Interest Groups’ Access to the European Commission

Interest representation has been a part of the European Union policy-making process since its foundation. The role of interest groups within the system is a much-debated topic. Interest groups need access to the policy-makers to be able to present their information and preferences. This thesis researches which combination of internal factors of the interest groups in the insurance sector are necessary and/or sufficient to obtain access to the European Commission. Five important factors are chosen to research using the fsQCA method: Europeanness, organizational age, financial resources, functional differentiation and membership. The results show that Europeanness and organizational age are of relatively little importance when obtaining access. The combination of financial resources and membership is sufficient for obtaining access. The factor functional differentiation falls in between. None of the researched factors are found to be necessary, although financial resources scores relatively high on necessity and can therefore be concluded to be the most necessary out of the five factors. These findings can help interest groups to adjust their strategies when trying to access the European Commission and present their knowledge and expertise. By allowing on the ground knowledge and expertise to reach the policy-makers in the EU, new policies are better supported throughout society and result in a better functioning of the financial services in the EU. Having more insights into gaining access to the policy-makers is therefore important for interest groups and the representation of the EU’s societal interests.