This article examines how resources created through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, create added value for Corporate Political Activities (CPA), particularly for lobby strategies. It adds to the existing literature on the business case for CSR and the political accountability of interest groups, by building on the resource-based and interest-group literature. The European economic crisis fundamentally changed the landscape for financial sector interest-groups; citizens are more sceptical about the representation of business interest in politics in terms of democratic legitimacy, and with that the accountability of national and European decision-makers. Partnerships through CSR programmes has put itself forward as a tool to enhance legitimacy and counter voices of discontent. Furthermore, due to shrinking budgets both within national and EU-level policymaking as well as within NGOs, both actors depend on the resources that companies provide via their CSR activities. To lobby in favour for their preferred policies, companies, on the other hand, require access to EU policy makers and the ability to deliver information which is perceived as credible. I argue that CSR is used as an instrument to create resources, most notably enhanced corporate reputation and credibility, that are needed for an effective lobby strategy. These resources flow from external coalitions with NGOs, nation states and EU actors, and through processes of internal knowledge sharing. This argument will be tested in the context of the financial sector lobbying in the European Commission, due to the decision-making structure of the EU. To test the model and to be able to assume relations of causality, I will draw from approximately 150 semi-structured interviews with key company representatives, NGOs and EU policymakers. Additionally, to identify policy networks, it will create a Social Network Analysis (SNA) of a selection of companies, NGOs and EU policy organs.
