The Participation of Slovenian Civil Society Organisations in EU Policymaking: Explaining their Different Routes

Abstract

While discussing the inclusion of civil society organisations (CSOs) in EU policymaking, academic research has chiefly focused on EU-level umbrella CSOs and activities organised at the EU level. In this article, we show that the activities of national CSOs involved in EU politics are also relevant when it comes to EU policymaking. Some scholars note that national CSOs may use different routes to advocate their interests in EU policymaking. In this article, we take an empirical approach and examine the routes to which Slovenian CSOs are turning their attention and activities on EU issues during the policy formulation and policy implementation stages. The Europeanization process has transformed national CSOs to make them become involved in EU policymaking in different ways. The results show that, despite CSOs being characterised as weak in Central and Eastern Europe and as only rarely contacting EU institutions directly, they participate in EU policymaking by engaging in other ways: either through membership in EU-level umbrella CSOs or by becoming more active at the national level by directing their activities to national decision-makers. Some differences can also be observed among the policy fields under study.