Geographic representation and information capacity in the European Union

The European Union prioritizes geographic representation of member states when recruiting staff. Many assume a trade-off between expertise and geographic representation, where the former increases capacity and the latter increases legitimacy. However, this article provides evidence that geographic representation can enhance bureaucratic information capacity. Using the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs as a case study, I provide evidence that increasing representation of bureaucrats from a member state is associated with higher accuracy in that state’s economic forecasts. This association decreases as member state representation within the Commission increases. These findings suggest that prioritizing geographic balance in the European Union need not come at the cost of information capacity, and may in fact improve it.