The European Union (EU) has deeply transformed the economic and political
environment of business. Interest representation has adjusted to the changed context
conditions and became “Europeanised”. But what does Europeanisation mean? Does
it bring about supra-nationalism or does it reinforce trans-nationalism? The single
market and the EU’s extensive competence in economic and trade affairs seem to call
for a strong united voice of business which would be best served by supra-nationalism.
We argue that the expectation does not correspond to reality and that this is explicable.
The representation of business interests is not yet far along the path of supranationalism,
and trans-nationalism is still preponderant. We give empirical evidence by
examining the organizational characteristics of the European business interest
associations and by evaluating national associations’ presence in Brussels and
contacts to EU institutions compared to their European counterparts. We argue that
country and sector make a difference. In the conclusion, we give reasons why the
Europeanisation of interest representation is not synonymous with supra-nationalism
and why we expect trans-nationalism to persist.
