The Politics of Information: The Case of the European Union

Starting from the basic assumption that institutionalized processes of information transfers are never entirely neutral but advantage certain types of information over others, this powerful collection presents the results of a research agenda that, through empirical investigation, systematically examines how information plays a key role in policy-making. As a very dynamic environment characterized by many different modes of information gathering and processing, the European Union forms a particularly interesting venue in which to test the 'politics of information' approach.

With a mandate to go beyond the general assertion that informational asymmetry matters, the study has selected a number of pivotal EU actors and policy areas, studying them through 'information lenses'. More concretely the contributions present a understanding of the politics of information by examining the formal rules of information access, distribution and processing and by studying how these rules are applied in the day-to-day policy process.

Contents:

++ 1. The Politics of Information: A New Research Agenda

+ PART I: CONCEPTUAL AND HISTROICAL REFLECTIONS
++ 2. The Politics of Information: An Organization Theoretical Perspective
++ 3. Information Processes and International Organisations (1910-1940)
++ 4. The Politics of Peer Reviewing: Comparing the OECD and the EU

+ PART II: INSTITUTIONS
++ 5. COREPER: Linking Capitals and Brussels
++ 6. Who Selects What and How? How the European Parliament Obtains and Processes Information for Policy-Making
++ 7. The Politics of Information in the EU: The Case of European Agencies

+ PART III: INTERESTS AND EXPERTISE
++ 8. The European Commission's Relations with Interest Organisations: Master of the Information Universe?
++ 9. The European Commission's Expert Groups as an Information System
++ 10. Informational Asymmetries in the EU: Fault Lines Running Through the Comitology System
++ 11. Information, Expertise and the Common Agricultural Policy: The Role and Influence of European Farm Organizations in Historical Perspective

+ PART IV: INFORMING THE PUBLIC
++ 12. The Commission, the Politics of Information and the European Public Sphere
++ 13. The European Parliament 'On Air'

+ PART V: INFORMATION IN THE FIELD OF FOREIGN POLICY AND SECURITY
++ 14. EU Foreign Policy and the Politics of Information
++ 15. Information in EU Security and Defence
++ 16. Intelligence and EU External Relations: Operational to Constitutive Politics
++ 17. The Politics of Information in EU Internal Security: Information Sharing by European Agencies
++ 18. Conclusion