Over the last decade, academics, politicians, civil servants, business elites, and the European public have become concerned that lobbying in the European Union (EU) exacerbates issues of unequal access to political institutions and asymmetrical information provision. Applying general theories of lobbying to the EU magnifies these worries for three reasons.

First, the EU, as a primarily regulatory body with a relatively small budget and sparse staff, relies heavily on lobbyists for technical information. Second, great geographic distances separate Brussels from most national capitals, which are the traditional centers of citizen and interest group organization. Third, the EU is a structurally complex political system, and actors seeking access to its institutions must possess political sophistication and expansive resources.