“Vi försvinner som en droppe i havet”: En uppsats om svenska civilsamhällesorganisationers upplevelser av sina påverkansmöjligheter i EU

Abstract

This Bachelor Thesis looks at the cooperation between the Swedish civil society and the European Union (EU), and it aims at evaluating Swedish civil society organizations' influence within the EU's development work on policy level. It focuses primarily on eight civil society organizations, and it is based on empirical material collected in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden. The material has been analyzed using three theoretical frameworks. The first determines whether the structure of the EU allows bottom-up influence, the second looks at the communication between the EU and civil society organizations, and the third assesses whether the civil society has the ability to influence the political agenda within the EU’s development work. Conclusions of the thesis include determining the complex structure of the EU as a main obstacle to influencing the EU's development work. Additional factors discussed are the effects of one-way communication, lack of power to influence the EU’s political agenda and an uneven distribution of resources. Due to these deficiencies a single civil society organization has very limited possibilities to influence the EU. Network governance is highlighted and viewed as a more effective way to influencing the EU. However, we argue that the consisting network between the EU and Swedish civil society organizations is hierarchical rather than horizontal. The structure must be improved to allow two-way communication and facilitate agenda-setting and hence increase the Swedish civil society’s level of influence within the EU’s development work.