# EUR-Lex - 52014PC0227 - EN

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# 52014PC0227

**Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION determining the composition of the Economic and Social Committee /* COM/2014/0227 final - 2014/0129 (NLE) */**

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.           CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

Article 301 of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that the number of members of
the Economic and Social Committee, called “the European Economic and Social
Committee” in accordance with its Rules of procedure (hereinafter "the
Committee"), shall not exceed 350.

Until the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty, the composition of the Committee was laid down in the Treaties. Henceforth,
the second paragraph of Article 301 provides that the Council, acting
unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt a decision determining
the Committee's composition.

Article 7 of the Protocol (No 36) on
Transitional Provisions maintained the composition of the Committee as it was
previously determined in Article 258 EC treaty "until the entry into force
of the decision referred to in Article 301 TFEU".

From 1 July 2013, the composition of the Committee
was adapted by Article 23(1) of the Act concerning the conditions of accession
of the Republic of Croatia. Article 23(2) of that Act provides that the number
of members of the Committee "shall be temporarily increased to 353 to take
account of the accession of Croatia for the period running from the date of
accession until the end of the term of office during which Croatia accedes to
the Union or until the entry into force of the decision referred to in Article
301, second paragraph, TFEU, whichever comes first".

The current term of office of the Committee
will come to an end on the 20th of September 2015. Therefore, it is necessary
that the Council adopts the decision on the composition of the Committee in
time before the Council launches the procedure for the renewal of the Committee
for the period 2015 - 2020.

It should be recalled that Article 300(5)
TFEU provides that the rules governing the nature of the composition of the
Advisory Bodies (Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions)
"shall be reviewed at regular intervals by the Council to take account of
economic, social and demographic developments within the Union. The Council, on
a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt decisions to that end".

2.           RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS
WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES

No economic, social and demographic
development has taken place within the Union since the Intergovernmental
Conference that adopted the text of the Lisbon treaty that would justify a
significant change in the nature of the composition of the Committee.
Therefore, the current proposal is limited to the determination of the number
of members of the Committee for each Member State. Moreover, the Commission
adopts this proposal at the same time as its proposal concerning the
composition of the Committee of Regions, which has adopted a recommendation on
its composition that the Commission has duly considered. For the above reasons,
the Commission has decided not to consult widely on this matter.

3.           LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE
PROPOSAL

3.1         Legal basis

The proposal is based on the second
paragraph of Article 301 TFEU which provides for a unanimous Council decision
determining the Committee's composition.

3.2         Explanation of the
proposal

The present composition of the Committee,
following the accession of Croatia, cannot be maintained in its entirety beyond
the term of office of the current members, as it would exceed the maximum
number of seats as provided for in the treaty.

The Treaties make no provisions on the method
of composition of the Economic and Social Committee or the Committee of the
Regions within the maximum number of 350 members. This is in contrast to the
criteria for the composition of the European Parliament that are laid down in
Article 14(2) of the Treaty on European Union. Whereas the Parliament is
composed of directly elected representatives of the Union's citizens, the
Committee consists of organisations of employers, of employed, and of other
parties representative of civil society (Article 300(2) TFEU). Therefore,
ensuring that the voice of employers, employed and of the civil society is
heard in the Committee should be the primary concern as opposed to establishing
any direct link to the size of the respective populations of the Member States.

The Commission is of the view that the
current balance in the composition of the Committee should be maintained as far
as possible, as it is the result of successive Intergovernmental Conferences.

Therefore, it is proposed to provide for
the fewest possible modifications, to reduce the current number of seats
allocated to a Member State by maximum one, and, while respecting a minimum
number of five seats per Member State (the current number of seats for Malta) in
order to enable the involvement of members of each Member State in the whole
range of activities of the Committee, to apply these reductions first to the
least populous Member States (Luxembourg, Cyprus and Estonia).

The Commission adopts this proposal in
parallel to the proposal on the composition of the Committee of the Regions.
The parallelism with regard to the allocation of seats between Member States in
both Committees is to be maintained.

The Commission considers that it would not
be appropriate to establish a methodology that would pre-determine the
reallocation of seats in the event that a new Member State accedes to the Union, given that the Treaty provides for a regular review and does not provide criteria on
which a permanent methodology could be based.

3.3         Entry into force

It is proposed that the Council postpones
the entry into force of this decision until the day after the end of the current
term of office of the Committee. If the entry into force was not deferred
Article 23(2) of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic
of Croatia would imply that the temporary increase to 353 members would no
longer be legal as of the day of entry into force of the proposed decision.

2014/0129 (NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

determining the composition of the
Economic and Social Committee

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 301 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the
European Commission,

Whereas:

(1)       Article 300(2) of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides that the Economic and
Social Committee shall consist of representatives of organisations of
employers, of the employed, and of other parties representative of civil
society.

(2)       Article 301 of the Treaty
on the Functioning of the European Union provides that the Council shall
determine the composition of the Economic and Social Committee. The number of
members shall not exceed 350.

(3)       The current balance in the
composition of the Economic and Social Committee should as far as possible be maintained
as it is the result of successive Intergovernmental Conferences.

(4)       In order to allow the
Economic and Social Committee to be composed in accordance with Article 23 of
the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Croatia until
the end of the term of office of the current members, the entry into force of
the present decision should be deferred until that date,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The number of members of the Economic and
Social Committee shall be as follows:

Belgium                                                                       12

Bulgaria                                                                       12

Czech Republic                                                           12

Denmark                                                                     9

Germany                                                                     24

Estonia                                                                        6

Ireland                                                                         9

Greece                                                                         12

Spain                                                                           21

France                                                                         24

Croatia                                                                        9

Italy                                                                             24

Cyprus                                                                         5

Latvia                                                                          7

Lithuania                                                                     9

Luxembourg                                                                5

Hungary                                                                      12

Malta                                                                           5

Netherlands                                                                 12

Austria                                                                        12

Poland                                                                         21

Portugal                                                                       12

Romania                                                                      15

Slovenia                                                                      7

Slovakia                                                                      9

Finland                                                                        9

Sweden                                                                       12

United Kingdom                                                         24.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the
date of day following the end of the term of office of the current members of the
Economic and Social Committee.

Done at Brussels,

For
the Council

The
President