The Politics of Legal Expertise in EU Policymaking

"Legal advisers working for the European Union (EU) seldom capture the popular imagination. Even for an astute follower of EU matters, their work is more likely to appear like a dry-as-dust service to an obscure bureaucracy, a service tasked to fine-tune the technical details of some documents - a report, legislative proposal, or communication - and ensure compliance with some standards of concern only to other lawyers. Yet, this view is deceiving. Legal advisers seldom steal the limelight, and are even less likely to seek it. Still, readers of any news outlet focusing on EU matters may recall times when new EU measures envisaged by the Commission faced legal difficulties"--