Good law-making should allow citizens to contact the politicians and officials working on a law.
The European Commission allows anyone to go to this website and, with a few clicks find out who to ask a question by email or call. In my experience, any good civil servant will respond quickly with an answer. The MEPs steering a proposal through the European Parliament is public.
I wanted to check how easy it is for any citizen of an EU country to contact their government about that country’s position on an EU Issue. The obvious place to go is the website for a country’s Permanent Representative office to the EU.
See the list below
Contact details for staff working on EU legislative files in Permanent Representative Offices to the EU
|
Country
|
Public Details of Officials
|
WWW
|
|
Sweden
|
Yes
|
https://www.government.se/sweden-in-the-eu/permanent-representation-of-sweden-to-the-eu/
|
|
Czech Republic
|
Yes
|
https://www.mzv.cz/representation_brussels/en/about_the_representation/team_at_the_permanent_representation/index.html
|
|
France
|
Yes
|
https://ue.delegfrance.org
|
|
Slovenia
|
Yes
|
https://www.gov.si/en/representations/permanent-representation-to-the-european-union-brussels/
|
|
Portugal
|
Yes
|
https://ue.missaoportugal.mne.gov.pt/en/permanent-representation/who-s-who
|
|
Germany
|
No
|
https://bruessel-eu.diplo.de/eu-en/permanentrepresentation/-/2307060?view=
|
|
Croatia
|
Yes
|
https://mvep.gov.hr/embassies-and-consulates/embassies-of-the-republic-of-croatia-in-the-world/244601?country=154#EU
|
|
Finland
|
Yes
|
https://finlandabroad.fi/web/eu/coreper-l1
|
|
Romania
|
Yes
|
https://ue.mae.ro/en/node/439
|
|
Austria
|
Yes
|
https://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/oev-bruessel/about-us/what-we-do/
|
|
Bulgaria
|
Yes
|
https://www.mfa.bg/en/embassies/belgiumpp/543
|
|
Estonia
|
Yes
|
https://eu.mfa.ee/personnel/
|
|
Malta
|
No
|
https://maltaineu.gov.mt/en/Pages/ourrepresentatives.aspx
|
|
Slovakia
|
Yes
|
https://www.mzv.sk/en/web/szbrusel-en/about-us/permanent-representation-staff
|
|
Netherlands
|
Partial
|
https://www.permanentrepresentations.nl/permanent-representations/pr-eu-brussels/the-mission/division-of-tasks
|
|
Luxembourg
|
Yes
|
https://bruxelles-rpue.mae.lu/dam-assets/embassy/20220926-organigramme-pour-internet-en.pdf
|
|
Latvia
|
Yes
|
https://www2.mfa.gov.lv/en/brussels/structure
|
|
Italy
|
Yes
|
https://italiaue.esteri.it/rapp_ue/en/ambasciata/chi_siamo
|
|
Greece
|
Yes
|
https://www.mfa.gr/brussels/en/permanent-representation-eu/sections/
|
|
Lithuania
|
Yes
|
https://eu.mfa.lt/eurep/en/about-us/permanent-representation/embassy-staff-
|
|
Ireland
|
Yes
|
https://www.dfa.ie/prep/brussels/staff/
|
|
Cyprus
|
Yes
|
http://www.mfa.gov.cy/mfa/PermRep/PermRep_Brussels.nsf/page23_en/page23_en?OpenDocument
|
|
Denmark
|
Yes
|
https://eu.um.dk/en/about-us/staff-members
|
|
Poland
|
Yes
|
https://www.gov.pl/web/eu/working-areas
|
|
Belgium
|
Limited
|
https://europeanunion.diplomatie.belgium.be/fr/a-propos-de-nous/organigramme
|
|
Spain
|
Yes
|
Most Doing Well
Most make it easy to find out who is working on an issue and give their contact details.
Could do better
The Dutch only give an email address. Their public position on transparency in EU law-making does not go as far as mentioning the officials working on a file.
Belgium is very limited.
Could do a lot better
Only two countries – Germany and Malta – don’t mention the names of the staff working on the working legislative files. If I missed it, please let me know.
Until a year ago, all Dutch officials were on the website but it’s all gone now… privacy concerns I guess.
However, as regards Dutch government positions, there is a wonderful document called “BNC” (“Beoordeling Nieuwe Commissievoorstellen”). It’s published for every new Commission proposal and shows the Dutch government’s cards for the whole world to see. Google Translate and Deepl are your friend: https://www.eerstekamer.nl/eu/kamerstukdossier/nieuwe_commissievoorstellen_en