come in and we'll discuss the facts - How people of the European Commission reacted to outside politics

Abstract

It is argued that the most common way to influence policies in the EU is by “access”, direct lobbying those who are in charge. The main prerequisites for protest politics or “voice” are absent in the case of the EC: (1)elected responsibles who face not to be re-elected if pressured by (2)concerned people. The European Commission is a bureaucracy, with appointed heads, and the Europeans couldn't care less about what goes on in Brussels. Yet, European development NGOs have protested intensively against the European Partnership Agreements. How did the Brussels civil servants react to this voice? What did they think of it? What do they think happened to the EPAs? How did they respond? And why? What did it do with their relation with those NGOs? And what did they discuss at the coffee machine?