The MNC‐Coalition Paradox: Issue Salience, Foreign Firms and the General Data Protection Regulation

While the EU takes on an increasingly global regulatory role, we have only a limited understanding of how or when foreign firms influence EU regulation. Multinational Corporations (MNCs) have many of the power resources that determine lobbying success. We argue, however, that high salience blunts fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of common market studies 2019-05, Vol.57 (3), p.448-467
Main Authors: Kalyanpur, Nikhil, Newman, Abraham L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business
Citizen participation
Civil liberties
Civil rights
Civil society
Consumer protection
Data
Data integrity
Energy resources
Foreign companies
foreign firms
GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation
issue salience
Legislation
Legitimacy
Lobbying
Multinational corporations
Organizational power
Policy making
Political institutions
Political power
Privacy
Regulation
Right of privacy
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Summary:While the EU takes on an increasingly global regulatory role, we have only a limited understanding of how or when foreign firms influence EU regulation. Multinational Corporations (MNCs) have many of the power resources that determine lobbying success. We argue, however, that high salience blunts foreign corporate power. High salience generates legitimacy concerns for EU institutions, creating a political opportunity structure that favours pluralistic participation. Civil society can point to the instrumental power of foreign firms as a means to contaminate business interests, amplifying consumer voices in the process. We label this the MNC‐Coalition paradox. We investigate the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation to assess our argument, as the revelations made public by Edward Snowden created an exogenous shock in salience. Highlighting the presence of MNCs – such as Google and Facebook – in the lobbying process allowed civil society leaders to delegitimize business preferences and bolster consumer protection. In addition to the theoretical contribution, our evidence sheds light on the policy process behind legislation that will shape fundamental civil liberties and privacy rights not only for Europeans but globally.
ISSN:0021-9886
1468-5965
DOI:10.1111/jcms.12810