ABSTRACT
Does the European Commission’s (EC) reliance on expert groups constitute a democratic problem, or are these groups justified by their specific role in the policymaking process? There seems to be little agreement on the role of these groups in such processes, in terms of both which role they play, and, importantly, which role they should play. This chapter discusses the legitimacy of EC expert groups in the light of democracy theory, and asks: can the EC expert groups be legitimised as knowledge-providers in EU policymaking processes? The chapter presents new large-N data on the EC expert groups and examines the work of these groups and their role in the policymaking process. The empirical analysis finds support for the problem-solving function prescribed by democracy theory, but also for roles such as pre-negotiation of policy as well as coordination. In line with the systemic understanding of the role of experts in democratic policymaking systems, the chapter argues that one should avoid assessing expert groups by traditional democratic dimensions such as balance of representation and external institutional checks. Rather, one should focus on ensuring that the groups include relevant knowledge, and that their activities do not involve pre-negotiation of policy. However, this also implies avoiding too narrow interpretations of what expertise means in the policymaking context, and thus opening up a wider spectrum of potential legitimate roles for expert groups beyond technical problem-solving.
