COM consultations a pivotal sphere of interaction

The COM depends to an important extend on outside expert knowledge to draft policy proposals. That is, interests have to be consulted prior and during the process of developing a policy. One of the main reasons are the COM’s limited resources in comparison to its responsibility for the internal market and the often highly specialized and technical policy fields it is has to deal with. Although the there are recruitment schemes where experts work within the COM on a temporary basis, specialized expertise is generally a scarce resource with in the COM.
Therefore the COM has to make contact with outside experts and interest groups in order to assess the empirical realties (= the different perceptions ) of the societal problem at hand. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as genuine research approaches, information requests, or informal/personal contacts. However the more concrete a policy proposal gets the more relevant is the process of communication with stakeholders. The interaction between both sides becomes most visible if a public consultation is launched and stakeholders are called upon to respond to questions/statements in a consultation document.
A directory of ongoing and closed consultations can be found on the following webpage:

Your Voice in Europe - Home - Consultations