The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) is the in-house research department and think tank of the European Parliament, providing research and analytical support to the members of the European Parliament, its parliamentary committees and the Parliament as a whole. It was created in November 2013 as a directorate-general within the Parliament's permanent administration. The EPRS philosophy is to provide independent, objective and authoritative analysis of, and research on, policy issues relating to the European Union, in order to assist Members in their parliamentary work.
EPRS provides a comprehensive range of products and services, backed by internal expertise and knowledge sources in all policy fields covered by the European Union. For example, EPRS products and services include research for members, ‘EU Legislation in progress’ briefings, and tailored training courses. The service aims to empower Members and committees through knowledge and by contributing to the Parliament’s effectiveness and influence as an institution. EPRS also supports and promotes parliamentary outreach to the wider public.
The creation of the EPRS may be explained by the desire in the early 2010s to ensure the "[…] more rational organization" of the European Parliament's permanent administration, notably of DG Presidency, which dealt at the time "with a number of not necessarily related matters (security services, library and lawyer linguists); in this context the Library could be separated from DG Presidency and developed into a new Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services, with about 200 staff, by bringing together, in a budgetary neutral way" existing services with an analytical focus.
History
At the initiative of former Secretary-General Klaus Welle, the EPRS was established on 1 November 2013 as a directorate-general (DG) within the Parliament's permanent administration, bringing together several analytical and support services for Members of the European Parliament and/or parliamentary committees. The first Director-General was Anthony Teasdale.
The creation of EPRS followed a detailed analysis, undertaken by a Joint Working Group of the Parliament’s Bureau and Budgets Committee, of the strengths and weaknesses of the various kinds of support given to Members in their parliamentary work. It recommended that the provision of ‘independent scientific advice’ to Members and analytical support in exercising scrutiny and oversight of the executive should both be enhanced.
The overall purpose of establishing the new directorate-general was to create a research service at the disposal of the European Parliament that was capable of providing Members and committees with independent, objective and authoritative research on, and analysis of, policy issues relating to the European Union. The aim was also to increase the practical capacity of Members and committees to scrutinise and oversee the European Commission and other executive bodies during successive stages of the EU policy cycle. All publications by EPRS are freely available to the general public.
To strengthen administrative support in these fields, the new directorate-general brought together, in the form of a single service, two previously separate entities - the Directorate for the Library (previously located in DG Presidency) and the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value (previously in DG Internal Policies) - and added to them a new directorate, the Members’ Research Service, a service which the Parliament had previously been lacking.
Services
The EPRS is organised into four Directorates and five horizontal units. EPRS is headed by Director-General Anders Rasmussen. Together, they provide a range of products and services.
Overview of Services
Research for Members
EPRS produces a comprehensive range of publications on major EU policies, issues and legislation, in the form of short ‘at a glance’ notes, briefings, analyses and studies. It also answers requests for research and analysis from MEPs and their staff.
Members hotline
The Members’ Hotline offers clients a single point of contact for accessing all EPRS services. Any MEP can make a request at any time to the Members’ Research Service for information, research or analysis on EU policies, issues or legislation. A tailored analysis or other personalised material may also be prepared to meet Members’ needs.
AskEP
In cases where citizens have a question for the European Parliament, they can contact EPRS’ AskEP service directly. The AskEP service answers enquiries from the public about the Parliament and its views on EU issues.