SETTING THE AGENDA FOR A NEW EUROPE - THE ERT AND EC 1992

Scholars have disagreed over the origins of the single market programm e and, in particular, over the role played by business groups in influ encing the 1992 project. This article provides a systematic examinatio n of the major policy actors behind the 1992 project, notably the Euro pean Round Table of Industrialists (ERT). It is argued that, contrary to intergovernmentalist interpretations, the ERT was largely responsib le for setting the agenda for the single market programme. The article concludes that traditional theories of European integration cannot ca pture the political role of non-state actors in EU regulatory policy-m aking, and suggests an alternative approach is necessary.