PhD defence M.C. (Rik) Joosen

Much regulation is shaped by the European Union and increasingly enforced at a supranational level. A great deal of this is done through EU Agencies. They advise the European Commission and member states with scientific expertise, facilitate implementation at the national level through training and guidelines, and independently enforce regulation. In doing so, they must operate independently of political influence and stakeholder interests, in particular those of the companies the agency is tasked with supervising supervised. This independence ensures that market regulation is not driven by the political turmoil or by the actors who have the most to gain rather than by the public interest. However, EU Agencies must increasingly respond to what a variety of stakeholders (such as companies, NGOs and trade unions) think of their activities. This is because EU Agencies are more and more part of the public debate. For example, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) played a major role in introducing vaccines against COVID-19 and the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) assesses the safety of controversial pesticides and genetically modified crops. Interacting with stakeholders is an opportunity for EU Agencies to address these discussions. In addition, interaction with stakeholders provides crucial information to help shape legislation and regulation. However, listening too much to stakeholders can lead to a conflict of interest that harms the general public. This can happen, for example, by unduly allowing dangerous products to be sold to consumers or by allowing unfair competition. Political scientists and public administration scholars have previously investigated what EU Agencies gain from their interaction with stakeholders, through which arenas this interaction takes place and how widespread the interaction is. Legal scholars have also shown how EU Agencies can use their enforcement powers against cases of non-compliance. However, we know little about how the interaction between stakeholders and EU Agencies works in practice. This is where I contribute to the scientific debate. In my dissertation, I show in four studies how the interaction between stakeholders and EU Agencies takes shape in practice. The four studies collectively make up two parts: 1) action and 2) reaction. In the first part, I show what actions stakeholders take to interact with EU Agencies and why they do this at all. In the second part, I show how EU Agencies respond to these stakeholder actions.

The PhD defences will not take place publicly in the usual way. A live stream link has been provided to candidate. The ceremony will begin exactly at 13.00.