Morten Egeberg, Åse Gornitzka, Jarle Trondal and Mathias Johannessen have published the article 'Parliament Staff: Unpacking the Behaviour of Officials in the European Parliament' in Journal of European Public Policy.
Abstract
Since most group officials are, in addition, affiliated to a particular committee, they also emphasize sectoral interests, including the concerns of affected interest groups. EP secretariat officials, on the other hand, give priority to sectoral and expert concerns. Both groups of staff rank European concerns above national ones, and pay more attention to the arguments of the European Commission than to the arguments of any other institution.
This study thus suggests that officials in the EP contribute to the spanning of ideological and sectoral cleavages across European Union institutions. These observations may be seen as deviating from a basically intergovernmental portrayal of the Union.
Full info
Morten Egeberg, Åse Gornitzka, Jarle Trondal and Mathias Johannessen
'Parliament Staff: Unpacking the Behaviour of Officials in the European Parliament'
Journal of European Public Policy
Vol. 20, no. 4, 2013, pp. 495-514
DOI: 10.1080/13501763.2012.718885