“…Being communicatively rational, they may thus reflect on the relevance and validity of different arguments and also be convinced of why they should be complied with (Sjursen, ) – whether such arguments refer to material interests during aggregative bargaining or to expert knowledge or common norms, as one might typically expect during deliberative processes (Riddervold, ). It also builds on the empirical observation that Commission officials’ expert knowledge in different fields is important for understanding EU integration, including in inter‐governmental policy areas (Hooghe, ; Egeberg, ; Chou and Riddervold, ). After all, the Commission is ‘a body of unelected officials appointed for their expertise’ within Community policy areas (Hooghe, , p. 7).…”