THE ROLE OF EXPERTS IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION High-level expert group on artificial intelligence (AI HLEG) as key actor

The European Union’s approach towards policymaking is evidence-based, but not exclusively. An appropriate mixing of scientific and political inputs is believed to be the right recipe to achieve the most efficient and effective policy outcomes. In this dissertation, an in-depth analysis of the former aspect takes place, exploring the role and the influence that expertise and experts exert in relation to policymaking at the European level. An introduction serves to contextualize the subject and to draw an appropriate framework of the current structure of experts within the decisional bodies of the Union: the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council. An analytical study of the abovementioned structure will follow with reference to the advisory system of the main technical body, the European Commission. As case study, the high-level expert group on artificial intelligence was selected due to the crucial role it has been playing in the European policymaking process in the field of artificial intelligence. The strict connection with the current ethical, social and security issues caused by the introduction of AI on the global market highlights the need for a wide societal consultation and science-based legislation, which is represented by the present case study in the context of the European Union. The aim of the dissertation is to clarify analytically if, how, when and to what extent expert groups influence EU policymaking. An extended literature review allowed to build a comprehensive framework and to obtain valid and reliable data in order to derive the most innovative and controversial aspects of the discussed topic.