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Members: 222;
France, Germany , Italy and the United Kingdom 24 each, Spain 21, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Austria 12 each, Denmark, Ireland and Finland 9 each and Luxembourg 6
Term of office: four years
Meeting places: Brussels, monthly
The role of the Economic and Social Committee is purely consultative; it issues opinions which reflect the views of a membership which is drawn from a broad cross-section of the Union´s social and economic life.
Members of the Committee are drawn from a very broad range of activities in civil society. Some represent the employers and workers (the "social partners"), while the activities of others range from farming to commerce, transport to crafts, the profession to consumer protection and cooperatives and mutuals sector, and from small and medium-sized enterprises to environmental protection. The Committee's members are divided into three groups of roughly equal numbers: employers (Group I), workers (Group II) and various interests (Group III).
Opinions
The Treaty obliges the Commission and the Council to ask the Committee for its opinion on certain legislative items and leaves them free to choose whether or not to do so on others. However, since 1972, the Committee has had the right to issue opinions on any matter of Community interest.
Not a single European law of any significance has been passed without the Committee´s voice being heard. Since its beginning, the Committee has adopted more than 3 000 opinions.
The work of discussing and drafting an opinion is performed within a structure of nine sections, resembling parliamentary committees, with a rapporteur and study group appointed for each issue. Opinions are adopted by a simple majority during the monthly plenary sessions.
This process has a special utility which may not be always immediately apparent. By requiring its members to find common ground on each issue and to resolve conflicts of interest between the different economic and social groups, the Committee's work is a useful contribution to consensus- building within the Union's legislative process.
Reviewing the Single Market
Given the involvement of its members in the Union's daily economic life, the Committee is well-qualified to contribute directly to the growth and development of the single market. At the request of the European Parliament, the Commission and the Presidency of the Council, it exercises a continuous overview of the internal market and draws attention to malfunctions. Twice a year, it organizes a "Single market forum" which brings together a network of correspondents in the Member States to review developments.
Maintaining Links
The Economic and Social Committee maintains good relations with equivalent organizations at international, national and regional levels.
Supported by the Commission, the Parliament and the Council, the Committee has developed an important programme of contacts with social and economic entities in the African, Caribbean and Pacific States, in the countries of EFTA, Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean basin, Latin America and the USA.
Committee of the Regions
Members: 222 comprising:
France, Germany , Italy and the United Kingdom 24 each, Spain 21, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Austria 12 each, Denmark, Ireland and Finland 9 each and Luxembourg 6
Term of office: four years
Meeting places: Brussels, five plenaries per year
The Committee of the Regions is the European Union's youngest institution whose birth reflects Member States´ strong desire not only to respect regional and local identities and prerogatives but also to involve them in the development and implementation of EU policies. For the first time in the history of the EU, there is now a legal obligation to consult the representatives of local and regional authorities on a variety of matters that concern them directly.
Guardian of Subsidiarity
Created as a consultative body by the Treaty on EU, the Committee has emerged as a strong guardian of the principle of subsidiarity since its first session in 1994.
Subsidiarity is enshrined in the Treaty and means that decisions should be taken by those public authorities which stand as close to the citizen as possible. It is a principle which resists unnecessarily remote, centralized decision-taking. As regional presidents, mayors of cities or chairmen of city and county councils, the 222 members of the Committee are elected officials from the levels of government closest the citizen.
This means that they have a very direct experience of how the Union's policies and legislation affect the everyday life of their citizens. With such resources, the Committee is able to bring powerful expertise and influence to bear on the Union's other institutions.
The Treaty requires it to be consulted on matters relating to trans-European networks, public health, education, youth, culture and economic and social cohesion. But the Committee can also take the initiative and give its opinion on other policy matters that affects cities and regions, such as agriculture and environmental protection.
The Committee's work is based on a structure of eight standing Commissions and four
Sub-Commissions:
1. Regional Development, Economic Development, Local and Regional Finances Sub-Commission: Local and regional finances
2. Spatial Planning (agriculture, hunting, fisheries, marine environment and upland areas) Sub-Commission: Tourism, rural areas
3. Transport and Communications networks Sub-Commission: Telecommunications
4. Citizen´s Europe, Research, Culture, Youth and Consumers Sub-Commission: Youth and sports
5. Urban Policies
6. Land-use Planning, Environment, Energy
7. Education, Training
8. Economic and Social Cohesion, Social Policy, Public Health
The Committee has also established a Special Commission on Institutional Affairs, which is responsible for contributing to the debate on the reform of the EU institutions. The Bureau, elected for a two-year term, organizes the work of the Committee of the Regions.
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