The study of the informal dimension of EU politics is more important than ever in order to
understand how the EU system works. This book presents an innovative and original study on
informal cross-party cross-committee groupings in the European Parliament so-called
Intergroups. Building on extensive fieldwork including semi-structured interviews and
observations this study shows how parliamentarians of the seventh European Parliament
(2009-2014) gain a variety of social resources such as social informational and political
capital in Intergroups which they subsequently mobilise to foster opinion-formation across
political groups and parliamentary committees and to shape the EP¿s agenda and policy
outcomes. Drawing on an interdisciplinary Bourdieusian-inspired framework this book makes a
valuable contribution to sociological approaches in European integration studies. Shedding new
light on the informal dimension of parliamentary practices and politics this book appeals to
EP as well as EU scholars to students and practitioners of EU politics and civil society.
