Is academic research useful to EU officials? The logic of institutional openness in the Commission

This paper contributes to the ‘reflective turn’ in academic research on the EU (AREU) by asking: is AREU useful to EU policymakers? The findings come from a survey of 57 Commission officials of mixed ranks from 15 DGs, and 45 in-depth interviews with mostly mid-level officials from 22 DGs and the Secretariat General. Officials value AREU’s data, concepts, and methods for specific ends – with differences across ranks, roles, and personal inclinations. Accessing AREU through multiple venues, they leverage it pragmatically – to improve their work’s quality, boost its credibility internally and externally, and justify it publicly. They feel their Commission colleagues use AREU, albeit to a lesser extent. They see several institutional features of the Commission as conducive to AREU: ‘positive’ ones (technocratic freedom, evidence-based expectations, a multinational staff) and ‘constraining’ ones (scarce resources, subsidiarity). The conclusion highlights the interviewees’ desire for more integration of AREU into their work.