How Do Interest Groups Access Independent Rulemaking? The Case of Energy and Competition Sectors in Italy

Theories on the regulatory state have long stressed on the emerging role of differing actors contributing to shape the regulatory environment. Contextually, better regulation approaches introduced tools and theories to improve regulatory quality. Among these, is public engagement through consultations. Consequently, regulatory independent authorities adjusted themselves to those principles and procedures. However, scholars long neglected investigating what happens with «quasi-regulatory» authorities. Through a comparison between the energy «regulatory» authority and the competition «quasi-regulatory» authority, we argue that private interests are able to harness differing venues to access decisionmakers with quasi-regulatory spillovers. Through a comprehensive analysis, we demonstrate that public consultations represent only some possible venues; but also, that shifting from elected to non-elected actors prompted changes in how interested parties manage to access rulemaking.