Secluded Decision-Making in the European Parliament: Opening the 'Black Box' of Trilogues

Abstract

Trilogues – informal meetings reuniting the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council – have become taken-for-granted structures in EU decision-making, but they continue to raise questions in regards to transparency, access to decision-makers and political conflict within the European Parliament and with other EU institutions. This panel gathers papers employing a range of quantitative and qualitative methods based on interviews, debates, official documents and ethnographic material to assess the role and impact of trilogues in the EU's political system. It considers the extent to which the search for efficiency has damaged the quality of democracy in the EU's political system, particularly in view of growing contestation and polarisation.

Title	Details
How Transparent are EU Informal Trilogues in Practice?	View Paper Details
Preparatory Bodies as Mediators of Political Conflict in Trilogues	View Paper Details
Explaining Agents’ Deviation in Trilogue Negotiations	View Paper Details