeem

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Abstract

This article examines the organisation and strategies of Belgian interest groups and their European peak-organisations with respect to the EU policy-making arena. It conceptualises the European Union as a of multi-level governance political system that consists ofmultiple interlocking government levels (sub-national, national and supranational), governed by means of non-hierarchical actor configurations with a blurred boundary between the public and the private sphere. It further argues that the European policy-making can best be studied from a (historical) new-institutionalist perspective which emphasises that the preferences and
the behaviour of political actors are shaped by the institutional context which provides opportunities and constraints. Evidence of the institutionalfactors within a multi-level governance setting is then given from the organisational structure and strategies of Belgian interest groups in general and from the environmental policy sector in particular.

How to Cite:

Bursens, P., (1998) “Het (Belgisch) middenveld en de Europese beleidsvorming : institutionele factoren binnen een meerlagig systeem”, Res Publica 40(2), 231-246. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/rp.v40i2.18559