The influence of the Finnish forestry industry’s interest groups on the EU Nature Restoration Law: framing forestry as environmentally and economically important while resisting EU governance in forestry

The research looks at how the Finnish forestry interest representation groups and forestry industry companies influenced the EU regulation on nature restoration, more commonly known as the Nature Restoration Law (NRL), by looking at the frames they employed in their public lobbying tactics in their position papers directed to the European Commission. I locate my research in the fields of EU studies, theories of European integration, EU lobbying research, and frame analysis. The research answers the following questions: 1) what frames did the Finnish forestry interest groups employ in lobbying the European Commission in the case of the Nature Restoration Law, and why these frames? 2) what do the employed frames tell us about EU forestry governance? I identified 11 frames relating economic, environmental and institutional aspects. The aim of the economic frames was to frame the forestry industry as an important source of economic gain, while the environmental frames framed the forests as essential to climate actions, and forestry as a solution to environmental problems relating to climate change or biodiversity. The institutional frames contested the fact whether the EU should be the one asserting the power over forests and forestry. The frame choices, looked at from the point of view of the constructivist theory of European integration, are attempts to resists further EU integration by resisting the EU broadening its competencies in environmental policy. The Finnish forestry sector was not against the idea of improving biodiversity, but it was against transferring the power over forest lands to the EU, which I see as a general contestation of EU increasing its competences in environmental policy.

Grantor dc:publisher

Helsingin yliopisto

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Moisio, Saara Lempi Anneli

• EU
• lobbying
• interest group influence
• framing
• forest governance

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright 1.0

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10138/591275

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/591275