ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book contributes to the academic debates by shedding light on the various forms of expertise in modern democracies and their consequences for institutions and the democratic legitimacy of the European Union (EU). It provides a critical vision on collaboration between policymakers, scientists and citizens and highlights the supportive relations between knowledge-based governance and democracy. The book analyses the expressions and shapes of expertisation as well as the responses it provokes. It demonstrates how the EU institutions – the EC and the Council – utilize the expertise such the circumstances, and how technical and instrumental expertise are given a primary role at the cost of moral considerations. The book considers the role of stakeholders – interest groups and civil society organizations – in EU policymaking and tests the hypothesis of the increased expertisation of their involvement with EU institutions.
