Setting the agenda for a new Europe: The ERT and EC 1992

Scholars have disagreed over the origins of the single market programme and, in particular, over the role played by business groups in influencing the 1992 project. This article provides a systematic examination of the major policy actors behind the 1992 project, notably the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT). It is argued that, contrary to intergovernmentalist interpretations, the ERT was largely responsible for setting the agenda for the single market programme. The article concludes that traditional theories of European integration cannot capture the political role of non-state actors in EU regulatory policy-making, and suggests an alternative approach is necessary.