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The role of expertise in the policy-making processes of the EU is currently one of the main themes of research. However, few scholars have addressed the question of how different types of interest groups use expertise to represent their interests. Is this action repertoire accessible to all interest groups in the same way? What are the variables influencing its unequal use? The analysis of action repertoires of French and German interest groups in two policy fields – agriculture and nuclear energy – shows that, instead of being “neutral”, expertise is profoundly political in nature. Not to authorize to provide expertise might deprive an actor of his capacity to defend his interests. In a context of high uncertainty and technical complexity, the action repertoire of expertise offers access to EU policy-making. Interest groups which are not allowed to use this repertoire, are excluded from the policy process.