Transnational interests in the European Union: Globalization and changing organization in telecommunications and electricity

Many studies on interest organization in the EU emphasize the influence of the EU institutional and policy context. A comparison of transnational interests in telecommunications and electricity, however, shows differences - greater transnationalization and diversity in telecommunications - which cannot easily be accounted for in these terms. The different patterns can in part be explained by differences in technical developments, but are more fully explained by differing processes of globalization. It is argued that new patterns of interest organization in the EU can only be fully understood when they are analysed in the context of sectoral globalization as well as the EU's institutions and policies.