Conclusions: Technical and Political Campaigning in the EU

Abstract

Before comparing the technical and political cases and reflecting on conclusions that may be drawn from each of them it is useful to briefly recall each including their outcomes and the factors that led to these. After this recap, some general points about the relative importance of the different variables considered as having some bearing on the influence of EUSMO campaigns will be outlined before a discussion of the central argument of this work — namely, that there exists a marked difference between technical and political campaigning. Technical campaigns, presented and discussed in Chapters 3 and 4, were defined in Chapter 1 as characterised by low levels of popular mobilisation at the national and local levels and high levels of engagement with EU level institutions through consultation, where EU groups provide expert information, particularly to the Commission. Political campaigns, presented and discussed in Chapters 5 and 6, were defined in Chapter 1 as the mirror image of technical campaigns: they are characterised by higher levels of popular mobilisation at national and local levels and by low levels of engagement in consultation. Engaging less in Commission consultations does not, however, exclude conventional strategies (such as lobbying) from political campaigns.