This document is a master's thesis that explores power dynamics in informal trilogue negotiations between the European Commission, Council, and Parliament. It begins by reviewing different methodological approaches to studying power in trilogues and their shortcomings. The author then proposes a theoretical framework to analyze how the shift to more informal trilogue negotiations has changed power relationships. Subsequent chapters deduce specific power mechanisms for each institution based on political theory and literature on trilogues. The thesis aims to provide a comprehensive and differentiated perspective on power in trilogues through this deductive, theoretical approach.

1. KU Leuven
Master of European Studies: Transnational and global perspectives
Centre for European Studies
Blijde Inkomststraat 5
3000 LEUVEN, BELGIË
Informal decision-making in
the European Union
An exploration of power dynamics in
trilogue negotiations
Tobias Röcker
Presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts in European Studies
Supervisor: Dr. Johan Adriaensen
Academic year 2014 - 2015
11086 words

3. i
Informal decision-making in the European Union
an exploration of power dynamics in trilogue negotiations
Abstract
Most decision in the Ordinary Legislative Procedure of the European Union are made in informal
trilogue negotiations. Delegations of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union
and the European Parliament negotiate fast track legislation that bypasses the formal decision-making
process. Recent literature presents various methodological approaches to the power distribution in
trilogues, albeit the shortcoming of a comprehensive theoretical framework. This paper tries to fill that
gap by analysing the power implications of the shift from the formal procedure to informal trilogues.
A deductive research based on political theory develops specific power mechanism. This allows a
differentiated perspective adequate to the manifold character of trilogues and presents a contribution
to the theoretical foundation of research on power dynamics in trilogues.
Key Words: Trilogue; Informal decision-making; Co-decision; Power dynamics; Interinstitutional
bargaining; EU legislation;
Content
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... i
List of Abbreviations.................................................................................................................................ii
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1
2. Attributes of Power......................................................................................................................... 3
3. A trilogue, is a trilogue, is a trilogue................................................................................................ 4
4. Implications for the European Commission.................................................................................... 7
4.1. In the Room Bonus.................................................................................................................. 8
4.2. Power to formulate the proposal............................................................................................ 9
5. Implications for the Council of Ministers ...................................................................................... 10
5.1. The tight hands of the Council Presidency............................................................................ 11
5.2. Access to information advantage.......................................................................................... 12
5.3. Personnel Turnover of Negotiators....................................................................................... 13
6. Implications for the European Parliament .................................................................................... 15
6.1. First move advantage, patience and the power to delay...................................................... 16
6.2. Relais actor and the powerful rapporteur............................................................................. 17
7. Other Actors .................................................................................................................................. 20
8. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 22
9. Bibliography................................................................................................................................... 24

4. ii
List of Abbreviations
CoR Committee of the Regions
Council Council of the European Union
EA Early Agreement, a conclusion of the legislative process after the first reading.
EESC European Economic and Social Committee
EU European Union
EP European Parliament
OLP Ordinary Legislative Procedure
TEU Treaty of the European Union
TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my advisor Johan Adriaensen for his guidance, supervision and support.

5. 1
1. Introduction
Who decides in the European Union? This seemingly simple question any schoolbook provides an
answer for turns out to be a very difficult question the academic community is only beginning to
address. In the formal decision-making process of the Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP) a proposal
of the European Commission takes a variety of steps, including readings in the European Parliament
(EP) and the Council of the European Union (Council). Both chambers can amend the proposal and
neither can conclude against the will of the other. Importantly, two interrelated trends challenge this
formal process: The increased use of informal trilogue1
negotiations between the three mentioned
institutions outside the formal process; and the rapid rise of fast track solutions, so-called ‘Early
Agreements’ (EA), where Council and EP conclude a file at first reading, which was the case for 85% of
legislative files in the OLP during the last legislation period. (European Parliament 2014a, 8) Over the
past years, trilogues not only became an established instrument in EU legislative decision-making, but
a ‘hidden’ standard procedure. This presents a very significant change to the structure of EU legislative
decision-making. In this explorative study, I analyse power dynamics in trilogue negotiations. They are
elementary to our understanding of why a decision is taken in a certain way. Relative power
distribution in trilogues is not only relevant for the scientific debate on EU legislation, but also for
practitioners and ultimately for the accountability of our elected representatives and the legitimacy of
the European Union.
The academic society still struggles to address the phenomenon accurately. The literature on power in
trilogues can be structured following their methodological approaches to measure power, as
suggested by (Thomson 2015, 203f): A first group bases its research on interviews with practitioners.
While this approach can provide valuable insights, Thomson notices that practitioners, under similar
conditions, subjectively come to very diverging interpretations of power distribution. A second
approach uses the amount of successful amendments of the EP as indicator. Thomson criticises this
approach based on his conflictual understanding of power, where a successful EP amendment would
only account for power if introduced against the interest of the Council. In the light of early
agreements, I want to add that the amendments introduced by the EP often represent a pre-
negotiated agreement. Its adoption therefore cannot measure the EP’s relative power. Another group
that is not mentioned by Thomson compares Early Agreement results to files that have been concluded
at later stages, for example (Rasmussen and Reh 2013). Problematic is that the use of trilogues is not
a necessary condition for an EA, and trilogues also take place at later stages. Furthermore, with 85%
of files concluded early, the comparison lost much of its explanatory value. As part of the final group,
1
(fr) Trilogue, also (en) Trialogue and (de) Trilog. Within the EU institutions, both the English and French term
are used. Consistent with most academic literature, I will use the originally French name “Trilogue” in English.

6. 2
Thomson favours and practices a fourth option, a modelling approach based on a spatial
representation of the different policy positions of the actors involved. Thereby, the initial position of
an institution’s required majority is compared to the legislative outcome to measure an actor’s power.
The closer an outcome to the initial position of a co-legislator, the more powerful this institution was
in the negotiations. I am sceptical of this approach for two reasons: Firstly, it takes trilogues as a ‘black
box’ and implies a causal relation from the observed outcome to initial power. This carries the risk of
neglecting interfering variables, specification error and spurious relationship. For example, a middle
ground agreement of two powerful political parties can be very close to the initial position of a small
centre party, which does not mean that centre party was powerful. Secondly, his approach does not
account for different culture on political communication in the institutions when determining the
initial positions. I expect a bias in favour of the Council, whose proposals are formulated more
agreement oriented and therefore are already closer to the outcome than the public debate in
Parliament. Support for this critique comes from a Council official who indicates in an interview: “the
EP plays the game by starting with an extreme position on which it is quite easy to then give way as a
‘concession’.” (Roederer-Rynning and Greenwood 2015, 8) Given these methodological challenges, an
empirical overall assessment of the actor’s power in trilogues adds little value to our understanding of
trilogues.
Instead, this paper takes a theoretical approach to the question: How does the increased use of
trilogues change power dynamics in EU legislative decision-making? The deductive research is
explorative, because it tries to open the black box and differentiates power mechanism within trilogues
by applying political theories. It is comparative in the sense that it emphasizes the difference to formal
OLP. It is comprehensive as it deals with the particularities of the various actors involved and is based
on an extensive review of the literature on trilogues. Theoretical models can structure and enhance
our understanding of a phenomenon and be a guide for empirical research. I suggest to analyse
different power mechanism separately. Different mechanism might work in opposite directions,
outweighing each other, which causes challenges for encompassing them empirically. This work
explores different theoretical approaches to power dynamics in trilogues in form of deductive
research. It will thereby contribute to the theoretical foundation of research on trilogues. I will not
develop causal hypothesis, since empirical evidence for each mechanism could be found using
different indicators or methodologies. Instead, a statement on the direction of each power mechanism
is presented. I shall then try to deduce conditionality and limitations of each mechanism. In a next step,
empirical support or variations of a mechanism are discussed, based on an extensive review and critical
assessment of the existing literature. The paper does not engage in the related normative debate on
the implications of trilogues for the democratic legitimacy of the European Union, compare (Huber
and Shackleton 2013; Lord 2013; Reh 2014). Furthermore, I neglect the question why trilogues occur

7. 3
and how this informal procedure evolved, see (Reh et al. 2011) for an evaluation of different
theoretical approaches.
The structure essentially evolves from general reflections on power and trilogues to concrete proposals
how to incorporate specific power aspects by using political theory. Chapter two elaborates my
understanding of power where I shall argue that a broader power definition is necessary to adequately
address the various power implications related to the shift towards trilogues. Chapter three introduces
the background and characteristics of trilogues, as well as the main differences to the formal OLP of
the European Union. In the second part of the thesis, the structure follows the involved institutions
with a separate chapter on the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the
European Parliament. Each chapter begins with the general power implications of the increased use of
trilogues, before elaborating concrete power mechanism deduced from standard theoretical models
which shape the institution’s power in trilogues. A final chapter elaborates power effects on the
excluded actors, before concluding the thesis.
2. Attributes of Power
The philosophical debate on power has various facets that evoke different associations. In the context
of trilogues, most scholars go back to Max Weber and his definition from 1922: “[Macht ist] die Chance,
innerhalb einer sozialen Beziehung den eigenen Willen auch gegen Widerstand durchzusetzen,
gleichviel worauf diese Chance beruht.”(Max Weber, as quoted in Nohlen and Schultze 1985, 523) Dahl
adapted the Weberian approach of an asymmetrical relation between actors: “An actor has power
over another to the extent that she can get him to do something that he would not otherwise
do.”(paraphrase of Dahl 1957 in Saar 2010, 1099). Core aspects of this approach are the conflict of
interests, the focus on a conscious actors’ behaviour, and a causal relation from one actor’s power to
the other actor’s action and its effect. Scholars have mostly analysed power in trilogues in the tradition
of Weber and Dahl, for example (Bailer 2010; Costello and Thomson 2013; and less explicitly
Rasmussen and Reh 2013). I think, this narrow view on power in trilogues has several weaknesses: It
only analyses cases in which open confrontation occurs, but a very influential aspect is the actual
formulation of amendments, or the formation of the actors will in the first place. Moreover, cases
where the two main legislators strongly disagree are generally underrepresented in the EU legislative
process. (Costello 2011) It further focuses on formal or constitutional rights as resource for power,
therefore restricts the analysis to the EP and Council as formal legislators and neglects actors who do
not vote on the proposal. It cannot accurately account for the power of the European Commission in
the OLP. Also, the consultation of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and Committee

8. 4
of the Regions (CoR) is thereby completely neglected in the trilogues debate. Finally, the emphasis on
actors’ behaviour neglects more structural aspects of the power dimension in trilogues.
In this thesis, I adapt a broader definition of power that extends the Weberian understanding. Power
does not only result from the action of one participant shaping a second one’s actions, or as Lukes
formulates it in response to Dahl: “power is a dispositional concept, identifying an ability or capacity,
which may or may not be exercised.” (Lukes 2005, 109) For the purpose of this work, I shall define
power as the ability to shape the outcome of the legislative process. This is to say, a broader set of
aspects should be considered. Power could for example also be exercised through setting the agenda,
defining the legal basis and level of decision-making, influencing the actors’ preferences, deliberative
contributions, formulating proposals or shaping the space of options available. Equally, the structure
of a procedure can have implications for the relative power of the actors. The increased use of
trilogues, as a structural change in EU decision-making, has such power implications for the options of
actors within that framework. The term ‘power dynamics’ emphasises that power is not static but
changes under different conditions or in different constellations. I use the term ‘power mechanism’ to
describe such a potential shift of power under certain circumstances. Other terms such as control or
influence are used in the common sense of the word, not as variation or differentiation within the
power concept.
A decision-making sphere is regarded as informal to the extent that it is outside the formal sphere
foreseen in that case. The rules of interaction generally emerged in the process of interaction of the
involved actors, yet outside the control of a single actor. These rules may not be part to formal dispute
resolution in case of non-compliance. It has already been the case in the European Union that informal
rules evolved on the basis of formal treaties, which were formalized and turned into treaty regulations
at a later point. (Heritier 2012) For the arguments presented in this thesis, I assume rational actors
who try to maximize their utility. This is not to say that human behaviour always works this way or that
the power mechanism can determine the outcome of the legislative process. The theoretical models
should rather be perceived as a potential explanation that help us understand certain aspects of
trilogue negotiations. It opens the box and looks inside the negotiations.
3. A trilogue, is a trilogue, is a trilogue
Unique in nature and rich in variation, all trilogues have one thing in common: they bring together
representatives of the Commission, the EP and the Council to facilitate coordination and compromise
between the three institutions of the European Union. They are mostly used in the framework of the
co-decision procedure, which has become the Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP) under the Lisbon
Treaty. The different stages of the OLP are defined in Article 294 of the Treaty on the Functioning of

9. 5
the European Union (TFEU). There are several possibilities to conclude legislation on the basis of a
proposed legislation, introduced by the Commission:
A: The Parliament adopts a position with a simple majority in first reading, which the Council
approves.
B: The Council does not approve EP’s position and adopts its own position in first reading. The
Council must inform the Parliaments of its reasons and the Commission shall inform the EP of
its position. If the EP approves of the Council’s position or does not take any action2
within
three months, the act is concluded. (Otherwise, a simple majority in the EP is required to stop
the act and an absolute majority is required to further amend the position in second reading.)
C: If the Parliament agrees with absolute majority on new amendments in second reading, the
Commission again gives its opinion. If the Commission agrees, the Council can conclude the
file with Qualified Majority Vote (QMV). In case of a negative opinion from the Commission,
the Council still can conclude the file, but unanimously.
D: If the Council does not agree with the EP’s amendments in second reading, the file goes to
the Conciliation Committee in order to formulate a joint text. This joint version can be adopted
in third reading by a simple majority in the EP and QMV in the Council. (Summary on the basis
of TFEU 2009, Art. 294)
Originally, trilogues were first introduced to prepare the Conciliation Committee in option D. Now,
they can take place at any stage of the OLP, even before the first reading in EP. Since option A was
introduced with the treaty of Amsterdam in 1999, the number of legislation concluded early grew
steadily. During the last legislative term of the EP, 85% of legislation under the OLP was concluded at
first reading, another 8% of files were concluded following option B, which is also called early second
reading agreement. (European Parliament 2014a, 8) Some authors (including official EP sources) define
‘Early Agreements’ (EA) as combining both option A and B, e.g. (Bressanelli et al. 2014; Rasmussen and
Reh 2013). Subsequently, 93% of co-decision files were EAs during the last legislation period. From a
power perspective, it is however important to distinguish between them, since option B can mean that
no trilogue agreement was possible prior to the first reading in EP, or that EP plenary voted against the
negotiated compromise in first reading. It has further been suggested to differentiate between Early
Agreements as a result of trilogues, and Early Conclusions in general. “Even though a vast majority of
the procedures concluded at first reading are EAs, there are still a considerable number of first reading
files which do not result from informal negotiation in trilogue.” (Bressanelli et al. 2014, 9) In this paper,
Early Agreements therefore refer to option A agreements as a result of trilogue negotiations, if not
explicitly indicated differently. Between 2009 and 2014, over 1500 trilogues were held on approx. 350
2
This aspect is recurrent source of confusion. Some arguments suggest that a simple majority in first reading is
followed by a higher threshold and absolute majority in second reading, e.g.: “For the rapporteur’s party group,
it is easier to muster the necessary votes [in EAs]; the Council Presidency can argue that a negotiated compromise
will be more difficult to find at second reading.” (Rasmussen and Reh 2013, 1010) However, a file does not need
an EP majority in favour of the Council’s proposal in order to pass in second reading.

10. 6
different legislative files. (European Parliament 2014a, 24) In that time frame, only 24% of legislative
files were concluded without the use of trilogues. (Brandsma 2015, 17) It is therefore just to say that
trilogues are at the very core of EU legislation and its informal negotiations became the standard
decision-making procedure.
Trilogues have no legal basis in the Treaties of the European Union or Treaties on the Functioning of
the European Union. In 2007, Council and EP structured the use of trilogues in a joint declaration on
practical arrangements. Herein, both sides express that trilogues have proven to be beneficial and that
its practice at all stages of co-decision should be further encouraged. Both sides further declare to
strive for an adoption at first reading (option A) wherever possible. Negotiated deals are not legally
binding until formally adopted by the OLP, yet a result in trilogues is confirmed by a letter of either
Council or EP with details on the agreed amendments and confirming the chamber’s “willingness to
accept the outcome, subject to legal-linguistic verification, should it be confirmed by the vote in [the
other chamber’s] plenary.” (Joint Declaration, European Parliament 2014b, Annex XXI, 263)
The character of trilogues can vary, depending on the seniority of participants and at which step in OLP
they take place. While the negotiation mandates in the late stages are very detailed, trilogues on Early
Agreements take place before the EP plenary has voted on a common position, which gives the
negotiators more flexibility. (Stie 2010, 269) We can further differentiate between technical trilogues
and the main political trilogues, as well as ‘shadows meetings’ and ‘speed-dating meetings’ before
trilogues begin. (Roederer-Rynning and Greenwood 2015) In the first, positions are compared and less
disputed or technical differences are resolved on a working level, working on the famous 4-collumn
sheet, which contains the Commission proposal, (suggested or actual) EP amendments, the mandate
of the Council Presidency and the results of the technical trilogue. Politically sensitive aspects that
could not be resolved on the working level will then be discussed at the main political trilogues. The
negotiations take place behind closed doors with a restricted number of participants. Each institution
defined the constellation of their delegation and on their mandate in its own rules of procedure. (Joint
Declaration, European Parliament 2014b, Annex XXI, Art. 8, 263) For a political trilogue, the number of
participants varies between 30 person for a normal file and up 100 individuals on issues of high political
interest. The Council sends the smallest delegation, consistent of civil servants of the Council
Presidency at the level of Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER). The delegation of the
Commission is comparably strong, 8-12 people, always including a high ranked official of the respective
directorate-general. (Roederer-Rynning and Greenwood 2015) The respective Committee of the
European Parliament is represented in the trilogues. The rapporteur leads the negotiations, the Chair
or an appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee presides over the negotiation team. It further consists of
at least one shadow rapporteur from each political group, and in case of an issue where two or more

11. 7
committees have competences, further rapporteurs of the associated committees join, especially in
the case of conciliation procedure. (European Parliament 2014b, Art. 73, 74, 54)
Subsuming the main differences to the formal OLP, trilogues take place with the declared aim of an
Early Agreement. Most negotiations start prior to the first reading in the EP, before a formal position
has been adopted in the EP or Council. Trilogues are informal in the sense that they have no legal basis
in the EU treaties. Rules and norms guiding the trilogues developed in the process and are now semi-
formalised in the form of a joint statement and the EP’s rules of procedure. A negotiated agreement
has to be officially passed by both parent chambers respecting the OLP regulations. Access to the
negotiations is restricted to a very limited amount of people. Their membership is not registered or
published. Information on the discussed aspects is not transparent or officially documented. While it
enhances the efficiency of the legislative process, the use of trilogues is criticised for its lack of
transparency, input legitimacy and limited public accountability. (Lord 2013) The second part of this
thesis will now explore which power implications the increased use of trilogues for EAs has on the
various actors and introduces, by deductive reasoning based on political theory, specific power
mechanism which increase or restrict the actors’ power in trilogues.
4. Implications for the European Commission
Many would argue that the Commission is one of, if not the most powerful institutions in the European
Union. It enjoys a high visibility in Europe and represents the EU in international trade negotiations. In
the legislative process, it is the exclusive right of the Commission to formulate proposals (TEU Article
17(2)) for most policy areas. However, this does not mean that every legislative file is introduced based
on the Commission’s initiative. The Council (TFEU Article 241) and the EP (TFEU Article 225) can
request, and a citizen’s initiative (TEU Article 11(4)) can invite the Commission to submit a legislative
proposal. To that extend, the Commission’s agenda-setting power is important, but not exclusive.
Further power resources of the European Commission are its network connections to other EU
institutions, national administrations and private actors, and its information advantage and technical
expertise. It publishes Green and White Paper to announce its intentions and gather feedback, and
anticipates the different positions in the legislative proposal. (Wonka 2015)
However, under co-decision, where Council and EP can formally amend, change and conclude a
proposal against the will of the Commissions, many scholars have difficulties to deal with the power of
the Commission. Thomson and Costello for example introduced a power model that has the lowest
mean model error if the Commission has zero power in OLP. (Costello and Thomson 2013, 1032) They
ascribe no power to the Commission, even though they recognize that the Commission has an
undoubted influence on the adopted content. This is mostly resulting from a conflictual power

12. 8
definition that focuses on diverging interests and on formal decision-making power. I criticize this
narrow power definition in the context of trilogues, yet “most analysts view this procedure as a game
between the Council and the EP only.”(Thomson 2015, 198) Furthermore, the Commission has lost
some formal powers with the increased use of trilogues. The treaties provided the Commission with a
formal consultation right in the OLP (TFEU Article 294). In option B and C, the Commission publishes
its opinion on the proposed amendments, its support or opposition would impact on the necessary
voting majorities. In the context of trilogues, where 85% of files were concluded as an Early Agreement
(option A), the Commission de facto loses this formal consultation right and the power to influence the
voting requirements. “Thus, with the advent of closer collaboration between the Council and the
Parliament, the Commission has increasingly found itself shunted to the side. This was the primary
motivation for the Commission to dream up the White Paper on Governance in a not fully disguised
influence attempt to wrest back some of the political power it lost as a result of this informal accord
between the Council and the Parliament.” (Stacey 2012, 401) Yet, the Commission is part of the
trilogue negotiations and its role should be analysed respectively.
4.1.In the Room Bonus
‘I am in the room when the negotiations take place and can speak during the discussion, before the
results are formalised.’ It is arguably less difficult to defend or explain a position, raise an argument or
share concerns about a new proposals if it is done before an agreement is reached or clear positions
are formulated. While the formal consultation power is limited, the informal ability to comment on
the amendments and influence EP and Council might even increase with trilogues. The European
Commission benefits from a ‘in the room bonus’ that allows it to react on critical aspects. This power
mechanism can especially be used when negotiations go strongly against the Commission’s initial
intention. One could even call it a “deliberative veto power” if the Commission raises legitimate
concerns. Its wide technical expertise supports this mechanism.
It is indeed one of the main differences between the trilogues’ informal practices and formal OLP that
“the Commission is involved in this process even when the formal rules do not give it decision power.”
(Thomson 2015, 199) Indeed, there are indicators that the Commission takes actively part in trilogues
and that its image of the neutral mediator between Council and EP that brings in expertise is not always
true. In its last report on co-decision, the European Parliament raised concerns: “given the
Commission's important and active role during Council working party (and even Coreper) discussions,
its status as 'honest broker' during trilogue negotiations is sometimes questioned in practice.”
(European Parliament 2014a, 17) This complaint presents a strong indication that the Commission
might play a more active role in trilogues than current discussion acknowledges. Depending on its
preferences the Commission might even side with either the Council or the EP resulting in a two against

13. 9
one dynamic. A qualitative analysis of the Commission’s practices in trilogues is necessary to explore
the concrete form and occurrence of this power mechanism.
4.2.Power to formulate the proposal
‘I can decide how the discussed proposal looks like in the first place, whether it is closer to the Council
or the EP’s position.’ It appears evident that formulating the proposal gives a lot of influence over the
actual legislative text, but it is difficult to grasp this
aspect with political theory. One approach to
model different actor’s preferences is spatial
theory, see e.g. (De Mesquita 2014, ch 3). An easy
model normally consists out of one or two policy
dimensions, the actor’s position and a status quo.
The assumption that an actor prefers any proposal
that is closer to his position than the status quo,
enables to draw a circular line of indifference. An
actor can theoretically agree to any proposal
closer than the line of indifference. The win-set
describes an area in which the required majority
of actors prefer a proposal to the status quo. Since
any point within that win-set is a potential outcome, the power to formulate the proposal is decisive
for the result. The graph demonstrates one potential constellation in spatial theory. In this example,
the Commission has the choice to introduce either proposal 1 or proposal 2. Spatial theory allows us
to model this specific power of the Commission. The Commission holds the exclusive power to
formulate the proposal. The power increases, the bigger the win-set and potential compromise
between the EP and the Council is. It remains to see whether the Commission makes active use of this
power mechanism, and strategically prepares the proposal. Qualitative research in this direction can
be very promising. This mechanism enables us to demonstrate a strong power of the Commission in
the OLP, as well as under trilogues. Especially with the broader power definition applied in this paper,
the Commission is a powerful actor in trilogues that cannot be neglected. This power to formulate the
proposal would be higher in the informal sphere, if trilogues lead to less substantial changes to the
proposal, as one EP activity report suggests: “the Commission often pushes for an early adoption
because it will be able to demonstrate efficiency and hopes that its proposal will be adopted with as
few changes as possible.” (European Parliament 2012, 5) It is not yet clear if trilogues or EAs lead to
qualitatively less changes to the proposal and respectively increasing the ‘formulation power’, which
should be subject to future research.
Figure 1: formulating a proposal in spatial theory, own illustration

14. 10
This chapter suggested that the Commission’s power is underestimated by most analysis of trilogues
due to a narrow power definition. Compared to OLP, the Commission has lost formal rights, yet the
power gains from being part of the negotiations such as the ‘in the room bonus’, suggest a more
prominent role than currently ascribed by most analysts. The power related to the ‘formulation of the
proposal’ has not been fully recognized by the literature on trilogues. The chapter demonstrated that
the Commission cannot be simply neglected with regard to the power dynamics in trilogues. Further
research should also take into account that the Commission is not a unitary actor, but consists of
different DGs and Commissioners form the 28 MS. Potential internal conflicts are diverging interests
of DGs, disagreement within the College and the national interest of Commissioners. Yet, only a small
amount of legislative proposals are discussed in the College of Commissioners, with the remaining
being mostly technical and of low political salience or of little interest to other DGs. (Wonka 2015, 96)
While academics analysing trilogues start to differentiate between different Committees in EP and
Council constellations, little attention has been drawn so far to intra Commission aspects of co-
operation and coordination in the context of trilogues.
5. Implications for the Council of Ministers
The Council of the European Union (Council) brings together the governments of the 28 member states
(MS) represented by their ministers in different constellations. The Council presidency, which rotates
between MS on a semi-annual basis, chairs the Council meeting (with exception of the Foreign Affairs
Council) and represents the Council as chief-negotiator in trilogues. Historically the main legislator, the
Council is often presented as “upper house” in the bi-cameral decision making structure of OLP.
Scholars found the Council to be more powerful than the EP in the bi-cameral OLP, mainly due to the
different voting structure (Bailer 2010; Burns, Rasmussen, and Reh 2013; Costello and Thomson 2013;
Hagemann and Hoyland 2010). Indeed, Council does not decide like the EP with simple or absolute
majority, but by Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) or unanimity. The QMV, which is defined in Article
16 TEU as “at least 55 % of the members of the Council, comprising at least fifteen of them and
representing Member States comprising at least 65 % of the population of the Union” (TEU, Art 16.4;
see also TFEU, Art 238), is supposed to be the default voting mechanism: “The Council shall act by a
qualified majority except where the Treaties provide otherwise.” (TEU, Art 16.3) While in OLP, the
Council de jure is in many situations not explicitly required to unanimity and therefore shall act by
QMV (compare chapter 3) it de facto has adapted a ‘culture of consensus’ and is taking decisions by
so-called ‘apparent consensus’, a technique that makes actual votes very rare. (Mühlböck 2012, 573;
Naurin 2015, 144) This provides each MS with a ‘quasi’ veto power. (Bailer 2010)

15. 11
The general impact of the increased use of trilogues on the Council should be researched more
thoroughly. Häge and Naurin argue that co-decision leads to an increased politization of the Council.
(Häge and Naurin 2013) I further suggest an argument for a “supranationalization” effect. I expect the
General Secretariat of the Council to take a more important role in granting continuity and building up
expertise in assisting and supporting trilogue negotiations, whereby trilogues will strengthen
supranational departments within the Council. Yet, the Secretariat describes its role so far as servant
to the Presidency and claims to not be directly involved in trilogues. (Roederer-Rynning and
Greenwood 2015, 13) Roederer-Rynning and Greenwood discover a trend that the Presidency in
trilogues is more often assisted, either by COREPER, which increases the control and influence of big
MS, or by so-called ‘sherpas’, advisors of the heads of MS governments from the European Council.
While the intra-institutional changes in the parliament as reaction to an increased number of trilogues
is well researched, this is not yet the case for the Council. This chapter will now explore three power
mechanisms that can influence the Council’s power in trilogues.
5.1.The tight hands of the Council Presidency
‘My hands are tight, I cannot make any concessions in this point. Otherwise, the proposal would not
get approval by the Council.’ It is common in politics to claim constraints by domestic parliaments or a
superordinate chamber, in order to strengthen the bargaining position. “Negotiators have an
advantage if they can credibly claim that their parent chamber will not accept significant deviations
from the position they are advocating.”(Costello and Thomson 2011) The underlying theoretical
argument was first introduced by Thomas Schelling. He found that domestically weak governments
have a stronger negotiation position internationally, which he called the ‘paradox of weakness’.
Putnam built on this conjecture and argued that governments play “a ‘two-level game’ and try to
exploit domestic opposition strategically against an international treaty” (Schneider, Finke, and Bailer
2010), a concept that has been applied in the context of the Council decision making.
In the context of trilogues, both the EP’s rapporteur and the Council Presidency can claim those
restrictions by their parent chambers, in order to strengthen their bargaining position. Yet, the Council
Presidency is in a favourable position to use this mechanism, due to several reasons: First, the different
voting requirements in Council and EP make it easier for the Presidency to claim constraints. Especially
when (de facto) deciding with unanimity, the opposition of a single MS is sufficient. The opposition of
a single party group in EP, on the other hand, presents no problem as long as the required majorities
can be assured. Second, the Council has a small delegation in trilogues, represented by the Presidency,
whereas the different EP party groups are in the room as shadow rapporteurs. Constraints within the
EP can therefore be addressed directly in the negotiations, while the Presidency would have to
renegotiate within COREPER separately. A third, directly linked aspect is the in-transparency of

16. 12
COREPER negotiations, making it difficult for the EP to see if claimed constraints are actually true. This
is also reflected in a fourth aspect, the negotiation mandate of the Presidency: There is a recent trend
away from deriving the mandate out of a multilateral process, towards bilateral procedure between
the Presidency and each MS, as a response to increasing communication across Council and EP due to
trilogues. (Roederer-Rynning and Greenwood 2015, 12) Thus, the Schelling conjecture puts the
Council Presidency in a stronger negotiation position vis-à-vis its counterpart at the EP, since it can
claim constraints more easily and more credibly. While some of the claimed constraints also apply to
the formal OLP, this mechanism is important for informal negotiations. Especially aspects two to four
do not occur in formal OLP, when officially voted positions are discussed in readings. However, in a
European Union which can be described as a ‘hyper-consensual’ system of government, (Hix 2006)
where flexibility and openness to concession of all actors is important, a clear overuse of the
mechanism could revoke a blocking attitude in the EP.
How regular and substantial the Council Presidency claims constraints in the spirit of the Schelling
conjecture is yet to be investigated through interviews with practitioners. While the Presidency always
played an important role within the Council, Farell argued that trilogues further increased the role of
the Presidency.(Farrell and Héritier 2004) However, empirical studies have shown that the preferences
of the Presidency do not influence the decision to start informal negotiations (Bressanelli et al. 2014;
Reh et al. 2011) nor is the policy outcome closer to the President’s position (Häge and Naurin 2013).
5.2.Access to information advantage
‘I can predict how you will react to a proposal. I know the crucial aspects where you disagree internally,
your red lines and the concessions you are willing to make.’ Access to information on the other side’s
position can increase your power in negotiations. Economists and political scientists have applied
Game Theory to model decision making, assuming rational choice and utility maximisation. In a full
information game, the strategy of an actor can be modelled by backwards induction, predicting his
action starting from the potential outcomes of the game. Information asymmetries can be included in
the model by assuming incomplete information, which limits the actor’s ability to predict the other
side and take preferences of other actors into account. In that sense, the lack of information can reduce
your power in negotiations. (Morrow 1994, ch 6 and 8)
In the context of trilogues, Benedetto first introduced the argument that Council holds an information
advantage over the EP. With the Council meeting in secret, the “EP has to bargain information-
blind.”(Benedetto 2005, 70) A way to proof that the information advantage empirically changes the
actor’s power to shape the outcome was introduced by Hoyland, who argued that MEPs from parties
that are represented in their national governments had better access to information than other MEPs.
(Hoyland 2006) The information power mechanism should be measurable following the hypothesis

17. 13
that a rapporteur from a government party could deliver negotiation outcomes that are closer to the
EP’s ideal position. Empirical test finds a small positive correlation (Costello and Thomson 2011). These
findings suggest that information indeed can have an influence on the negotiation power. The Council
benefits from an information asymmetry, which increases its power vis-à-vis the EP. This mechanism
can especially increase the Council’s power, when the EP is internally divided. Respectively, when the
Council is internally divided, the power of the EP does not measurably increase.3
(Costello and
Thomson 2013, 1028) The information advantage is especially important in direct trilogue
negotiations, where the Council can influence the EP more directly by making concrete offers.
However, we must acknowledge that “information asymmetries are more complex than generally
alleged.”(Roederer-Rynning and Greenwood 2015, 15) An increased contact between Council officials
and MEPs might also benefit the EP to some extent.
An alternative argument on the impact of the information asymmetry mechanism is provided by
Hansen. He argues that EAs are the most cost-effective solution. The fact that some files are concluded
at later stages could only be explained by to incomplete information. “If all actors have complete
information with regard to the preferences of the other actors, first-reading non-agreement under co-
decision should not occur. […] If the EP has incomplete information, non-agreement may occur due to
the EP overestimating its ability to extract concessions from the Council.” (Woien Hansen 2014, 477) I
disagree with Hansen’s theoretical assumption that full information would necessary lead to Early
Agreements. The game theoretical context of trilogues is arguably a repeated game, where situational
non-cooperation can be part of a long-term strategy of a rational actor. (Morrow 1994, ch 9) Yet,
incomplete information should be included in game theoretical models that represent trilogues.
5.3.Personnel Turnover of Negotiators
‘Experience is not something you can learn from a book.’ Personnel continuity throughout the
negotiations is related to a familiarity with the respective discourse and the other actors’ situation and
personality, as well as the culture of trilogue negotiations. The lack of personnel continuity, in form of
a high turnover can limit the institution’s relative negotiation power. Scherpereel and Preez call this
power mechanism ‘the peril of amateurism’. (Scherpereel and Perez 2015, 3) In the context of
trilogues, the Council lacks this continuity for several reasons. First, the turning presidency makes one
Member State responsible for leading the trilogue negotiations for the very short term of half a year.
In the so-called ‘presidency trios’, three successive presidencies coordinate their action to increase
continuity. Yet, legislative files that overlap with presidential terms have two or more different chief
3
The absence of such an effect for the EP might, next to the information asymmetry, also be due to the high
voting requirements of QMV or unanimity in the Council, where a compromise is only possible if the internal
division of the Council can be solved. “Division in the Council may make it easier for Council representatives to
persuade MEPs not to amend the Council negotiations.” (Hagemann and Hoyland 2010, 824)

18. 14
negotiators for the Council in trilogues. This structural aspect of rotating presidency prohibits
personnel continuity and leads to ‘speed-dating’ meetings (Roederer-Rynning and Greenwood 2015,
9). Secondly, while the rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs of the EP are responsible for various files
throughout their political career, a Council official would theoretically have to wait for fourteen years
until her country was to hold the presidency again. Subsequently, a learning procedure for the Council
would have to be organized inter-personally and across Presidencies. Thirdly, there is a high turnover
of the Council constellation at a minister level. During a presidency trio of 18 months, about half the
national minister represented in the Council changed. (Scherpereel and Perez 2015) The Council’s
bargaining power vis-à-vis the EP can be reduced by the personnel turnover mechanism. This is
especially be the case if experts from national administration with little procedural knowledge on the
European Union and especially on trilogues are tasked with the negotiations. An additional challenge
presents itself for small countries holding the presidency, where the negotiators lack the capacities
and workforce to get familiar with all details of a file. The effect of this mechanism is arguably stronger
in trilogues with direct interaction and a reduced number of actors. Applying a wider power definition
including the actor’s ability to influence the actual formulation the loss of expertise further reduces
the actor’s power in the spirit of this mechanism.
Empirically, an indication for the personnel turnover mechanism has been found for the third
argument. There is a significant correlation between the annual turnover rate in Council constellation
at the minister level and the bargaining success of the Council. It has been argued that “the Council
does not always dominate the EP or the Commission; its bargaining strength depends, among other
things, on levels of personnel continuity at its highest level.” (Scherpereel and Perez 2015) However,
the authors lack to provide the theoretical link between turnover in the parent chamber and the
success of the negotiating Presidency in trilogues. Further research should especially look at the
personnel turnover within the negotiation team and at a working level. A high continuity at this level
could limit the overall effect of the turning Presidency. Another approach might compare cases where
trilogues were only held during one presidency, to cross-presidency negotiations.
To conclude the three power mechanism discussed, the Council holds a strong bargaining position.
While the ‘tight hands’ and ‘access to information’ mechanisms rather put it in a favourable position
compared the EP, the personnel turnover due to the rotating Presidency, can present a disadvantage.
Quantitative analysis regularly give the Council a dominant role and high degree of bargaining success
(Burns, Rasmussen, and Reh 2013; Costello and Thomson 2013) Yet, these outcome analysis need to
respond to the critical aspects raised in the introduction and link its explanations closer to concrete
power mechanisms, like the three discussed above.

19. 15
6. Implications for the European Parliament
Over the past decades, the power of the European Parliament has grown steadily. Today, it has
budgetary and legislative functions, exercises political control and elects the President of the
Commission (compare TEU Art. 14), to which end it introduced the position of ‘Spitzenkandidaten’
during the last elections, claiming the power to propose the candidate that formally lies with the
European Council (TEU Art. 17(7)). This is just one example showing how the EP actively seeks to
further increase its power. It is able to do so in the informal sector mostly due to “the incompleteness
of the treaties, the EP’s hinder power, and the opportunities to increase the overall efficiency of EU
decision-making.“ (Crum 2012, 355) Formal treaty amendments to change an established informal
procedure would require a strong assent of all member states. (ibid 360) In a number of policy areas,
the legislative competences of the EP increased from consultation to the co-decision mode, which
became the Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP) with the treaty of Lisbon. As a result, the EP is
increasingly perceived as ‘equal’ to the Council of the European Union.
In line with the overall trend, the Parliament was also able to increase its influence in trilogues. In the
beginning, the Council understood trilogues as a way to indicate what it was willing to accept while the
EP saw itself as co-equal legislator. (Heritier 2012, 345) A case study suggests that the EP now has more
power in trilogues than in formal OLP: “The EP’s influence during co-decision was indeed found to be
larger when agreement was reached at early stages in informal trilogue negotiations than when
agreement was reached through the formal mechanism of conciliation.”(Häge and Kaeding 2007, 357)
Recent data-sets allow to differentiate between the various EP Committees, e.g. (Bressanelli et al.
2014). Indeed, the different Committees enhanced their positions by adapting internal rules, such as
taking breaks in trilogues to align EP positions for important points. A successful example is the ECON
committee, who established that the EP would document the negotiated compromises by refusing “to
consider four-column documents authored by Council services.” (Roederer-Rynning and Greenwood
2015, 11) The quick rise of trilogues went hand in hand with a critical debate, especially in the EP,
about transparency requirements, legitimacy and democratic accountability in EU decision-making,
and their right balance to efficiency of the process. (Huber and Shackleton 2013; Lord 2013) As a
consequence, the European Parliament adjusted its rules of procedure. The most recent changes in
2012 increased the authorization aspect through a clear mandate, and structured feedback
strengthened the accountability, as well as more transparency on how the decision to start trilogues
is taken.4
(Reh 2014)
4
The debate on the right use of trilogues might lead to additional changes in the nearer future. One example
discussed aims at increasing the transparency and accountability: “Commission Vice-President Šefčovič proposed
that the institutions consider establishing a public register on trilogues, which could make available to the public,
inter alia, information on files under negotiation and the composition of negotiating teams, and, once agreement

20. 16
6.1.First move advantage, patience and the power to delay
‘You are under time pressure. If you want to find an agreement now rather than later, you have to give
me something in return.’ It is often the case that a result now has more value for an actor than the
same result in the future. This time aspect can be modelled in Game Theory using a ‘discount’ δ, ∈
[0; 1] that reduces the actor’s outcome utility u. The smaller the discount δ, the more an actor will
prefers u now to u later.5
In case of an agreement at later stages (time t for each round), both actors
would get a lower outcome utility by the factor (𝛿 𝑡
× 𝑢). (compare Morrow 1994, 38) It is thereby
methodologically possible to include the time component into the power equation. At the first stage
of an Early Agreement, with no discount (𝛿0
= 1), we have an equilibrium where the EP gets A from
the bargaining and the Council gets B. The same bargaining result at an early second reading
agreement would subsequently lead to a reduced outcome utility 𝛿 𝐸𝑃
1
× 𝐴; 𝛿 𝐶
1
× 𝐵, at the second
reading in 𝛿 𝐸𝑃
2
× 𝐴; 𝛿 𝐶
2
× 𝐵, and in 𝛿 𝐸𝑃
3
× 𝐴; 𝛿 𝐶
3
× 𝐵 for Conciliation.6
This model can help demonstrate
why both actors have an interest in concluding early. It further influences the bargaining situation in
two ways:
The EP, as the first player to amend, can anticipate future time losses of the Council in its
proposal, offering 𝐴 + (𝐵 − 𝛿 𝐶 𝐵) for the EP and 𝛿 𝐶 𝐵 for the Council, which a rational actor
would accept. A counteroffer, introduced by the Council at the second stage would have to
include the discount factors δ2
(with δ1
> δ2
in all cases, since δ ∈ [0; 1]). With the lower
discount at later stages, it is however more difficult for the Council to come up with a
counteroffer that forms a potential compromise. I therefore argue that the EP has an
advantage in making the first move because it can add the discount of the Council to its own
outcome.7
on a given file is reached, all relevant documentation. This is an idea that the institutions might reflect upon
further together.” (European Parliament 2014a, 51)
5
The term ‘discount‘, officially used by game theory, can be confusing: A small discount stands for rather high
time pressure, a high discount for low time pressure. For example, if my discount is δ = 0,5, I value later results
half as much (𝛿2
= 0,25; 𝛿3
= 0,125; …) If my discount is δ = 0,9, I value later results only 10% less.
6
To demonstrate the general theoretical effect, the model assumes that the time frame between each round is
the same. However, there are different time regulations at the different stages in OLP. “Every phase – except the
first reading in the EP – from adoption of the common position by the Council to approval of an agreement in
conciliation, is subject to a time limit.” (Heritier 2012, 345) Trilogue negotiations for Early Agreements ergo have
no defined time limit, but it would be possible to include a more detailed time discount, e.g. modelled on every
week, following the same argument as presented in the text.
7
It has been argued that the main difference between OLP and trilogues is the move from a sequential to a
simultaneous normal form game bargaining. While I agree that this shift enables both sides to make numerous
counter-offers, I argue that the formalization process remains sequential. This sequential aspect is still the formal
framework of the decision-making and is considered by both players when negotiating. However, trilogues are
not a pure sequential game either. In a classical Rubenstein sequential bargaining model, compare (Morrow
1994, 145-155) for an introduction, the player making the last offer can claim almost all benefits, including the
respective discounts 𝛿 𝑥
𝑡
× 100. By backwards induction, the first player makes a similar offer at the beginning. I
argue that this does not apply to trilogues for the following reason: The EP and Council formulate a joint text

21. 17
Additionally, if the EP is more patient than the Council, with 𝛿 𝐸𝑃 > 𝛿 𝐶, it can ‘punish’ the
Council by concluding at a later stage, or threaten to do so. In repeated games, an actors’
reputation and beliefs become important factors and punishment can be part of a strategy.
In trilogues, we can assume a rather strong time pressure and a low discount δ, which leads both sides
to jointly declare that they want to conclude early whenever possible. (Joint Declaration, European
Parliament 2014b, Annex XXI, 263) It can further be assumed that the Council presidency has a higher
time pressure than the EP if it wants to conclude legislation within its six-month-turn, than the EP.
(similar argument: Rasmussen and Reh 2013, 1020) The European Parliament benefits from its
patience and first move advantage. This power mechanism is arguably omnipresent when negotiating
legislation. Especially towards the end of a Council Presidency when the time pressure rises and their
discount factor δ subsequently decreases, and the EP might claim higher concessions. While this aspect
equally exists under formal OLP, trilogues allow both sides to determine more precisely which offer
the other side is willing to accept.
In the first years of the co-decision procedure, the EP made use of its power to delay and potentially
block legislation. “The EP faced less pressure than the member states governments, especially the
Council presidency, to legislate on key issues, and was willing to obstruct specific items of legislation
in order to assert principles of decision-making by establishing linkages between substantive legislative
issues and institutional principles.”(Heritier 2012, 345) Today, the EP can credibly threaten to make
use of this power and to apply it strategically if it is able to find a common position within the
Parliament. While literature already accounts for this ‘power to delay’ of the EP,8
I argue that a ‘first
move advantage’ is omnipresent in trilogues as one power mechanism. On the other hand, the time
aspect is not only related to benefits in bargaining from early conclusions, but has normative
implications for the political process in the EP. “At an early stage, however, the average
parliamentarian often does not have a sufficient level of information to assess the actual content of
the deals.” (Rasmussen 2011, 44)
6.2.Relais actor and the powerful rapporteur
‘I negotiate on behalf of the entire EP. A powerful position that allows me to influence both the
outcome of trilogues and the opinion of the EP.’ The influential position forming the link between the
home organisation and the inter-organisational negotiations, is called ‘relais actor’. The shift from
formal co-decision to trilogue negotiations will increase the power of some actors within an
organisation, and the organisation will react with institutional rules and attempt to control these
prior to Conciliation, which can be compared to an infinite game, where both actors divide the outcome equally,
if they have the same δ. (Morrow 1994, 149)
8
Kardasheva argues for a similar ‘power to delay’ under the consultation procedure. (Kardasheva 2009)

22. 18
actors. This ‘relais actor thesis’ was introduced in 2004 in a study which showed that especially
rapporteurs increased their power since “they have traditionally played a central role in conventional
co-decision dossiers but have far fewer checks on their negotiating authority in early agreement
dossiers.” (Farrell and Héritier 2004, 1200) It inspired empirical research analysing which
characteristics of the rapporteur have an influence on the outcome, as depicted below.
In classical principal-agent theory, the principal delegates a task to an agent, who negotiates on behalf
of that principal. If the principle and the agent have different preferences, the problem of ‘moral
hazard’ can occur when an agent follows his competing self-interest. In order to limit this problem, a
principal should select the right agent, formulate a clear mandate, monitor and control the agent’s
actions and hold him accountable for the outcome. However, these reactions are related to higher
transaction cost and thereby limit the benefits from delegating in the first place. (Quinn 2011)
In trilogues it can occur that the rapporteur who leads the negotiations is not part of the voting
majority. Rapporteurs are generally selected by an auction system. Political groups can bid on reports
corresponding to the number of MEPs in their group. (Benedetto 2005, 71) Subsequently, a rapporteur
can come from any political party group. There is a risk that a rapporteur deviates from the EP’s
common position if he is to negotiate a deal against his own political convictions. To counterbalance
the moral hazard problem, the EP indeed tried to increase its control over the rapporteur by adapting
its rules of procedure. Today, rapporteurs need a mandate by the respective committee to start
trilogue negotiations. The negotiating team reports back at the following committee meeting. In case
of an agreement, the committee must be informed immediately and provided the negotiated text.
Control is further exercised by the committee chairs and the shadow rapporteurs appointed by the
other political groups, who are also part of trilogue negotiations. (European Parliament 2014b, Art.73)
Trilogues lead to an intra-institutional power shift that empowers the rapporteur within the EP
whenever control is exercised weakly. The flexibility and room of manoeuvre of a rapporteur depends
upon his mandate, the control and accountability. It has been argued that control is tighter if there is
a high legislative conflict between the Parliament and Council, if the size of the EP delegation is more
substantial, and if the mandate is defined more closely.9
(Rasmussen and Reh 2013) The empowerment
of the rapporteur should thus be stronger in cases of low political tension with small delegations, and
at early stages when the mandate consists more of guiding orientations.
Empirical research however suggests that relais actors don’t have more power in trilogues to deviate
from the institution’s joint interest in the sense of the moral hazard problem. It seems that the
9
The role of public interest in a file is not explicit in the literature. While the amount of media attention has no
influence on the early conclusion of a file, (Reh et al. 2011) high visibility might well have an impact on the
flexibility of the negotiators. (Rasmussen and Reh 2013)

23. 19
outcome of a legislation is not closer to the position of rapporteur or Council presidency if concluded
early, compared to conclusions at later stages. (Rasmussen and Reh 2013) Some models suggest that
rapporteurs with certain characteristics do better in negotiations achieving results are closer to the EP
median vis-à-vis the Council. According to these studies, the best results are achieved by a rapporteur
from a big political group, who does not represent and extreme position, and is not a senior politician
who would have strong influence within his party group. (Costello and Thomson 2011, 341) Yet, these
findings need theoretical support from different power mechanism than the relais actor thesis. In the
light of the presented conditionality of the mechanism, it has been noticed that tighter control, e.g. a
big number of shadow rapporteurs, increases the amount of trilogues necessary to conclude.10
(Brandsma 2015) Another related factor is the number of committees involved in the legislative
process. A file with cross-committee responsibilities is significantly more likely to be concluded in an
EA. (Reh et al. 2011, 1032) Burns argues that shared competences limit the relais actor’s options to
shape legislation, yet she finds empirical support for this hypothesis to be limited in her case studies.11
(Burns 2013)
The European Parliament has demonstrated awareness of the challenges related to principal-agent
theory. Since the rapporteur’s expertise, parliamentary activity and demonstrated party loyalty are
considered in the selection process, it has been argued that “rapporteurs are appointed strategically
to maximize Parliament’s bargaining success.”12
(Rasmussen and Reh 2013, 1019) Reh argues further,
the problem of adverse selection is limited by ‘gyroscopic representation’, which denotes that the
rapporteurs act in the best interest of the principal because they have been selected due to their
intrinsic motivation and orientation to the good of the whole. Accountability could be increased by re-
selection in case of successful negotiation and quasi de-selection in case of deviation from the common
line. While investing in a good selection is more effective than tightening control, rapporteurs should
not only report back, but justify their actions and be hold accountable in the following committee
meeting. (Reh 2014, 828f) The relais actors are not able to substantially deviate the outcome in one
10
Brandsma introduced a new indicator to the debate, with the amount of trilogue negotiations necessary to
conclude. His findings support the control aspect: First, the amount of shadow rapporteurs correlates with the
number of trilogues and second “the more a rapporteur’s draft report is criticized by fellow MEPs, the more
informal trilogues are required.” (Brandsma 2015, 17) Howbeit, I am sceptical to what extend his indicator, the
simple amount of trilogues (regardless of the duration, quality of exchange, or type of trilogue) can account for
anything else than the amount of interaction.
11
Interesting for future research is her thesis that in case of conflict between committees, the associated
committee has more influence on the relais actor, than the leading committee of which the relais actor is part
originally. (Burns 2013)
12
Interestingly, the principal agent theory assumes ideal outcome if principal and agent have the same
preferences. However, it might be strategically better not to be perfectly represented. In a game theoretical
model on the role of US Congress committees in bicameral negotiations, it has been argued that a deviating
agent might be in the principal’s interest. “In the latter role, a committee can be an effective bargaining agent if
it is willing to reject proposals that the chamber cannot commit to reject. But this requires the committee to be
unrepresentative of the chamber.”(Gailmard and Hammond 2011)

24. 20
direction, in the sense of a conflictual power definition, and the adapted EP rules support this
development. From a broader power perspective, the relais actors’ power e.g. over the adapted
formulation or their influence on rather uncontroversial aspects, likely has increased substantially
through trilogues, as the amount of actors has been reduced. Future research on the relais actor thesis
should take such aspects into account.
Overall, as this chapter pointed out, the European Parliament has demonstrated awareness of the
challenges related to trilogues and aims at increasing its power. I suggested a first move power
mechanism that would empower the EP vis-à-vis the Council. EP-internal power shifts have been
discussed extensively, yet the problem is found to be limited in the Weberian sense of power. The
predicted empowerment of the rapporteur was nullified by tight control and increasing regulations on
the mandate, control by shadow rapporteurs and accountability to the committee. In consideration of
more subtle aspects of a broader power definition, future research might revive this debate. Additional
implications of trilogues on the political culture in the EP leave a broad field for scientific inquiry. A
very interesting thesis by Costello claims that bicameralism and co-decision determine the potential
coalitions in the EP: “so it is increasingly the case that the only coalitions that form in the EP under the
co-decision procedure are those that form an agreement with the Council.”(Costello 2011, 125) I
expect that trilogues on EAs, prior to the adoption of a formal position in the EP, can strengthen such
an effect. Future research on this thesis and the role of trilogues therein might enhance our
understanding how majorities form in the EP.
7. Other Actors
The discussion on trilogues mostly neglects further actors that play a role in the OLP, but are not part
of the trilogue negotiations. This might be due to a narrow power definition and focus on voting power.
However, these actors are confronted with structural power implications that are directly related to
the increased use of trilogues. Especially the increased speed of decision-making, the early start and
lack of transparency of trilogues appear problematic. A comprehensive approach to trilogues should
consider these implications.
National Parliaments have a collective right to check if a legislative proposal in OLP respects the
subsidiarity principle. (TEU Art. 12b; TFEU Art. 69) The respective protocols grant eight weeks, from
the date that the Commission’s proposal is available in all official languages of the EU, to present an
argumentation why the proposal violates the subsidiarity principle. Each MS holds two votes that can
be split in bicameral systems. If one third (yellow card) or one half (orange card) of MS votes raise
subsidiarity concerns, the EU institution who initiated or the Commission have to respond. (TFEU Prot.
1 Art. 4; Prot. 2 Art. 7) The time period is very important for the functionality of this control mechanism

25. 21
and the treaty explicitly states that “no agreement may be reached on a draft legislative act during
those eight weeks.” (TFEU Prot. 1 Art. 4) But, this might exactly be the case, since trilogue negotiations
can start before the first reading in EP. The concerns raised by national parliaments might have less
impact if a compromise between the two main legislators has already been reached. National
Parliaments’ power to control for subsidiarity is de facto limited by trilogues for early agreements.
A recent empirical survey and case studies found strong indications for this power dynamic. National
Parliaments have not enough time under trilogues, to scrutinize for subsidiarity, as well as to hold their
national officials in the Council accountable. (Jensen and Martinsen 2015) Further research should
inquire whether trilogues indeed take place and even conclude during this eight week period and if
subsidiarity concerns of MS have less impact on trilogues than on formal OLP.
The Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) have a
consultation function in the OLP: “The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission shall be
assisted by an Economic and Social Committee and a Committee of the Regions acting in an advisory
capacity.” (TEU Art. 13(4)) They examine the legislative proposal on certain topics and give an opinion.
(Bache et al. 2015, 216) Trilogue negotiations for Early Agreements may reduce the time frame in
which such advice can effectively be brought forward. The secrecy of trilogues makes it more difficult
to assess which options are discussed or considered. Trilogue for early agreements reduce the
influence of the EESC and the CoR, since negotiations might start before they can formulate their
opinion. The impact of this power dynamic has yet to be confirmed empirically. In order to strengthen
the multi-level government component of the EU, Michel Lebrun has suggested to include the CoR to
trilogues on specific topics. (Lebrun 2014)
Finally, the connection to and impulse from civil society actors is an essential part in the formation of
the political will and the generation of a position. Therefore, interest groups can be regarded as part
of the OLP, compare e.g. (Bache et al. 2015, 216). In trilogues, it is difficult for the public to obtain
information on trilogues. Participation is not announced and can only be determined indirectly. No
records of the negotiations are published before, during or after the meetings. (Stie 2010, 200, 266f)
This makes it challenging to identify the relevant actors. Their limited number makes it also more
difficult for interest groups to present their arguments. Furthermore, the secrecy inhibits an
assessment which options are considered during trilogues. Informal and secret trilogues are less
responsive to lobbying attempts than public deliberation in formal OLP. Qualitative research on this
mechanism draws a differentiated picture. While public interest groups indeed seem to have less
influence under trilogues due to restricted access to information and increased decision-making speed,
profit interest groups are still able to present their suggestions to relevant key-actors. “Interviews
conducted with officials from the Commission, Coreper and the EP suggest that in most cases, despite

26. 22
trilogues, private interest groups are well informed on the content and outcomes of negotiations
within a matter of hours.” (Andlovic and Lehmann 2013, 25) This finding suggests that trilogues further
increase the gap between public and profit interest groups. An aspect that might add to the debate on
democratic legitimacy of trilogues.
8. Conclusion
Trilogues are decisive in the EU legislative process. They present a hidden standard procedure with
significant consequences for the interaction of the EU institutions. This paper theoretically explored
power dynamics in trilogues. A theoretical foundation for distinct power mechanism was developed
which allows us to take a more differentiated perspective. The increased use of trilogues has power
implications for the three institutions that are part of the negotiations, as well as for those who are
not.
The deductive research comes to the following results. The European Commission loses formal power
it hold under the OLP, but can benefit from a ‘in the room bonus’. It was demonstrated that models
which ascribe no power to the Commission neglect the importance of the formulation power. A
broader power perspective is necessary to acknowledge for the Commission’s influence on the
legislative outcome. The Council of the European Union is a strong player due to voting regulations
and form of representation, which can easily claim constraints in the sense of the shelling conjecture.
Its position is further strengthened by an information advantage, however the rotating presidency and
personnel turnover can delimit its power. The European Parliament was able to increase its power and
might continue to do so in the future. In trilogues, it is able to claim a first move advantage and benefit
from its patience. A drastic power shift within the EP empowering the rapporteur was found to be
nullified by tight control. However, an argument applying a wider definition of power suggest an
increase in the rapporteur’s power which might revive this debate. It has been suggested that national
parliaments, the CoR and EESC, as well as interest groups find it more difficult to influence the
legislative process, due to the early start and lack of transparency, which seems to be less of a problem
for private interest groups, though. Overall, the power changes related to the increased use of trilogues
are substantial.
I nevertheless encourage the reader to show a critical engagement with regard to the limitations of
the presented theoretical models. They allow us to emphasise certain aspects, but are not a
determinism of actual behaviour. They should be understood as a guideline to analysing potential
power dynamics. It was not goal of this paper to determine the exact relative power of the actors, nor
to predict the outcome of negotiations. Rather, it was a declared aim to support the differentiated
consideration of the manifold character of trilogues, addressing scholars and practitioners alike. Future

27. 23
research could build on this approach by refining the presented mechanisms and their conditionality,
or explore additional mechanism. A second step is to empirically verify the existence and direction of
each mechanism. This aims at increasing our situational understanding of trilogues and at establishing
an adequate scientific representation of this complex procedure.
Trilogues are not a phenomenon we can expect to disappear soon. Three quarter of co-decision
legislative proposals were discussed in trilogues and 85% of files were concluded early at the first
reading during the last election period. Trilogues are here to stay, as they shape the very heart of EU
legislative decision-making. It is therefore crucial to understand power dynamics and analyse them
accordingly. The presented thesis contributes to this end.

28. 24
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