Special Note This Item Is Bound in Such a Manner and While Every Effort Has Been Made to Reproduce the Centres, Force Would Result in Damage

The number o f Japanese firms in Brussels has increased since the creation o f the European Single Market. At the same time, large European firms have become independent political actors and harmonized their lobbying pattern, creating a distinctive business-govemment relationship in the EU. Yet, it still remains to be examined whether Japanese firms are able to utilize their political options and conform to the new EU lobbying style, which features firms’ direct participation within the policymaking process. This thesis, based on four detailed case studies in automobile and electronics sectors, explores the Europeanization o f Japanese firms’ lobbying strategies, and assesses how they have adapted to the constantly evolving EU public policymaking system. With reference to the actor-based models o f interest groups and Europeanization literature, it provides an empirical investigation o f interaction between traditional Japanese lobbying practices and the EU institutional environment in forming firms' preferences for particular lobbying strategies. Each case study is based on a number o f interviews conducted in Brussels and Tokyo with firms, business associations, and EU institutions. In short, a key objective is to highlight the variations in the Europeanization o f Japanese lobbying, with special attention to the firms' embeddedness in traditional business culture. In addition, this thesis seeks to identify the opportunities and constrains that make up the institutional logic o f Japanese firms in pursuing a more Japanese or EU type o f lobbying