Who needs lobbying? The usefulness of interest representation in the European Union from the European Commission's point of view

The article addresses issues related to the use of cooperation with lobbying groups for the European Commission. The main subject of the paper is the representation of interests in the European Union arena and the Commission’s exercise of its treaty competences. The analysis focuses on the use of expert knowledge and legitimacy provided by lobbying groups in the context of their usefulness in the process of fulfilling the Commission’s legal obligations. The arguments are classified into four groups: legislative, executive and supervisory, organisational, and legitimacy. In each of the groups, the Commission’s Treaty obligations are analysed, as well as the use of particular goods provided by lobbying groups in the course of their implementation, which allows to determine of the scope of benefits resulting from such cooperation. The purpose of this article is to examine the usefulness of lobbying in fulfilling the Commission’s Treaty functions.

The Role of Lobbying in the Decision-Making Process in the European Union

Lobbying in the modern world is becoming part of decision-making processes at the local, state, supranational and global levels. The lobbying process is characterized by the use of various techniques and tools, which is why there are many definitions. In the European Union, it is perceived as a European representation of interests, through which different groups try to influence the decision-making process in the various institutions. Lobbying is often referred to when it is necessary to describe a particular political process, event or phenomenon that has not reached the general public or has remained opaque due to its specific nature. As lobbying becomes increasingly important, this article aims to clarify what lobbying is and what its legitimate and acceptable forms are. It is not without reason that there is a general distrust of the lobbying process and, in particular, of the real intentions of lobbyists. Therefore, many people believe that such activities distort the political process in terms of transparency, integrity and influence. Given the sensitive nature of the topic of lobbying, some good practices from existing lobbying rules at European level will also be considered.

Blocking Opposition

This chapter analyzes the opposition blockade with respect to the political expression and representation of parties opposed to neoliberalism. It uses sources to investigate how neoliberal social blocs used political institutions to block the representation of adversaries in formal politics, including electoral rules, executive powers, veto players, and lustration. It also recounts the processes of economic and political liberalization in Latin America and Eastern Europe, wherein economic reforms were expected to bring immediate costs to the population and positive results in the long-term. The chapter discusses how the opposition blockade affected the political expression and representation of interests opposed to neoliberalism through key aspects of the institutional design of the new polities. It describes the design of electoral laws as the most successful way of limiting the power of political and societal actors opposing neoliberalism.

Expanding Nonprofit Advocacy

Expanding Nonprofit Advocacy. This paper calls for regulatory changes that would clarify the rules around advocacy by 501(c)(3) nonprofits. It is common for leaders of such nonprofits to misinterpret these rules and to believe that they are much more restrictive than they really are. This results in less nonprofit advocacy and, consequentially, less representation of interests that are chronically underrepresented.

Representation of Lithuanian Citizens in the European Parliament: Between European and National Interests

The article analyzes the problem of conflict of European and national interests in the activities of a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). The study seeks answers to the following questions: what factors impact the decision and voting of EP members, elected in Lithuania, in the plenary sessions in the cases of collision of interests, and to what extent the interests of the electorate, national parties, or European political groups are important to MEPs elected in Lithuania. To achieve the goal, first, a review of the scientific literature on the representation of interests in the European Parliament, the issues of conflict of interests is carried out. Next, the theoretical model of the “two-level game,” which is applied in the analysis of an MEP’s activities, is discussed. In the second part of the article, a Lithuanian case study is carried out, analyzing the data of semistructured interviews with MEPs, results of public opinion poll of the Lithuanian population, and other quantitative data. The results show that MEPs elected in Lithuania, like the MEPs elected in other countries, face the problem of a conflict of interests. The inquiry also revealed that an MEP’s decision on how to vote in an EP plenary session depends not only on whether they are a member of the opposition or the ruling party, but also on their personal preferences.

Free secondary legal aid as a method of implementing of constitutional humans rights within the criminal procedure

The article investigates the functionality of the Institute of Secondary Legal Aid in the aspect of exercising a person's constitutional right to defense, comprehensively examines the status of a defender in the process of providing secondary legal aid. In addition, attention was paid to the legal basis and standardization of professional legal assistance. The authors of the article outline the key theoretical and practical problematic aspects of the provision of free secondary legal aid by authorized entities in criminal proceedings in Ukraine. Defender's status in the process of providing secondary secondary legal aid has been established. The article investigates that the bar is the main institution that provides protection, representation of interests of persons entitled to legal aid. In addition, it is considered to be the subject of quality assistance, because it is the lawyers who are directly involved in setting up a free secondary legal aid system. In the course of this study it is found that the term “legal aid” in the context of the Law of Ukraine “On Free Legal Aid” combines the person’s right “to have a defense counsel appointed when the interests of justice (the nature of the case, the consequences for the accused and his ability to defend on their own) require it or when the person does not have sufficient funds to pay for this defender”. The quality of free legal aid depends on many factors. First of all, from how responsibly and me-ticulously the lawyer will perform his work. In particular, the lawyers discussed the thesis of incentives to provide quality assistance, as the large number of cases in the lawyer, hinders concentration, and as a result, reduces the level of positive decisions. In addition, free legal aid does not provide support to citizens in applying to international courts, such as the European Court of Human Rights. Assistance at the international level can be provided by the system of public receptions of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.

Historical and Foreign Experience of Implementation of the Principle of Supremacy of the Council in the System of Local Government and Self-Government: Lessons for Modern Russia

A Municipal Council has an important role to play in representing the interests of the population at the local level. At the same time in Russia the evolution of the legal status of this institution since the beginning of the 1990s is ambiguous: the capability and activities of representative bodies are limited. The paper, through the prism of the views and ideas of the famous Soviet and Russian constitutionalist Ekaterina I. Kozlova, examines the nature and legal status of representative bodies at the local level based on the principle of their supremacy. The implementation of this principle is also analyzed on the example of foreign models of local government. According to the author, the current weakness of representative bodies in the Russian model of organization of municipal authorities does not meet the requirements of efficiency and does not provide actual representation of interests of local territorial communities. Thus, the author urges to take into account both foreign and historical (Soviet) experience of development of institutions of administration and self-government in the field under consideration.