Consultative Committees in the European Union

Do actors without vote have influence in the European Union? Diana Panke, Christoph Hönnige, and Julia Gollub’s book is the definitive study of the Committee of Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Union’s two standing consultative bodies. They must be heard, though not necessarily listened to, on most EU legislation. The study shows convincingly that CoR and EECS influence is possible, though conditional on whether they can bring expertise to the table. Guided by an elegant sender-receiver model, the authors develop a series of hypotheses that specify these conditions, and test these with surveys, interviews, and case studies. This is a first-rate scholarly book, rich with factual nuggets and clear analysis. It will be of interest to EU policy makers as well as students of the European Union. This book also sends a cautiously hopeful message to those who seek to deepen democracy in the globe’s most important experiment in governance above the state. -- Liesbet Hooghe, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Consultative committees are too often dismissed as being mere talking shops when in fact they can play an important role in the agenda-setting and decision-making process. This volume presents in-depth research into the working methods and deliberative processes of the two main consultative committees in the European Union. In doing so, the authors provide valuable accounts of both the opportunities and the limitations of these bodies. Most importantly, this book explores the conditions under which consultative committees may make a difference to EU decision-making and proposes a number of specific recommendations based on this analysis. Required reading not only for students and scholars of European integration, but also for practitioners involved in the work of policy consultation in the EU and beyond. -- Thomas Christiansen, Maastricht University

The primary focus of this welcome and important contribution to our understanding of EU consultative committees is the influence of two under-researched organisations with ‘voice, but no vote’: the European Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from a well-framed and well-executed research project, the authors show, among other things, how the provision of information is more important than legitimacy in conditioning these committees’ influence on policy. This book’s clearly articulated evidence, findings and implications make it recommended reading for anyone interested in the role that committees play in our political systems, and essential for students of EU governance. -- Michelle Cini, University of Bristol

Julia Gollub is program manager at the Stifterverband. Previously, she has worked as program manager at the Volkswagen Foundation and as research associate at the University of Göttingen. She studied European Studies and International Relations at Maastricht University, Aristotle University Thessaloniki and University College Dublin.

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Christoph Hönnige is Professor of Comparative and German Politics at Leibniz University Hannover. He was previously Professor of German Politics at the University of Göttingen, Assistant Professor of Comparative and German Politics at the University of Kaiserslautern. He received his PhD from the University of Potsdam and his MA from the University of Konstanz. His research interests include legislative politics in Europe, constitutional courts in comparative perspective, administrative reforms in Germany, and comparative public policies. He specialises in the analysis of the impact of preferences and institutional rules on individual and group behaviour as well as policy outcomes. His peer-reviewed publications include the Journal of Common Market Studies, West European Politics, European Political Science, Regional and Federal Studies, and German Politics. He has won several research grants and is convener of the Standing Group on Law and Politics of the ECPR.

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Diana Panke is Professor of Governance in Multi-level Systems at Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg. She was previously Associate Professor at University College Dublin and research associate at Freie Universität Berlin. Her research interests include international and regional organisations, multilateral negotiations, institutional design, international norms, legalisation and compliance, and small states, as well as EU Politics and European Integration. Diana Panke has published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of European Public Policy, the Journal of Common Market Studies, the Review of International Studies, Comparative Political Studies, West European Politics, the European Journal of International Relations, the Journal of European Integration, International Politics and European Political Science. She also wrote monographs The Effectiveness of the European Court of Justice: Why Reluctant States Comply (Manchester University Press, 2010), Small States in the European Union: Coping with Structural Disadvantages (Ashgate, 2010) and Unequal Actors in Equalising Institutions: Negotiations in the United Nations General Assembly (Palgrave, 2013).