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A Comparative Study of the Impacts of Social Movement Campaigns in the EU

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A Comparative Study of the Impacts of Social Movement Campaigns in the EU View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Lincoln Institutional Repository EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE Department of Political and Social Sciences In the Corridors and in the Streets: A Comparative Study of the Impacts of Social Movement Campaigns in the EU Louisa Parks Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of Political and Social Sciences of the European University Institute Examining Board: Prof. Donatella della Porta (EUI/External Supervisor) Prof. Laszlo Bruszt, EUI Prof. Sidney Tarrow, Cornell University Prof. Carlo Ruzza, University of Leicester © 2008, Louisa Parks No part of this thesis may be copied, reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author Abstract This doctoral thesis aims to trace the impacts of campaigns carried out by coalitions of social movement organisations in the transnational arena of the EU. In order to accomplish this task, an original approach to process tracing is adopted using methods used in social movement studies. The internal aspects of campaigns are investigated using a dynamic, cross-time and multi-level, frame analysis, while the contexts of the campaigns are analysed through political and discursive opportunity approaches adapted to the peculiarities of the EU arena. Four case studies, including two campaigns concerned with environmental / public health policy (GMOs and coexistence, and the REACH legislation) and two concerned with broadly defined social policy (the mid-term review of the Lisbon agenda and the Services directive), make up the empirical part of the study. Drawing on documentary evidence as well as semi-structured interviews with staff members from the core SMOs involved in each campaign at the Brussels level, the processes leading to access, agenda, or policy outcomes (or indeed non-outcomes) are traced using the analytical methods mentioned above. These processes provide the basis for preliminary conclusions on the nature of campaigning in the EU. Elite allies are found to be important in securing desired outcomes in campaigns, as are solid, previously agreed shared frames between coalition organisations. The cases also show that the EU is not an arena where conventional tactics (i.e. lobbying) are always enough – indeed the ability to campaign effectively at multiple levels using appropriate tactics is identified as a major factor in campaigns that saw positive outcomes. This finding challenges the idea that the EU arena is unsuitable to protest actions (e.g. Marks and McAdam 1996). Finally, the study uncovers the beginnings of a divide between ‘technical’ and ‘political’ campaigns in the EU. Stemming from the finding that national contexts still provided the opportunities or threats that appeared most important in campaign outcomes, the cases showed that where campaigns were more ‘political’ - in that they were more ideologically charged - groups were more likely to be able to mobilise grassroots members and secure their desired outcomes. In more ‘technical’ cases, where the European Commission played a greater role, mobilisation efforts were subdued as groups sunk their resources in long cycles of consultation and knowledge production geared to the needs of the Commission. ii Acknowledgements This work is dedicated to the late Phillip Whitehead MEP, a man who was fascinating but always challenging to work for, prolific in his many careers as journalist, television producer, film maker, respected author and politician, and who was always convinced that this work could be done, even when I was not. I am proud to have known him, and to have been able to have called him my friend. In Florence, the unwavering support I have received from Professor Donatella della Porta, and not only of the academic kind, has also been indispensible. Thanks for countless coffee breaks, counselling, and good times must also go, in no particular order, to Elena del Giorgio, Stefanie Ritter, Melissa Milazzo, Annika Zorn (and of course Paolo and Lara as well), Elisa Morgera, and Doreen Allerkamp. My various flatmates over the years have also put up with many highs and lows, in particular Julien Talpin and Ceferino Sanchez Fernandez, Elena del Giorgio (again), Cristina Dallara and Maximiliano Lorenzi. Without the patience and the understanding of my wonderful husband Alberto, who has been there for so many years and since all of this was nothing but distant ambition, the end of this rather long journey may never have been reached. Finally, I must thank my number one distraction, our son Tommaso, for putting everything into perspective. iii Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Foreword 1 1. What’s in a name? Social movements in the EU arena 5 1.1. EUSMO effects – a typology 9 1.2 Tolerant collective identities and building shared frames 12 1.3 The importance of contexts: political process approaches 23 1.4 Discursive Opportunities 42 2. Untangling paths of influence: data and methods 54 2.1 Cases and campaigns 54 2.2 Data and sources 56 2.3 Measuring shared frames 60 2.4 Varying political and discursive opportunities 63 2.5 Campaign consequences: a method for process tracing 67 2.6 Case selection 74 3. Back to their roots: bottom-up approaches to coexistence and GM crops 80 3.1 A tale of two campaigns 82 3.1.1 Joined-up campaigning: the role of national groups 90 3.2 Bridging frames in the coexistence campaign 94 3.2.1 Frames among the European level groups 94 3.2.2 Frames at the European and national levels 99 3.3 Close but no cigar: political opportunities in the coexistence campaign 102 3.4 Repeating tactics: discursive opportunities in the coexistence campaign 111 3.5 Recognition not legislation: the outcomes of the coexistence campaign 118 3.6 Conclusions 124 4. REACHing out: strong coalitions around European chemicals legislation 128 4.1 A reactive campaign 129 4.1.1 Thin on the ground: the role of national groups 139 iv 4.2 Shared but inconstant: frames in the REACH Campaign 142 4.2.1 Frames among the European level groups 142 4.2.2 Frames at the European and national levels 145 4.3 A strong counter-movement: political threats in the REACH campaign 147 4.4 Shifting the environmental to the social: discursive threats in the REACH campaign 158 4.5 Outnumbered and out-argued: campaign outcomes 163 4.6 Conclusions 169 5. The Lisbon Campaign: a short, sharp shock 172 5.1 Instant mobilisation in the Lisbon campaign 173 5.1.1 Driving the campaign: the role of national groups 180 5.2 Simple and constant: frames in the Lisbon campaign 183 5.2.1 Frames among the European level groups 183 5.2.2 Frames at the European and national levels 185 5.3 Powerful allies: political opportunities in the Lisbon campaign 187 5.4 Exploiting the Bolkestein debate: discursive opportunities in the Lisbon campaign 196 5.5 An apparent success: campaign outcomes 201 5.6 Conclusions 206 6. No Valentine For Bolkestein: the Directive on Services in the Internal Market 210 6.1 Mobilisation throughout the Union 211 6.1.1 Showing the numbers: the role of national groups 219 6.2 A common critique: shared frames in the Bolkestein Campaign 221 6.2.1 Frames among the European level groups 221 6.2.2 Frames at the European and national levels 223 6.3 Transforming threats: political opportunities in the Bolkestein campaign 221 6.4 ‘Unashamedly neo-liberal’: discursive opportunities in the Bolkestein campaign 234 6.5 A toothless directive: campaign outcomes 241 6.6 Conclusions 247 v 7. Conclusions: the paths to success in EU campaigning 250 7.1 The environmental cases 250 7.2 The social cases 254 7.3 What do the outcomes of these cases suggest about campaigning in the EU? 258 7.3.1 Shared frames 262 7.3.2 Political opportunities 264 7.3.3 Discursive opportunities 267 7.3 Broader conclusions: technical vs. political? 271 Tables and Figures Table 1: Synthesis of elements relevant in determining political opportunities 29 Table 2: Political Opportunity Structure of the EU 35 Table 3: Variables for determining dynamic political opportunities at the EU level 41 Table 4: Variables for specifying discursive opportunities 50 Table 5: Dynamic Political Opportunities in the Coexistence Campaign 105 Table 6: Summary of the coexistence campaign by phase 119 Table 7: Dynamic Political Opportunities in the REACH Campaign 152 Table 8: Summary of the REACH campaign by phase 164 Table 9: Dynamic political opportunities in the Lisbon campaign 192 Table 10: Summary of the Lisbon campaign by phase 202 Table 11: Dynamic political opportunities in the Bolkestein campaign 229 Table 12: Summary of the Bolkestein campaign by phase 242 Table 13: Campaign outcomes by variable 259 Figure 1: an analytical model for tracing campaign outcomes 69 Appendices Appendix I: Frame grids 279 Appendix II: Documents analysed for frame analyses 343 Appendix III: List of interviews 351 Appendix IV: List of abbreviations 353 vi Bibliography 354 vii Foreword This project began with the broad idea of studying social movements in the transnational arena of the European Union. Social movements were important in the development of European nation states. Charles Tilly has shown how these groups gradually came to direct their claims to national governments as modern nation states emerged (e.g. Tilly 1975, 1984; Tarrow 1996:48-49; Marks and McAdam 1996: 98). This shift was critical in legitimising these governments' decisions, linking the emergence of the national social movement in western Europe to the advent of electoral democracy. If social movements were important to the nation state, it would logically follow that they would also be so to the European Union. In other words, the EU, like other intergovernmental organisations, has altered the landscape of opportunities available to social movements (Passy 1999:149, Smith 1999:177, Lahusen 1999:190).
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