Relational power, brokers and influence:a study on the controversial issue of fracking in the European Union

The article studies non-state actors working in coalitions trying to influence the position of the European Parliament on fracking and shows that businesses can prevail in this arena. It explores the relationship between the inclusion of brokers in coalitions and the coalitions' ability to impact energy and environmental policy. Existing literatures focus on issue salience or attributional power to explain the success of non-state actors in impacting policy developments. This paper shows that we need to take account of relational power (particularly the power that entities possess as policy subsystem brokers) to explain business influence. The study draws on a wide range of interviews with policy elites conducted during a six-month fieldwork in Brussels. It uses an innovative combination of thematic analysis of interviews and social networks analysis to explain the success of business interests in influencing the EU policy on fracking.