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Which political role do interest groups play in the debate on democratic deficit in the European Union? Do they represent only the interests of a minority group or can they make the Union’s political system more democratic through their participation in policy-making? What are the limits of this extensive conception of representation? Which mechanisms exist within the European Union allowing to exceed these limits? The political system at the community level does not strictly correspond to the theoretical requirements of an associative democracy. The absence of clear regulation concerning the access of the groups of interest to the European institutions, their role as supplier of expertise or citizens’ positions entails the imbalance noticed between the actors possessing financial and social resources as well as expertise and those who do not.