Following the money : exploring business financial contributions to the European Union's political parties

Abstract

Do business groups donate to the European Union's (EU) political parties? Does the party's ideology influence the donations it receives? Since 2008, the EU's political parties can receive financial contributions from private actors. This paper systematically maps and analyses the entire population of donations given to EU political parties from 2008 to 2015. The results show that business interests follow a selective strategy targeting with their donations right‐wing parties; with Eurosceptic parties performing better than pro‐integration parties. Conceptually, this study provides a hard resource for conceptualizing EU lobbying beyond information‐access models, and potentially opens a path for comparatives with the US literature. Furthermore, it reveals that some parties have moved away from the public utility paradigm, raising question over donations impact on EU politics and policy‐making. Empirically, it provides a unique image of interest group donations to EU parties over time.