ABSTRACT
The fifth chapter empirically traces and verifies why interest groups have different levels of coverage (spread of contacts) with different actors at the European level. It provides empirical evidence that the creation of a specialised department for European affairs leads to an isolation or an integration of these issues and thereby affects group coverage at the European level. Groups with a European affairs department have lower coverage at the European level and engage less in cooperation and exchanges in this political arena. This chapter classifies the twelve groups under investigation along the existence or non-existence of a department for European affairs. It proceeds with the analysis of the empirical material following each step of the integration or of the isolation of causal mechanisms respectively.
