Economic and Social Committee
Encyclopedia
| European Economic and Social Committee |
|
| Established | 1958 |
| Type | EU body Institutions of the European Union The European Union is governed by seven institutions. Article 13 of Treaty on European Union lists them in the following order: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European... |
| President | Staffan Nilsson |
| Members | 344 |
| Represents | Employers, employees and various interest groups |
| Powers | Advisory only. |
| Seat | Delors building Delors building The Delors building located in the European Quarter of Brussels and houses the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. It was named Delors in 2006 after President Jacques Delors, who was the principal founder behind the Committee of the Regions and the most... , Brussels |
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC or "EcoSoc") is a body of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU) established in 1958. It is a consultative assembly composed of employers (employers' organisations
Employers' organization
An employers' organization, employers' association or employers' federation is an association of employers. A trade union, which organizes employees is the opposite of an employers' organization...
), employees (trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s) and representatives of various other interests. Its seat, which it shares with the Committee of the Regions
Committee of the Regions
The Committee of the Regions is European Union's assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities with a direct voice within the EU's institutional framework....
, is the Delors building
Delors building
The Delors building located in the European Quarter of Brussels and houses the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. It was named Delors in 2006 after President Jacques Delors, who was the principal founder behind the Committee of the Regions and the most...
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
.
Role
It was established by the Treaty of RomeTreaty of Rome
The Treaty of Rome, officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, was an international agreement that led to the founding of the European Economic Community on 1 January 1958. It was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany...
of 1957 in order to unite different economic interest groups to establish a Single Market. The creation of this committee gave them an institution to allow their voices to be heard by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, the Council
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...
and the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
.
The role of the EESC is purely consultative. However, the Treaty of Maastricht considerably enlarged the Committee's domain. Its influence now extends to matters such as social policy, social and economic cohesion, environment, education, health, customers protection, industry, Trans-European Networks
Trans-European Networks
The Trans-European Networks were created by the European Union by Articles 154-156 of the Treaty of Rome , with the stated goals of the creation of an internal market and the reinforcement of economic and social cohesion...
, indirect taxation and structural funds. It is questionable, however, whether this expanded scope truly gave it any more authority. On certain issues the EESC works in partnership with the Committee of the Regions
Committee of the Regions
The Committee of the Regions is European Union's assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities with a direct voice within the EU's institutional framework....
.
In latest years the Committee has taken up the challenge of civil society, opening up its forum to representatives of all sectors, developing two complementary missions:
- Involving civil society organisations more in the European venture, at both national and European level,
- Boosting the role of civil society organisations in non-member countries or country groupings where the Committee is furthering structured dialogue with civil society organisations, and promoting the creation of consultative structures based on its experiences, not least in the countries applying for EU membership, the Mediterranean partner countries, African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, India, China, Latin America (Mercosur) and Brazil.
Operation
It is mandatory for the Committee to be consulted on those issues stipulated in the Treaties and in all cases where the institutions deem it appropriate. The EESC may also be consulted on an exploratory basis by one of the other institutions, and may issue opinions on its own initiative (around 15% of its opinions are own-initiative opinions).Own-initiative and exploratory opinions often raise the awareness of decision-making bodies, and of the Commission in particular, about subjects which have hitherto barely attracted their attention, if at all. Exploratory opinions drawn up at the request of other institutions before the Commission has even drafted its proposals enable the various components of organised civil society represented within the EESC to express the expectations, concerns and needs of grassroots stakeholders.
The Committee adopts on average 150 opinions a year on a wide range of subjects concerning European integration. It therefore plays an active role in the processes of shaping Community policies and preparing Community decisions.
Membership
Currently, EESC membership numbers 344 (same as the Committee of the RegionsCommittee of the Regions
The Committee of the Regions is European Union's assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities with a direct voice within the EU's institutional framework....
). The number of members per EU state varies according to the population of each state (see table below for state-by-state membership figures; the breakdown is the same for the Committee of the Regions). Members of the EESC are divided into three groups of equal number, employers, employees and a third group of various other changing interests such as: farmers, consumer groups, professional associations and so on.
Members are appointed by the Council (by qualified majority) following nominations made by the government of the respective Member State
Member State of the European Union
A member state of the European Union is a state that is party to treaties of the European Union and has thereby undertaken the privileges and obligations that EU membership entails. Unlike membership of an international organisation, being an EU member state places a country under binding laws in...
. However, once appointed, the members are completely independent of their governments. They have a renewable term of office of five years. The President of the EESC, elected for a two-and-a-half year term, is Staffan Nilsson (since October 2010) and the Secretary-General
Secretary-General of the European Economic and Social Committee
The Secretary-General heads the Secretariat of the European Economic and Social Committee. About seven hundred EESC officials work in the EESC Secretariat...
is Martin Westlake
Martin Westlake
Martin Westlake is the Secretary-General of the European Economic and Social Committee, an EU advisory body. Appointed by the EESC's Bureau for a five year renewable term, he took up his current duties on 1 October 2008...
.
!States
|-
|align="center"|24
|Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom
|-
|align="center"|21
|Poland, Spain
|-
|align="center"|15
|Romania
|-
|align="center"|12
|Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary
|-
|align="center"|9
|Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia
|-
|align="center"|7
|Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia
|-
|align="center"|6
|Luxembourg, Cyprus
|-
|align="center"|5
|Malta
|}>
EcoSoc's future
EcoSoc, set up in 1958, is not an EU Institution as such, but an advisory body thereof. While EcoSoc has performed good works, it has been widely felt for decades that EcoSoc has outlived its usefulness, and should be dismantled, having served its purpose. The modern EU is over-endowed with advisors: Commissioners have their DGs, MEPs have their own researchers, and the ad hoc national ministers within the Council of MinistersCouncil of the European Union
The Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...
not only have their own advisors but also the services of COREPER. Although the EU is sometimes accused of "empire building", the abolition of the ECSC
European Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union...
shows that the axe can be wielded. A written declaration put forward by Nils Lundgren
Nils Lundgren
Nils Gustav Herman Lundgren is a Swedish politician, economist, eurosceptic and former Member of the European Parliament. He was the leader of the eurosceptical June List, which he also co-founded....
and Hélène Goudin
Hélène Goudin
Hélène Goudin is a Swedish politician and Member of the European Parliament for the June List; part of the Independence and Democracy group. Goudin is a Vice Chair of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and Co-President and Treasurer of the EUDemocrats - Alliance for a Europe of Democracies.-...
in 2007 called for the committee's abolition. EcoSoc shares the Delors building with Committee of the Regions (set up in 1994 to promote subsidiarity
Subsidiarity
Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which...
and European regionalism); and while it is unlikely that EcoSoc will be abolished imminently, it could be merged with the Committee of the Regions to form a single, smaller, more focussed advisory body.
See also
- European Trade Union ConfederationEuropean Trade Union ConfederationThe European Trade Union Confederation is a trade union organization which was established in 1973 to represent workers and their national affiliates at the European level....
- UEAPMEUEAPMEThe European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises or UEAPME is an umbrella group for associations of SMEs based in Brussels, Belgium. UEAPME represents the interests of European crafts, trades and SMEs at EU level...
- BUSINESSEUROPE
- European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest
- United Nations Economic and Social CouncilUnited Nations Economic and Social CouncilThe Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...