This paper looks at transnational networks which lie beneath much of the EU’s policy-making. Through networks, national and EU administrations, as well as non-state actors coordinate and compete over policies. Despite the dominance of member states, the European Commission often shapes policy outputs even when it has little formal power. Thereby, it often relies on the input from non-state actors. This paper argues that the Commission is caught between an ambition of building a European civil society and a more instrumental engagement with non-state actors to promote its policy priorities with the member states. This is illustrated for the case of EU development cooperation where the European Commission has developed and pursues its own identity and interests. Yet the ambition of transparent and formal inclusion of non-state actors, and effective influence of a policy dominated by national governments tend appears to be challenging.
