Technical Advice United with Political Agenda Setting

Abstract

This chapter discusses an expert group that the European Commission had transformed from a formally technical advisory group involved in policy implementation into a prestigious committee engaged in policy design. It portrays the Information Society Technologies Advisory Group (ISTAG) as one of the most important expert groups affiliated to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Information Society (DG Information Society or DG INFSO). This group and its Directorate-General had a particularly close relationship, whose nature was strongly based on DG Information Society’s mandate, history, and tradition, and which influenced the way the service involved its expert group in the policy process.

If you look at DG Research, they have 15, 20 different groups. DG INFSO had only one. [. . .] From the research view point and from the strategic view point, they had only ISTAG. And ISTAG was close to their mind and heart. (EXP3:174)