"The Firms Political Action in the European Union"

[From the Introduction] This paper differs from the existing listerature on comparative government business (1), in that it intends to concentrate on the firm as an individual political actor within the context of its institutional setting, as opposed to the existing political science literature which has tended to focus on the collective business interest. With an estimated 200 government affairs offices located in the Brussels area alone (2), few would doubt the growing direct importance of the firm in the development of the European Union (E.U.). Many have alluded to the importance of the business leaders to the grander visions of Europe (3), whiles others have concentrated on identifying the increasing access of business to the every day technical committees of the European Commission (EC). (4) What is less well documented is the firms preference for differing political channels to the European Union, the logic of action, and the interaction of these political channels. Such new institutional questions have implications for the state/firm bargaining relationship and the future integration patterns of the E.U.