This volume’s subtitle reads “The co-production of expert and executive power”. Its ultimate aim is to offer conceptual insight into the functioning, at EU level, of power away from “the people”, focusing in particularly on the co-production of such power between the executive (the European Commission), and experts. Particular emphasis within that area is on health and environmental risks.

I am writing this review in the midst of a media-storm resulting from the European Court of Justice’s “CRISPR” ruling.Footnote ¹ Proponents of the Court’s ruling have called the judgment “simply catastrophic” – and I am quoting one of the more well-natured observations. The editors wrote their introductory chapter at the end of 2016, following the Brexit referendum in which, notoriously, people were said to have had enough of experts. One or two of the individual authors of this reviewed volume refer to the same comment made by Leave campaigners.

In current times there is generally ample supply of examples of decision-making which receives attention from the general public and which is analysed, expertly indeed, in this book.

The authors who have contributed to the book are each outstanding experts in their field and many of them have written on risk, risk analysis, and the role of experts in these processes.Footnote ²

In this volume, many of them depart from older work and confront their established ideas with more recent examples of case studies, or from entirely new insight. The editors of the volume have made obvious efforts to ensure that the writers of the various chapters were au fait with what was being discussed and suggested by their co-writers. The editors’ introductory chapter, conjoined with one of them (Maria Weimer) co-authoring an “ex-troductory” chapter, assists greatly in giving the (extensive) volume a proper integrated analysis, which is not always easy to achieve in a volume such as this.

Prospective readers and purchasers will get a very good idea of the type of analysis offered in the volume simply by reviewing each of the book’s four parts.

The introductory part introduces, as it should, the concept of co-production, discusses the specific form the concept takes on in the EU, and attractively summarises the authors’ chapters. The chapter is succinct enough (20 pages) to allow for fast digestion, and I would recommend reading it even if one is more specifically interested in individual chapters of the book. All authors having made an effort to link their analysis to the overall theme, it makes a lot of sense to respond to their efforts by appreciating the editors’ overall framework.

Part I discusses the theoretical perspectives, with two chapters, written by giants in the field (not that the other authors are not equally stellar!). Sheila Jasanoff’s “Constitutions of modernity: science, risk and governable subjects” provides an excellent theoretical backdrop to her fellow authors’ contributions. This chapter is a very enjoyable read, following a familiar pattern yet offering ever insightful and delightfully sharp observations. Liz Fisher’s “Expert executive power: administrative constitutionalism and co-production: why they matter” builds expertly on Professor Fisher’s 2007 seminal work for the same publishers, on Risk Regulation and Administrative Constitutionalism. This chapter also kicks off a much appreciated modus operandi even in the theoretical chapters of the book: that is, to intersperse the general analysis with references to concrete examples in case-law and /or statutory law.

In my view, Part II in and of itself makes purchase of book worthwhile. Elen Stokes, Tanja Ehnert, Anniek de Ruijter, Scott Greer, and Holger Strassheim each wrote a case study, respectively on the co-production of the regulation of synthetic biology, nanotechnologies, health threats (and its links with EU security), public health surveillance, and on the use of behavioural expertise in the EU. These individual chapters offer great insight in the regulation of their respective topics. They do not aim to review the regulation itself in the greatest detail (but refer excellently to others who have done so). Rather, by highlighting specific parts of that regulation, combined with how exactly that regulation came about (or not), these authors show the process of co-production of power in the EU. For each of those sectors this offers insight that I certainly was not always aware of (and in the case of public health surveillance, for which I needed a dummies introduction).

Over and above the more theoretical chapters, these contributions each and collectively flag and discuss many of the really rather pressing issues concerning co-production. This includes the peculiar place of agencies in the EU (subject to the intricacies of the Meroni doctrine), expert committees (standing or not), ad hoc experts, etc, from the practical organisation via their ethical guidelines through to the way in which the EU subsequently employs the advice of its experts.

Part III concludes the book, with Maria Weimer and Gaia Pisani discussing the legitimation issues concerning the EU’s “risk administration” (threading together topics discussed by the authors and offering important insight of their own); Christopher Anderson offering a very useful benchmark glimpse of US developments (one can sense a whole new book on this comparative issue alone, particularly if one were to add the view from the Asia-Pacific giants in the East), and, for dessert, a delightful review of the potential and actual role of the European Ombudsman by Maria Lee: certainly an institution (the Ombudsman, not Professor Lee) of which the growing impact is underestimated by many.

Buying this volume is effectively zero risk. Academics, students (including undergraduate), practitioners and officials alike will all find this book extremely insightful, relevant, practical and useful.