NEW EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESEARCH SERVICE- DG EPRS

Recent internal studies comparing the European Parliament with four national parliaments (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) and the U.S. Congress identified a number of weaknesses in the current support structure of the European Parliament. One of them is an independent scientific advice available for Members on demand. This was also one of the main conclusions of the EP 2025 Study. That is why the guidelines for the 2014 budget urged the development of the current Library Service into a fully fledged Parliamentary Research Service for Members.

The decision by the Bureau to create the new Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Service reflects the importance the Parliament attaches to providing the highest quality of analytical and research support to Members and committees, drawing on the experience of comparable services in other parliaments. This is a major initiative within the Parliament’s administration and one that should significantly enhance the coherence and depth of what is offered to MEPs in their daily work.

The Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value (from DG IPOL) has been brought together with the Directorate for Library (from DG PRES) and a new thematically organised Directorate for Member’s Research Service. The three directorates will constitute the new Directorate-General with about 200 staff.

Whereas the Members’ Research Service will support individual Members, the Policy Departments will continue to service office and specific function holders like rapporteurs with their own production, as they were explicitly designed to be immediately answerable to parliamentary committees and delegations. Nevertheless, it will be vital for the two services to develop the closest possible cooperation and exchange of information, with the aim of offering a coherent and integrated set of products.

Anthony Teasdale is the First Director-General of the new DG for Parliamentary Research Service. The cooperation between the Policy Departments and the new DG should be subject to a review at half time of the new legislature.

By comparison, in the United States, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) employs more than 400 policy analysts, attorneys and information professionals across a variety of disciplines in five research divisions: American Law, Domestic Social Policy, Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade, Government and Finance, Resources, Science and Industry. The breadth and depth of this expertise from law, economics and foreign affairs to defense and homeland security, public administration, education, health care, immigration, energy, environmental protection, science and technology enables CRS quickly to mobilize flexible groups that provide integrated analyses of complex issues facing the Congress. In a fast-paced, ever-changing environment, CRS provides Congress with the vital analytical support it needs to address the most complex public policy issues facing the nation. Its work incorporates program and legislative expertise, quantitative methodologies and legal and economic analysis.