- MEPs and even specialist committees cannot make decisions without expert advice - and they will get it whether they solicit it or not (New Statesman, February 2005).
- Few MEPs have a deep knowledge of these complex and technical issues, making the European parliament a particularly fertile hunting ground for lobby groups (Financial Times, January 2006)
It would be impossible today without expert advice for any single individual to understand fully the complexities of every sector of society and workings of specific industries or the way in which draft legislation is likely to impact upon them.
Lobbyists and other expert groups in the consultation process provide the legislator with a clear view of the strength of the arguments on various sides and provide specialist information. Ultimately, however, politics (or democracy) determines the final outcome of votes in the European Parliament.
Lobbying is part and parcel of the democratic process, and something to which parliamentarians are accustomed. It is the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff and reconcile with larger political aims and objectives which is the trademark of the politician. The European Parliament has moved to ensure full transparency by obliging all lobbyists to register each year.
The European Parliament has introduced financing for committees to commission their own independent, evidence-based research. The Parliament has recruited a number of highly qualified experts in key policy areas, able to advise the Parliament on technical issues. Through a less formal but nonetheless very real process, MEPs increasingly recruit as personal assistants genuine policy advisers, rather than employees in purely secretarial roles. Finally, by serving for one or more legislatures on a specialist committee, MEPs may further develop expertise in areas where they may indeed already have had knowledge.
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