EU Policy in Business

Manufacturing and service companies across a wide range of industries, established in and trading across the European Union (EU) must engage with the EU's policies and legislative requirements. The European Union's governance processes and measures, are negotiated by EU institutions and member state governments. To varying degrees across policy sectors - companies, industries, non-government organizations, and consumer interests are 'stakeholders' in these policy processes. It is the institutions of EU governance, which mediate among these stakeholders. The prohibition of Ryanair's takeover of Aer Lingus; the application of the definitions of food and drink products under standards and labeling legislation by Findus, Nestle and Diageo; discussions with British Telecom (BT), Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom on the development of a single European digital and telecom market represent recent examples from the EU's 'non-market' business environment. These examples illustrate how the EU has the potential to influence a company's structures and strategies, hence the module's title 'The European Union in Business'. Detailed knowledge of the ongoing development of the EU's policies and policy processes is necessary for a company's management to design structures and strategies to first, respond to the EU's influence and second, adopt a proactive engagement with EU governance and the 'non-market' business environment.