Symbolic, Strategic or Serendipitous? An Assessment of How Societal Stakeholders Use and Perceive Different Consultation Tools in EU policymaking

Contemporary governance is increasingly characterized by the consultation of different types of stakeholders, such as interest groups representing economic and citizen interests, as well as public and private institutions, such as public authorities and firms. Previous research has demonstrated that public officials use a variety of tools to involve these actors in policymaking, such as online consultation, expert groups, and public hearings. Yet, we have limited knowledge on how these different tools are used and perceived by societal stakeholders. In this paper, we identify the different tools used by the European Commission to involve stakeholders in policymaking and assess how societal stakeholders perceive their value and effectiveness, relying on document analysis and interviews with 40 societal stakeholders that participated in consultation processes at the EU level.