Policy departments : quality expertise for parliamentary activities.
Date: 2014-05-27
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU activity, EU law, EU policy, EU relations, European Parliament, budget policy, domestic policy, economic and social cohesion, economic policy, foreign policy, human rights, information policy, operation of the Institutions, parliamentary question, scientific research

Policy departments

Quality expertise for parliamentary activities 

Dietmar NICKEL
Directorate-General  
for External Policies of the Union

Ricardo RIBERA D’ALCALA
Directorate-General  
for Internal Policies of the Union

Dear Member,

We would like to take this opportunity to provide you with information on 
in-house resources in terms of expert advice.

Effective parliamentary work relies on specialised, objective, high-quality 
and up-to-date information. To this end, five units responsible for research, 
analysis and policy advice, known as policy departments, were created. 
Their work covers all areas of the European Parliament’s activities. They 
produce high-level independent advice, based on research carried out either 
in-house or by external researchers. 

Policy departments deliver expertise through a wide variety of formats, 
ranging from in-depth studies on complex legislative issues and 
comparative studies to short background briefings. These documents aim to 
support the work of the various parliamentary bodies in shaping legislation 
and exercising scrutiny. They serve a variety of purposes: they can feed 
directly into the legislative work of a specific committee or serve as a briefing 
for delegations of members. Apart from a few confidential documents, all 
texts produced by the policy departments are available on the Parliament’s 
website for the benefit of all members and the wider public. 

In this brochure you will find essential information on the activities of the 
policy departments.

We look forward to working with you.

Ricardo Ribera d’Alcala
Director-General
Directorate-General for Internal 
Policies of the Union

Luis Marco Aguiriano Nalda
Director-General
Directorate-General for External  
Policies of the Union

Who we are 

Policy departments are research units that support parliamentary bodies 
(the President, committees, delegations and the Secretary General) in performing 
their legislative and institutional tasks.

Policy departments provide in-house and external expertise to support European 
Parliament committees and other parliamentary bodies in shaping legislation and 
exercising democratic scrutiny.

The departments assist parliamentary bodies (principally committees, delegations 
and assemblies, as well as the president and the secretary-general of the European 
Parliament), providing studies, briefings, in-depth analyses and other texts.

There are currently five policy departments which cover all areas of the European 
Parliament’s activities. These are:

•  Policy Department A: Scientific and Economic Policy

•  Policy Department B: Structural and Cohesion Policies

•  Policy Department C: Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs

•  Policy Department D: Budgetary Affairs

•  Policy Department — External Relations

European Parliament  | 2

IPOL

INTERNAL POLICIES OF THE UNION

POLICY DEPARTMENT

POLICY DEPARTMENT

POLICY DEPARTMENT

POLICY DEPARTMENT

POLICY DEPARTMENT

EXPO

EXTERNAL POLICIES OF THE UNION

3  |  Policy departments 

Economic and  
Scientific Policy

Structural and  
Cohesion Policies

Citizens’ Rights  
and Constitutional  
Affairs

Budgetary  
Affairs

External Relations

IPOL

INTERNAL POLICIES OF THE UNION

Directorate-General 
for Internal Policies

Directorate D
Budgetary
Affairs

Committee 
on
Budgets

Committee on 
Budgetary Control

Policy Department
D

Directorate C
Citizens’ Rights and
Constitutional 
Affairs

Committee on 
Civil Liberties, 
Justice 
and Home Affairs

Committee on 
Legal Affairs

Committee on 
Constitutional
Affairs

Committee on 
Women’s Rights & 
Gender Equality

Committee on 
Petitions

Directorate A
Economic and 
Scientific Policies

Directorate B
Structural and
Cohesion Policies

Committee on 
Employment and 
Social Affairs

Committee on 
Agriculture and 
Rural Development

Committee on 
Fisheries

Committee on 
Regional 
Development

Committee on 
Transport and 
Tourism

Committee on 
Culture and 
Education

Committee on 
Economic and 
Monetary Affairs

Committee on 
Internal Market 
and Consumer 
Protection

Committee on 
Industry, Research 
and Energy

Committee on 
the Environment, 
Public Health  
and Food Safety

Policy Department
A

Policy Department
B

Policy Department
C

European Parliament  |  4

EXPO

EXTERNAL POLICIES OF THE UNION

Directorate-General 
for External Policies

Directorate A
Committees

Directorate B
Regions

Directorate C
Resources

Directorate D
 Democracy 
Support

Committee on 
Foreign Affairs

 Sub-Committee on 
Security
and Defence

Sub-Committee on 
Human Rights

Europe: 
Enlargement and 
Economic Area

Europe: Eastern 
Partnership and 
Russia

Euromed and 
Middle East

Committee on 
Development

Africa, Caribbean 
and Pacific

Committee on 
International Trade

Transatlantic 
Relations and G8

Personnel

Mediation Support

Finance

IT

Office for the 
Promotion of
Parliamentary 
Democracy (OPPD)

Western Balkans

Human Rights 
Actions

Election Observation

Latin America

Asia, Australia and 
New Zealand

Policy Department

5  |  Policy departments 

What we offer

Policy departments provide a wide range of research services tailored to the needs 
of committees and other parliamentary bodies. Policy department staff attend the 
meetings of their respective committees to ensure the closest possible monitoring of 
parliamentary activities. This allows for the early detection of potential research needs 
and proactive forward planning.

Below, you will find a short description of the options available.

✎ At-a-glance notes (1–2 pages)

These short documents, written on the initiative of the policy departments, 
contain EU-oriented analyses of recent events or developments.

✎ Briefings (3–10 pages)

Written by policy department staff or by external experts, either in response 
to a request or on the initiative of the policy departments, briefings examine 
issues of strategic importance.

✎ In-depth analyses (11–36 pages)

Written by policy departments’ administrators or by external experts — either 
in response to a request or on the policy departments’ initiative — these 
documents provide comprehensive country- or issue-specific analyses. This 
tool is used most often to offer food for thought for members when a report is 
being drafted, when a delegation has arranged an official visit or when major 
events linked to European issues are being organised.

European Parliament  |  6

✎ Studies (36 pages or more)

Studies are more in-depth contributions which are usually linked to a 
forthcoming legislative proposal or an own-initiative report. In general, policy 
departments commission external experts to draw these up at the request of 
a committee/delegation. They vary in length according to the scope, deadline 
and budget. Studies can also be prepared by policy department staff.

Studies are generally presented to the requesting committee. Occasionally 
they give rise to public hearings, workshops or expert panels.

✎ Background notes and speaking points
These are drawn up primarily to assist the President of the European 
Parliament and committee chairs.

✎ Workshops

The policy departments organise events that enhance Parliament’s analytical 
capacity and provide new perspectives on important topics. In close 
cooperation with committee secretariats, policy departments organise 
thematic workshops and conferences, as a platform for discussion among 
various stakeholders. The purpose of workshops is to provide independent 
external analysis, with experts producing a written contribution, presenting 
it orally and engaging in discussion with members and other experts. Notes 
and studies may also be requested in connection with workshops to serve as 
background for a committee discussion.

✎ Expert panels

An expert panel is a group of external experts set up to supply committee 
members with regular written and/or oral contributions.

✎ Policy hubs 

Policy hubs are forums for informal dialogue and debate on topical issues 
between EP internal experts and the external think tank community.

7  |  Policy departments 

✎ Fact sheets

The Fact sheets on the European Union is one of the most popular 
publications of the European Parliament, providing a brief overview of EU 
activities and Parliament’s contribution to European integration for a wide 
audience (members, stakeholders, students and citizens). Each fact sheet 
covers a specific topic. They are drafted by policy department staff, with the 
Editorial Unit responsible for their overall coordination.

The fact sheets are available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets.

Who can request expertise?

How to request expertise

Expertise is provided for a
committee/delegation

Decision by
committee/delegation coordinators
at the request of rapporteurs/ 
committee members/political groups

Policy departments
provide the requested expertise in-house
or commission external researchers

Presentation in committees (in general)
Publication
on Internet/Intranet
Products also available in hard copy

European Parliament  |  8

Contribution of our work to various 
parliamentary activities

The expertise provided by the policy departments serves a variety of purposes. In 
2013, the policy departments ran 52 workshops and produced 1 033 documents, 
229 externally and 804 internally. Unsurprisingly, almost half of our work goes to the 
heart of parliamentary activities — feeding into reports and resolutions. A substantial 
amount backs up the work of the president’s cabinet and a number of important 
events organised by the European Parliament, such as the Agora or joint parliamentary 
meetings with national parliaments.

Chart 1. Expertise provided by policy departments in 2013

161

229

External expertise

Workshops

52

Internal briefings, notes
and country briefings

Country security
assessments

643

9  |  Policy departments 

In-house or external expertise

Depending on the subject matter, the expertise may be available in-house or 
commissioned externally. Following a request from a parliamentary body, the relevant 
policy department examines whether it could be carried out in-house. Many of the 
documents are produced by policy department staff. In case this is not possible, the 
policy departments launch competitive tenders to commission external researchers.

Budget available

An annual budget is allocated to the standing committees, sub-committees, committees 
of enquiry and temporary committees to fund the research carried out externally. 
The budget is linked to the size of the committee (the larger the committee, the 
larger the budget). The committee may use the resources allocated without seeking 
prior authorisation from other parliamentary bodies. Since the creation of the policy 
departments, their budget for external expertise has increased steadily (from slightly 
under EUR 800 000 in 2004 to slightly over EUR 7 million in 2013) in line with the ever-
growing numbers of requests from committees.

Our quality charter

The policy departments offer a comprehensive range of research services.

Integrity, independence and quality are our founding principles. Integrity means 
steadfast adherence to the highest ethical principles and professional standards. 
Independence means providing sound expert advice free from any kind of pressure.  
And quality means striving for professional excellence and continuous improvement.

This commitment has also helped us build valuable working relations with other 
institutions, national parliaments and the wider research community.

European Parliament  |  10

Contact us

All documents, apart from those classified as confidential, are available online at: 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies 

or on the European Parliament’s think tank portal:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank 

Our documents are also available through our Intranet pages.

Hard copies may be obtained on request. You are welcome to visit our 
presentation shelves on the 3rd floor of the ASP building and pick up hard copies 
of our most recent publications.

For any request for information, please email us at: 

•  Policy Department — Economic and Scientific Policies

poldep-economy-science@ep.europa.eu

•  Policy Department — Structural and Cohesion Policies:

poldep-cohesion@ep.europa.eu

•  Policy Department — Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs:

poldep-citizens@ep.europa.eu

•  Policy Department — Budgetary Affairs:

poldep-budg@ep.europa.eu

•  Policy Department — External Relations:

poldep-expo@ep.europa.eu

11  |  Policy departments 

 
 
 
 
 
We welcome your comments or suggestions. This enables us to 
continuously improve the services we provide.

To subscribe to the policy departments’ common monthly newsletter, 
please write to:

ep-policydepartments@ep.europa.eu

Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers 
to your questions about the European Union

Freephone number (*):

00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11

(*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access  
to 00 800 numbers or these calls may be billed.

Photo credits: © European Union, Corbis

More information on the European Union is available on the Internet  
(http://europa.eu).

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Union, 2014

© European Union, 2014

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledge.

Printed in Luxembourg

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