A Politics of Expertise? The Lobbying Dimension of European Commission Expert Groups

European Commission expert groups provide powerful platforms from which interest groups can steer the EU consultation process and weigh in on policy outcomes. Commission decision-makers and bureaucrats rely heavily on expert groups to provide expert policy advice on highly technical issues in the early stages of the policymaking process. Interest groups provide this advice in order to have their voices heard at the EU level. But whose interests are being represented in these expert groups? Which types of interest groups get represented in these expert groups and to what extent do private interest groups dominate at the expense of public interest groups? Further, are narrow, corporate interests more pronounced in these expert groups than groups advocating broader, public issues? This article examines the factors that determine the composition of Commission expert groups in the EU. It considers the affect of a host of factors on expert group composition, including: interest group type, financial resources, personnel, country of origin, issue area and lobbying aims. This article addresses these questions using a large, new data set of over 800 expert groups and nearly 3000 interest groups across a broad range of issue areas.