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The research project, `The European Commission in Question', has had impact of considerable reach and significance: It has enabled senior managers across the Commission and others to gain a detailed understanding of the backgrounds, motivation and beliefs, careers and networking behaviour of Commission officials, as well as their attitudes to the internal operation of the organization, the impact of administrative reform, and the handling and effects of the 2004 and 2007 enlargements; it has informed the EU recruitment strategy of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and it has contributed to the Scottish government's approach to engagement with the Commission. More generally, its findings have informed the EU policy community and the wider public about the Commission and its staff.
A major survey of the European Commission (2008-10), carried out by an international team coled by John Peterson, has had three forms of impact. It has enabled senior managers across the Commission to gain a detailed and systematic understanding of the backgrounds, motivation and attitudes of Commission officials, knowledge which is being drawn on to inform Human Resources policies, staff training and management of reform. Secondly, the research has informed the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office's EU recruitment strategy. Thirdly, it has helped officials in the Scottish Government better understand how to engage with the Commission.