The process of Europeanization, that is the growing importance of the European Union (EU) as a locus of political decision-making, affects its member states in an increasing number of policy areas and constitutes an important challenge for both institutional and noninstitutional political actors at both the national and European levels. Social movements, on the other hand, developed in the context of the nation state. Yet with the rise of transnational centers of power, movements too have become more transnational, directing their claims to organizations such as the WTO, the G8 and the EU.
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Notes
- 1.
 I would like to thank Professors Ronald Holzhacker and László Bruszt, as well as Tugce Bulut and all the other participants of the European Research Colloquium on the Transnationalization of Economies, States, and Civil Societies: New Challenges for Governance in Europe, for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this chapter.
- 2.
 A similar approach has recently been applied by Lahusen (2004: 57): ‘particularly in the case of the EU, we cannot speak of a uniform and formalised assimilation but of an undeclared and elastic accommodation’.
- 3.
 It should be noted that political process or opportunity approaches thus describe not only opportunities for social movements to act but also threats to their campaigns.
- 4.
 In particular, Marks and McAdam (1999) judge the European Commission to be more open to conventional than unconventional activity, since it is so thirsty for information. The European Parliament is also seen as open, since its members are not surrounded by any strong forms of party organization. The Council of Ministers may attract protest, but this will be at the national rather than the European level.
- 5.
- 6.
 The theory has also been criticized in that it assumes political opportunities to be paramount in explaining various actions of social movements and thus implicitly assumes social movements’ inherently political nature. This leads theorists of this school to concentrate only on political social movements. Although true to some extent, applications of the theory to some New Social Movements, such as the European environmental movement, have been fruitful and robust (Koopmans 1999).
- 7.
- 8.
 The repression variable included by Marks and McAdam (1999) is not included here, since, as mentioned above, we are dealing with the purely European level.
- 9.
 Although the Commission makes clear in the White Paper on Governance (Commission 2001) that the ‘principles of good governance’ should also be applied by other EU institutions both in general and in consultations with outside groups.
- 10.
 This database no longer exists. However, its closure came after the end of the campaigns studied here. In any case, it may be argued that these rules continue to be relevant for groups today, since they may have already made difficult to reverse changes in their organizational cultures in order to fulfil them and become partners for dialogue with the Commission.
- 11.
 Budget lines for funding civil society groups have been ruled to be illegal by the ECJ (Cullen 2005).
- 12.
 Michalowitz (2002) in fact cites a case study of BEUC (Bureau Europeen des Union des Consommateurs – the European consumer groups’ union), which affirms that they strategically release information to the Commission over time in order to be able to provide fresh information as required to remain a player in the consultation process.
- 13.
 ‘Civil society must itself follow the principles of good governance, which include accountability and openness. The Commission intends to establish, before the end of this year, a comprehensive on-line database with details of civil society organisations active at European level, which should act as a catalyst to improve their internal organisation’ (Commission 2001: 15, emphasis added).
- 14.
 Although, as mentioned above, the presence of institutional activists may be a powerful opportunity that may cancel out these threats. See Ruzza (2004)
- 15.
 This may be said to depend greatly on the committee chair’s personal style. For example, in a committee with relatively little legislative power due to its competence’s position in the pillar structure, such as the Culture and Education Committee, longer and more normative contributions may be the norm. In committees with a heavy legislative workload, such as the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, the pressure to ‘get through work’ will be higher, and stricter chairs more likely.
- 16.
 Especially where the co-decision procedure applies.
- 17.
 Although both Councils are also, as mentioned earlier, more obvious targets for European-level protest.
- 18.
 The environmental dimension of the Lisbon Agenda was officially added by the Council at its meeting in 2001 in Gothenburg.
- 19.
 An interview list is provided at the end of the chapter.
- 20.
 Comparable comments were made by the ETUC in relation to the outcomes of their participation in the Social Dialogue and, more pertinently for this campaign, the Kok group – an expert group set up to carry out an evaluation of the Lisbon Agenda’s progress prior to the spring summit. Despite winning important concessions within these forums, the ETUC felt that documents subsequently released no longer reflected the decisions made.
- 21.
 Considering the campaign’s role in promoting the Bolkestein issue in connection with the Constitutional Treaty in France, the campaign actually contributed to creating its own opportunities here.
- 22.
 In this sense these comments also count for the variable electoral instability, including considerations of how many groups are needed to form an absolute majority.
- 23.
 The French Trade Unions’ opposition to the draft Constitutional Treaty created problems between them and the ETUC, who were in favour of the treaty.
- 24.
 My thanks to Professor László Bruszt for bringing this argument to my attention.
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Parks, L. (2009). National and European? Protesting the Lisbon Agenda and the Services Directive in the European Union. In: Bruszt, L., Holzhacker, R. (eds) The Transnationalization of Economies, States, and Civil Societies. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89339-6_10
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