Issue Control in Intermediary Networks: The Role of Expert Networks in EU Raw Materials Policy

Abstract

Global state and non-state actors are increasingly formulating and implementing policies to meet the challenges of the climate crisis. In this context, the European Commission has proposed a Green Deal Industrial Plan, that contains a proposal for a Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act. The CRM Act aims to ensure a secure supply of raw materials to help the European market build the technologies needed for the energy transition.
Previous research has identified that the Commission is highly reliant on expertise and that its Expert Groups are a key strategy to access information that it lacks internally. The Commission has three Expert Groups dedicated to raw materials policy, with a variety of actors participating. Taking the case of raw materials policy as its point of departure, this thesis sets out to answer the research question: How do organizations in expert networks influence the formulation of EU green industrial policy?
To answer this question, a mixed-methods approach is taken, consisting of a social network analysis of member organizations in the Expert Groups on raw materials and semi-structured interviews with 11 of these organizations. We analyze the results through the application of a theoretical framework combining theory on orchestration, theories of social networks and issue control, and theories of expertise. We show that the link between orchestration theory and network theory is credible and highly relevant for understanding the Commission’s policymaking. Through this approach, we contribute to the development of a key concept that links these theoretical perspectives, namely ‘intermediary networks’.
We show how the European Commission orchestrates an intermediary network, within which organizations coordinate and compete for issue control. In turn, the intermediary network is able to influence the policy outcome. Within the intermediary network, some actors have an outsize ability to shape the policy outcome, with particularly the largest industry associations that represent the mining companies in Europe standing out. To our surprise, we find that the Expert Groups are in fact not the main center of expertise drawn on by the Commission, nor the main forum for interaction between organizations in the intermediary network. Rather, other forums, particularly the Industrial Alliance ERMA, figure as relatively more dominant. These findings call for increased scholarly attention to the governance of EU raw materials policy, as well as more specifically the role of the Industrial Alliances launched by DG GROW.