REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION

ON THE WORKING OF COMMITTEES DURING 2014

In accordance with Article 10(2) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (the ‘Comitology Regulation’), the Commission hereby presents the annual report on the working of committees for 2014.

This report gives an overview of developments in the comitology system in 2014 and a summary of the committees’ activities. It is accompanied by a staff working document containing detailed statistics on the work of the individual committees.

1. Overview of developments in the comitology system in 2014

1.1 General development

As described in the 2013 report , all comitology procedures provided for in the ‘old’ Comitology Decision , with the exception of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (RPS), were automatically adapted to the new comitology procedures provided for in the Comitology Regulation.

In 2014, the comitology committees were therefore operating under the procedures set out in the Comitology Regulation, i.e. advisory (Article 4) and examination (Article 5), as well as under the RPS set out in Article 5a of the Comitology Decision.

In accordance with the statement made at the time of adoption of the Comitology Regulation that all the RPS provisions in existing basic acts would be adapted to the criteria laid down in the Treaty, the Commission adopted in 2013, following a preliminary screening exercise in 2012, three proposals to align a total of 200 basic acts to Articles 290 and 291 TFEU. In November 2014, the Commission at the beginning of its new mandate and in the context of a review of pending legislative proposals, decided to withdraw these proposals pending the outcome of future discussions between the institutions in the context of the Inter-institutional Agreement on Better Regulation.

1.2 Development of case law

With its judgment in Case C-427/12, Commission v Parliament and Council (the ‘Biocides case’), on 18 March 2014 the Court of Justice pronounced for the first time on a case of delineation between delegated and implementing acts. With its application in the Biocides case, the European Commission sought the annulment of a provision providing for the adoption of measures setting the fees payable to the European Chemicals Agency by implementing acts. The Commission considered that these should be set by delegated acts. The Court of Justice dismissed the action by the Commission as unfounded. While the Court did not appear to question that Articles 290 and 291 TFEU each have their own scope, it recognised that the legislator has a margin of discretion when it decides to confer a delegated power on the Commission pursuant to Article 290(1) TFEU or an implementing power pursuant to Article 291(2) TFEU. As a consequence, the Court found that judicial review is limited to manifest errors.

In its judgment of 15 October 2014 in case C-65/13, European Parliament v European Commission (EURES case), the Court dismissed the action of the Parliament, seeking the annulment of Implementing Decision 2012/733/EU, considering that the Commission had not exceeded its implementing powers.

2. Overview of activities

2.1 Number of committees and meetings

It is important to distinguish between the comitology committees, on the one hand, and other entities, in particular ‘expert groups’ created by the Commission itself, on the other. The latter provide expertise to the Commission in preparing and implementing policy as well as delegated acts, whereas comitology committees assist the Commission in the exercise of the implementing powers that have been conferred upon it by basic legal acts. This report focuses exclusively on comitology committees. The number of active comitology committees in the period 1 January 2014 to 1 January 2015 was calculated by sector of activity (see Table I). The figures for the previous year (on 31 December 2013) are also given for purposes of comparison. Sections and configurations are not counted separately as these belong to a parent committee.

TABLE I — Total number of committees (2014/15)

Policy sector 2014/15 2013 Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) 18 20 Budget (BUDG) 2 2 Climate Action (CLIMA) 5 4 Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT) 6 6 Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN) 1 2 Education and Culture (EAC) 5 8 Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (EMPL) 4 4 Energy (ENER) 15 18 Environment (ENV) 31 33 European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) 1 1 Eurostat (ESTAT) 7 7 Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital markets Union (FISMA) 9 15 Health and Food Safety (SANTE) 21 26 Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) 2 3 Informatics (DIGIT) 1 1 Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW) 44 33 International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) 5 6 Justice and Consumers (JUST) 20 17 Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE) 4 4 Migration and Home Affairs (HOME) 14 13 Mobility and Transport (MOVE) 30 32 Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR) 3 4 Regional and Urban Policy (REGIO) 1 2 Research and Innovation (RTD) 5 8 Secretariat-General (SG) 3* 2* Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) 4 4 Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD) 11 13 Trade (TRADE) 15 13 TOTAL: 287 301

* Including the appeal committee (for the needs of the comitology register, the appeal committee is registered as a committee under the responsibility of SG; in practice, it is managed by all services concerned).