Individual Researchers and the European Parliament: Informal Networks, Transparency, and Breaking the "Brussels Bubble"

What do we know about the informal interchanges between individual researchers and the European Parliament (EP)? This brief on the EP and informal networks with researchers first provides a short overview of the actors involved in the links between the two, within the context of study on the research-policy nexus and the EP to date. In doing so, it makes a distinction between formal and informal processes. It then proceeds to evidence a small case study of Dutch researchers in the field of migration studies and Dutch MEPs gathering information on the topic of migration to illustrate the less visible and understudied topic of informal exchange between the EP and researchers. Based on this case study, the reflection ultimately points to the influential role of brokers of research and policy in Brussels, the lack of knowledge and visibility into informal interactions between researchers and the EP, and the possibility that a select group of researchers across Europe engaging with the EP could be expanded in order to improve evidence-based policy. It argues for a series of policy takeaways: are the current rules (and formal mechanisms) insufficient to hold the EP and researchers transparent and accountable, or would further regulation and bureaucracy stifle exchange and efficient policymaking? What can be done to encourage those individual researchers outside of the “Brussels bubble” to offer their expertise to the EP, thus facilitating diverse and comprehensive evidence-based policy? Finally, how do various research disciplines interact more, less or differently with varying agendas in the EP, and what does this mean for the degree of evidence-based policy?