In the shadow of public opinion: the European Parliament, civil society organizations and the politicization of trilogues.

Greenwood, Justin; Roederer-Rynning, Christilla

Abstract

This article examines the relations between the European Parliament (EP) and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the EU’s legislative process. It focuses specifically on legislative trilogues, an informal institution bringing together the representatives of the EP, Council, and Commission in a secluded setting to conclude legislative agreements. Trilogues have become the modus operandi and an absolutely pivotal part of the EU lawmaking process: they are where the deals are made. While secluded decision-making offers plenty of opportunities for EU institutions to depoliticize lawmaking, we argue that trilogues have become politicized, partly from the relationship between the European Parliament and civil society organisations. We flesh out this argument on the basis of insights from the politicization and the historical institutionalist literatures, advance two ideal types of trilogue politics, and explore these types on the basis of a preliminary examination of a comprehensive interview material.

Citation

GREENWOOD, J. and ROEDERER-RYNNING, C. 2019. In the shadow of public opinion: the European Parliament, civil society organizations and the politicization of trilogues. Politics and governance [online], 7(3), pages 316-326. Available from: https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v7i3.2175

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 18, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Sep 27, 2019
• Publication Date: Sep 27, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jul 5, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 9, 2019
• Journal: Politics and governance
• Electronic ISSN: 2183-2463
• Publisher: Cogitatio Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 316-326
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v7i3.2175
• Keywords: Trilogues; European Parliament; Institutionalism; Public administration; Civil society organisations; Legislative process; Law-making; Politicisatio
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/319114
• Contract Date: Jul 9, 2019