Transforming the Regulatory State: How Private Actors Have Reshaped Public-Private Europe

This lecture builds on the hypothesis that retracing the history of interactions between the state and private actors allows to better grasp the transformations of the Regulatory state in Europe. To do so, it gives a socio-historical account of regulatory intermediaries. At the European level, lawyers have historically built a strong, and in some domains such as competition policies quasi-monopolistic, position as intermediaries. They have, however, increasingly been challenged by other actors, such as lobbyists and consultants. These professional groups now compete to occupy key positions between public authorities and firms. At the same time, the Regulatory state itself has evolved by developing norms aimed at “regulating regulation”, that is, regulating the interactions between political-administrative institutions and private actors (notably lobbying and revolving-door practices). The High Authority for Transparency in Public Life in France serves as a model in this regard.  By studying these intermediary actors, their trajectories, and their interactions with French and European administrations, this lecture sheds light on the reconfiguration of regulatory governance and the changing boundaries between the public and the private sector in Europe.

 

Lola Avril is a Junior Professor at CNRS / Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (CESSP) and has held, since December 2024, the REGANET Chair on Non-State Actors, Regulation, and Social Transformations. Her research focuses on the role and modes of intervention of private actors in public policies and in the political field. It has been published in the Revue française de science politique, European Law Journal, Journal of European Public Policy  and in Politique européenne.