Magali Gravi­er

My research on the EU’s staff aims at providing knowledge and elements of analysis on the EU’s civil service that can be useful for the European Commission and its member states. I use a tool of analysis from the field of public administration: the “theory of representative bureaucracy”. This theory considers that civil servants contribute to the representation of citizens. I have mostly analyzed the issue of nationality and geographical balance. But I also investigate the issue of language. I want to understand what this form of “representation” does in a multinational and multilingual organization like the EU. Why is this important? How does it shape the social contract between the EU, and its member states and its citizens? 

Another part of my research uses the concept of empire to analyze the EU. First, I use historical comparisons with other European empires to understand what makes the EU look like an empire (and what does not). Here, “empire” is a technical concept (like “state”) that helps analyze better some aspects of the EU. Second, the concept of empire helps analyzing relations between the four big powers: USA, EU, Russia and China.