The role played by business associations in shaping EU external trade policy Available to Purchase

The European Commission initiates policy and conducts negotiations in EU trade matters, through the WTO framework. This article analyses the role played by business associations in this policy area through focussing on the service sector. Drawing on established work in the field and interviews conducted with the main business associations involved, multi‐level lobbying was found to be evident, at both national and EU levels. Although wide access to the policy process is clear, so too is the reliance of the Commission on expert knowledge from business, thus indicating a model of interest representation caught between that of pluralism and corporatism.