ABSTRACT
Our central thesis is that once the EC/EU began to develop into a significant venue or arena for public policy-making in Europe, a certain trajectory of institutionalised interaction between the EC/EU and interest groups was likely. We base this prediction on three theoretical assumptions. • First, that bureaucracies have a tendency to construct stable and manageable rela-
tionships with interest groups in each policy domain as a means of securing some kind of ‘negotiated order’ or stable environment.
