How business lobbyists thrive in the EU’s depoliticised media world

The EU policy process is often criticised for being distant from its citizens. As Iskander De Bruycker writes, part of this criticism is rooted in a lack of media coverage of EU legislative decision-making. Drawing on a recent study*, he illustrates that the extent to which politicians in Brussels address citizens’ interests in the media over a particular piece of legislation depends on how politicised that issue is. And while EU politicians are more likely to engage with the media on issues that have been politicised by civil society groups, they are less likely to do so over issues that business lobbyists have mobilised around.

* Politicization and the public interest: When do the elites in Brussels address public interests in EU policy debates?
European Union Politics, June 2017