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Abstract

This article examines interest group conflicts surrounding the financial
transaction tax (FTT) debate in the European Union (EU). Specifically, it
focuses on the advocacy efforts of EU-based financial industry groups at
different stages of the policy debate. The article provides a detailed
description of changes to the post-crisis regulatory environment and points to
public salience as important factor that can constrain business power. Much
in line with the existing literature, industry groups did not fare very well
under conditions of high salience and public pressure during the agendasetting
stage. However, this article also shows that in order to get back on its
feet, the financial sector lobby had to employ a combination of quiet and
noisy politics during later stages of the policy process. As soon as the
contextual conditions provided by the financial crisis started to fade away,
industry groups were able to bounce back by using a framing strategy that
linked their arguments against an FTT to broader societal goals, by
disseminating scientific evidence and by building coalitions with business
groups outside of finance in order to water-down the proposed directive.