Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Doctoral Dissertation in progress

«Tech lobbying in EU: Strategies and political-economic influence»

Commencement date: May 28, 2024

Abstract

The scope of the PhD thesis is to study the behind-the-scenes politics of high- tech companies in European Union (EU) and their impact on European public policy. The research focus is linked with the so-called “digital transformation of the EU”, where the digital capital adopts monopolistic practices in order to secure and maintain market dominance.

The main working hypothesis is that the increase of direct lobbying by tech companies and, especially, by the Big Tech -Google (Alphabet), Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft- in European Union leads to a direct engagement with EU policy makers and especially, the European Commission. As a result, this practice has a significant impact on the European Union law making and the digital and economic policy formulation, securing favorable policies and regulations that further entrench their market dominance and political influence. It can be noted that they are transformed as “indirect agenda-setters”, while the scope of the thesis is to investigate if the European Union law making and the digital and economic policy formulation can significantly impact market dynamics, in ways that benefit monopolistic and oligopolistic interests. In addition, it will be examined how lobbying turns into a policy tool through which the economic capital affects and controls the political one.

The main research question is how public policy is controlled by powerful tech-economic interests and what policies are shaped through the ongoing interaction between tech companies and EU. What is more, the role of European Commission as the guardian of the public interest will be investigated in-depth.