ABSTRACT
This chapter answers the following questions: who actually participates in the decision-making and implementation of European Union (EU) policies? With what information does the Commission prepare its proposals? Which data feeds the legislative work of the Council and Parliament? How are compromises negotiated? How can the inertia of European public policies be explained? Why are some non-institutional actors more able to influence EU policies than others? To answer these questions, one should analyse EU decision-making with the tools and schemes developed by public policy analysis. The study of the EU in the light of public policy analysis has grown significantly since the mid 1980s. This approach is particularly attractive since it can be applied without precondition to any organization with powers. Environmental issues are an area of European public policy in which the influence of interest groups is particularly visible.
