  Electromagnetic processes in loosely bound nuclei are investigated using an
analytical model. In particular, electromagnetic dissociation of $^8$B is
studied and the results of our analytical model are compared to numerical
calculations based on a three-body picture of the $^8$B bound state. The
calculation of energy spectra is shown to be strongly model dependent. This is
demonstrated by investigating the sensitivity to the rms intercluster distance,
the few-body behavior, and the effects of final state interaction. In contrast,
the fraction of the energy spectrum which can be attributed to E1 transitions
is found to be almost model independent at small relative energies. This
finding is of great importance for astrophysical applications as it provides us
with a new tool to extract the E1 component from measured energy spectra. An
additional, and independent, method is also proposed as it is demonstrated how
two sets of experimental data, obtained with different beam energy and/or
minimum impact parameter, can be used to extract the E1 component.
