Legitimacy and Participation in European Governance

From elite networks to non-elite communities - discover how legitimacy in European governance is being redefined with a case study on the EMA's public hearing approach.

This talk is aimed at all scholars interested in new trends of policy making in the European Union, with a particular focus on the relationship between top-down and bottom-up approaches and EU legitimacy. It focuses on a recent article in the European Journal of Risk Regulation that examines the European Medicines Agency's use of public hearings during safety reviews of medicinal products.

This particular case of the EMA's public hearing on Quinolone antibiotics is situated within the broader scope of the work on expertise and legitimacy in European governance. The article argues that understanding legitimate governance requires contrasting the value placed on technical expertise in elite networks with non-elite networks. Ultimately, the process of patients challenging existing scientific evidence led to the EMA proposing more stringent future guidelines for the prescription of Quinolone antibiotics in the EU. The talk further develops on the potential of these ‘negotiations’ of expertise to enhance the trustworthiness and legitimacy of European governance as a whole.

Matthew Wood is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield Department of Politics and International Relations in the UK. His work examines the conditions for legitimacy in European governance, focusing on health and environmental policy. His recent publications have been featured in JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, Energy Policy, and the American Political Science Review.

Advances in International Studies is the IIR's flagship series of academic talks. We invite both established and emerging scholars who make novel or unfamiliar contributions to our understanding of global politics. Each session will consist of an introductory talk and will be followed by an open discussion in a seminar setting.