EU Think Tank Fora as Transaction Cost Reducers: A Study of Informal Interest Intermediation in the EU

Abstract

By examining the organisational structure of EU think tank fora (seminars, workshops and conferences), this article proposes that fora can play the role of transaction cost reducers in EU policymaking. I argue that certain aspects of EU policymaking, including i) controlled processes of consultation, ii) diminishing costs of management, and iii) the risk of state capture, incentivise EU institutions to outsource part of the consultation activity to policy actors that can help EU institutions fulfil their informational and legitimacy needs. I argue that think tanks are able to play this role because they i) reduce information asymmetries by connecting a wide variety of policy actors and ii) act as intermediaries that mitigate opportunistic behaviour. The empirical assessment reveals that the dimensions characterising transactions are present in EU think tank fora. It shows that policy actors that do not usually participate in formal consultation processes frequently attend fora where they meet representatives of EU institutions, particularly Parliament and Commission representatives.

Keywords

• European Union
• Think tanks
• Interest intermediation
• Transaction costs