The concept of the “European Research Area” promoted by the European Commission and a number of relays has been a success. However, the institutionalisation of this area remains problematic because the implementation of European research policy requires the logic of funding by research “projects”, questioning the relative importance of scientific and administrative capital in monitoring the allocation of financial resources in the scientific field. This situation encourages the emergence of “intermediaries” who contribute to the legitimacy of the European funding model among researchers. This article looks at the profiles of these “experts” working at the CNRS and how they will be involved.