Who Gets a Seat at the Table? Civil Society Incumbents and Challengers in the European Parliament’s Consultations

This chapter explores the participation of animal welfare civil society organisations (CSOs) in the European Parliament’s (EP’s) public hearings and in the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals to reveal who gets a seat at the table when EU parliamentarians consult civil society on animal welfare policies. Theorising the EP as a Strategic Action Field (SAF), animal welfare CSOs invited to official EP public hearings are conceptualised as incumbents, while animal welfare CSOs invited to unofficial Intergroups are perceived as challengers. Drawing on an original sample that covers 84 Intergroup meetings and 43 EP public hearings during the 8th and ongoing 9th EP, this chapter shows how animal welfare organisations challenge established civil society practices in the EP by using the Intergroup as a venue to facilitate cooperation, resource concentration, and access to political elites beyond official parliamentary structures.