Role perception of representatives on management boards inEU-level agencies

Abstract

This study tries to explain what role perception different representatives on management boards in EU-level agencies adopt when they are attending board meetings and what influences the representatives to adopt the role they do. Do the representatives adopt a supranational role, an intergovernmental role or an expert role on the management board? I have chosen organizational theory and institutional theory to try to explain the different roles representatives adopt on the management board. Empirically, I observed that the representatives adopt an ambiguous role perception where they have to balance the three roles. The study also shows that there are larger differences between representatives on different EU agencies than between representatives on the same management board. I will give a great thanks to Jarle Trondal, Professor at University of Agder, which gave me good advice throughout this thesis. He has given me good and constructive critique and guidance to make the thesis as good as possible. I will also give a thanks to Hilmar Rommetvedt, Head of research, IRIS - International Research Institute of Stavanger, which at the end of the thesis gave me some final pointers on the thesis and some constructive advice. At the end I will give great thanks to the interview objects participating in this study. They gave good information which was crucial to the thesis.