A Cross-Sectoral View

Abstract

The previous chapters have concentrated on the European Commission’s work with expert groups in the process of developing research and innovation policy. They have shown that viewing the Commission’s work with expert groups as a purely technocratic endeavor risks overlooking the existing diversity in the dynamics of European policy making. In actual fact, variation exists bothw regarding the extent to which expert groups are involved in the EU policy process and regarding the way in which the Commission uses its expert groups. In accordance with this book’s theoretical proposition, the ways in which the expert groups are used by the Commission — to acquire expertise, support, or consensual positions — does indeed depend on the respective issue context and the type of expert group consulted. In addition, whether Commission services chose to consult expert groups in the first place seemed to vary according to their consultation traditions and habits.