// DISSERTATION PROJECT

An honest Broker? Understanding the Role of the European Commission in Trilogue Negotiations

Debates on interinstitutional relations in the European Union mostly focus on the relationship between the European Parliament and the Council as the two co-legislators. They tend to either ignore the European Commission’s role in the interinstitutional triangle or to certify its decline vis-à-vis the co-legislators. More generally, the role of the Commission in interinstitutional relations and especially in informal trilogue negotiations is described as that of an honest broker trying to mediate between Parliament and Council. But while this understanding is widely accepted, we do not know what being an honest broker actually means in practice. The dissertation project aims to investigate this question by shedding light on the Commission’s role in trilogue negotiations. As the name indicates, trilogues are negotiations between three actors, that is Parliament, Council and Commission. The role of the Commission is therefore explicitly called for. How does the Commission define, discharge and fulfil this role and how is it perceived by the co-legislators? The dissertation builds on investigations into informal negotiating processes based on ethnographic fieldwork and elite interviews. It suggests that theoretical approaches on agency and role perception combined with qualitative data help to gain new insights by opening up the black box of ‘the’ Commission seen as a homogenous institution.

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// ACADEMIC BACKROUND

2013 – 2016
Master of Arts in Politics with Focus on International and European Politics, University of Bamberg

2014 – 2015
Scienes Po Lille, France (Study abroad)

2009 – 2013
Bachelors Degree in Political and Administrative Science, University of Konstanz

2011 – 2012
Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (Study abroad)

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// PUBLICATIONS

Laloux, T. & Panning, L. (2021): "Why Defend Something I Don’t Agree with? Conflicts within the Commission and Legislative Amendments in Trilogues". Politics and Governance 9 (3), 40-51.

Panning, L. (2021): "Building and Managing the European Commission’s Position for Trilogue Negotiations". Journal of European Public Policy 28 (1), 32-52.

Ripoll Servent, A. & Panning, L. (2021): "Engaging the Disengaged? Explaining the Participation of Eurosceptic MEPs in Trilogue Negotiations". Journal of European Public Policy 28 (1), 72-92.

Ripoll Servent, A. & Panning, L. (2019): “Preparatory Bodies as Mediators of Political Conflict in Trilogues: The European Parliament’s Shadows Meetings”. Politics and Governance 7(3), DOI: 10.17645/pag.v7i3.2197.

Panning, L. & Felder, A. (2019): “Die Europawahlen aus der Innensicht”. Regierungsforschung.de, regierungsforschung.de/die-europawahlen-aus-der-innensicht/

Ripoll Servent, A. & Panning, L. (2019): “Eurosceptics in trilogue settings: interest formation and contestation in the European Parliament”. West European Politics 42(4), 755-775.

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// CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

European Union Studies Association, Fifteenth Biennial Conference. Paper Presentation: “The European Commission as the honest broker: Evidence from informal trilogue negotiations” Denver/USA. 9-11 May 2019.

European Union Studies Association, Fifteenth Biennial Conference. Paper Presentation: “Preparatory bodies as mediators of political conflict in trilogues: The European Parliament’s shadows meetings” Denver/USA. 9-11 May 2019.

Three countries congress SPSA/DVPW/ÖGPW. Paper Presentation: “Euroscepticism in interinstitutional negotiations: Comparing role perceptions of Eurosceptic and non-Eurosceptic actors” Zurich/Switzerland. 14-16 February 2019.

DVPW-Kongress 2018. Paper Presentation: “Eurosceptics in trilogue settings: Interest formation and contestation in the European Parliament” Frankfurt/Germany. 25-28 September 2018.

UACES, Academic Association for European Studies, Annual Conference. Paper Presentation: „The European Commission’s GRI‐process: Preparing for trilogue negotiations” Bath/UK. 3-5 September 2018.

UACES, Academic Association for European Studies, Annual Conference. Paper Presentation: „Eurosceptics in trilogue settings: Interest formation and contestation in the European Parliament” Bath/UK. 3-5 September 2018.

ecpr Standing Group on the European Union Conference. Paper Presentation: “Preparatory bodies as mediators of political conflict in trilogues” Paris/France. 13-15- June 2018.

UACES, Academic Association for European Studies, Annual Conference. Paper Presentation: „The European Commission’s Place in the EU Inter-institutional Triangle: Solely a Power Game?“ Krakow/Poland. 4-6 September 2017.

European Union Studies Association, Fifteenth Biennial Conference. Paper Presentation: „Eurosceptics in trilogue settings: Intra-institutional interest formation and contestation“ Miami/USA. 4-6 May 2017.

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// EXPERIENCE

Professional Experience

05/2020 - 03/2021
Research Assistant at Chair of Empirical Political Science, University of Bamberg

09/2020 - 12/2020
Guest Lecturer, Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen

10/2016 - 04/2020
Research Fellow for the Project “Democratic Legitimacy in the EU: Inside the 'Black Box' of Informal Trilogues” at the Assistant Professorship for Political Science and European Integration, University of Bamberg

03/2018 - 04/2018
Internship in the European Parliament

10/2017 - 02/2018
Blue Book Traineeship in the European Commission