“Europe disturbs the Organization chart”.

This article shows that the institutionalisation of a European political space does not lead to the existence of dedicated committees or staff for dealing with European issues within French employers’ organisations. Since 1956, the procedures for monitoring European issues have been regularly reviewed inside those organisations. This article stresses that dedicated European committees are neither an indicator of the Europeanization of national employers’ groups, nor a privileged entry point to study their European activities. It rather sheds light on the competition between different ways of dealing with European topics. Within these organisations, the permanent staff dedicated to European issues are at loggerheads with the rest of the staff when it comes to defining how European issues should be taken care of. In order to legitimise their role in the organisation, the permanent staff act to singularise European issues as ones that require specific knowledge. Doing so, they imbue the organisation with a specific vision of Europe.