Pressure groups have always been playing a crucial role in the European decision making processes. This role on the one hand have been analyzed in term of traditional lobbying, on the other hand the involvement of civil society in the European decision making processes looks at the model of participative democracy, which the European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee often refer to in the official documents. Moving form these topics some questions arise: where is the border between lobbying and the participation of civil society to the decision making processes? Is the European Union moving towards a participative democracy model?