Secluded Decision-Making in the European Parliament: Opening the 'Black Box' of Trilogues

Abstract

Trilogues – informal meetings reuniting the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council – have become taken-for-granted structures in EU decision-making, but they continue to raise questions in regards to transparency, access to decision-makers and political conflict within the European Parliament and with other EU institutions. This panel gathers papers employing a range of quantitative and qualitative methods based on interviews, debates, official documents and ethnographic material to assess the role and impact of trilogues in the EU's political system.