ABSTRACT
This chapter delineates the main functions and roles that supranational think tanks play in the policymaking and public policy landscape of the EU. After delineating the ambit of organizations defined as 'supranational think tanks', the principal function of the chapter pursues, which is to say identification and analysis of the roles and functions of these organizations. The chapter seeks to transpose the discussion of supranational think tanks' roles into action 'on the ground'. It reveals how supranational think tanks actually pursue their dual mandate from a 'mission statement' into a tangible, or otherwise manifest, output. The chapter identifies the sources of funding upon which many supranational think tanks rely, and the extent to which their funding arrangement informs their activities and perceived role in the supranational policymaking and public policy communities. In particular, supranational think tanks' roles were bifurcated into two categories: (1) the establishment of and interaction within policy networks and (2) 'knowledge management'.
