Report from the Commission on the working of committees during 2001 (COM(2002) 733 final)
Date: 2003-09-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, activity report, comitology, committee (EU)

19.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 223 E/1

I

(Information)

COMMISSION

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION

on the working of committees during 2001

(COM(2002) 733 final)

(2003/C 223 E/01)

1. PRELIMINARY COMMENTS

The previous report was sent to the European Parliament and
Council. Since the Commission has
received no remarks
regarding its structure and content, a similar structure has
been used for this report for the year 2001.

1.1. The

legal nature

and role of

the

comitology

committees

The purpose of the comitology committees is to assist the
Commission in exercising the implementing powers conferred
i.e. the Council and the European
upon it by the legislator,
types of committees or
Parliament. As opposed to other
expert
three
committees
comitology
essential features.

groups,

share

the

they are created by the legislator (the Council and
Firstly,
in accordance with the ‘legislative’
European Parliament)
procedures in force at
the basic
instrument under which they are established, namely the coop-
eration or advisory procedures and, since the Maastricht Treaty,
the codecision procedure. Hence, the legal basis of the comi-
tology committees is enshrined in a so-called ‘basic instrument’.

the time of adoption of

Secondly, their structure and working methods are in several
the Commission
respects standardised. A representative of
chairs each committee, which consists of Member State
representatives; these are the only ‘members’ of the committees.
the
The committees
procedures set out
in
compliance with the Council's comitology decision.

intervene within the framework of

in the basic legislative instrument,

Article 9 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC (1) repeals the old
comitology Decision 87/373/EEC of 13 July 1987 (2). However,
the 1987 procedures remain in force until the basic legislative
comitology
instruments
procedures pursuant to Decision 1999/468/EC.

amended in line with the

are

Thirdly, the committees deliver opinions on draft implementing
measures submitted to them by the Commission pursuant to
the basic legislative instrument and intervene within the
the management
framework of
advisory procedure,
procedure or
that
purpose.

the regulatory procedure provided for

the

Pursuant to Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC, the
management procedure should be reserved for management

(Article 2(a)). The

measures such as those relating to the application of
the
common agricultural and common fisheries policy or to the
implementation of programmes with substantial budgetary
implications
is
prescribed in the case of measures of general scope designed
to apply essential provisions of basic instruments,
including
measures concerning the protection of the health or safety of
humans, animals or plants and in updating the ‘technical’
elements of a basic instrument (Article 2(b)). The advisory
procedure is applied wherever it is considered to be the most
appropriate.

regulatory procedure

1.2. The state of implementation of Decision 1999/468/EC

In Declaration No 2 on the implementation of Council
Decision 1999/468/EC (3), the Council and the Commission
agreed to adapt as soon as possible the provisions governing
the committees assisting the Commission in the exercise of its
implementing powers under Decision 87/373/EEC. This would
bring them into line with the provisions of Articles 3 to 6 of
in compliance with the appropriate
Decision 1999/468/EC,
legislative procedures.

Since the entry into force of Decision 1999/468/EC,
the
committee procedures of a number of basic instruments have
been updated on a case-by-case basis. In order to complete the
update, at
the end of 2001 the Commission presented a
package of four separate proposals (the so-called ‘alignment
proposals’) (4), covering more than 300 basic instruments
laying down implementing procedures. The four proposals
for Council and Parliament Regulations correspond to the
different
legislative procedures (assent procedure, codecision
procedure and consultation procedure with qualified majority
and unanimity). It is worth noting that the proposals do not
affect the substantive provisions of the amended legislative acts.
Nor do they affect the identity of the committees provided for
by the basic legal acts, or amendment of
the safeguard
procedures, which is done on a case-by-case basis.

The ‘alignment proposals’ are currently under examination by
the Council and the European Parliament under an accelerated
procedure (one single reading). The plan is that the ‘alignment
proposals’ will be adopted by the end of 2002. Since they take
the form of Regulations, they will come into force directly
without any need for transposition by the Member States.

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(2) OJ L 197, 18.7.1987, p. 33.

(3) OJ C 203, 17.7.1999, p. 1.
(4) Proposals COM(2001) 789 final, adopted on 27.12.2001.

C 223 E/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

19.9.2003

and Council

an important new element, Article 7 of Decision
As
1999/468/EC,
and Commission statements
relating to that provision (notably statements Nos 4 and 5),
put in place measures designed to improve the transparency of the
working of the comitology committees.

In this respect, publication of this annual report on the working of
the committees, as provided for in Article 7(4), in itself helps to
shed light on the Commission's activities in terms of exercising
its implementing powers.

Also in compliance with Article 7(4), the Commission has
published a list of all
the committees which help it exercise
these implementing powers (5). This list will be updated and
published again in the course of 2003. An updated list of the
committees assisting the European Commission can be found
in the annex to the General budget of the European Union for the
financial year 2002 (2002/50/EC, ECSC, Euratom) (6).

in force. Finally, besides

in compliance with Article 7(1), the
On 31 January 2001,
Commission adopted the standard rules of procedure (7) on the
basis of which the existing or newly created committees draw
up their rules of procedure. The Commission intends to adopt
an updated version of the standard rules of procedure by the
end of 2002 and to bring them into line with the new rules on
access to documents (see below). By the end of 2001, 88 of the
total of 247 committees
(representing almost 40 %) had
adopted internal rules of procedure based on the standard
report on the
text
working of committees, Article 7(5) of Decision 1999/468/EC
provides that the Commission has to publish a register giving
the references of all documents sent to the European Parliament. The
plan is that this register should be in operation by early 2003.
(No 5) on Council Decision
According to its
1999/468/EC, the Commission intends as an additional trans-
parency measure to widen the scope of the register by adding a
repository, making documents communicated to the European
Parliament available to the public, under Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 of the Parliament and of the Council regarding
public access to the institutions' documents (8), which came
into effect on 3 December 2001 (9). This
repository of
documents will then become accessible in the course of 2003.

this annual

statement

1.3. The European Parliament's right to scrutiny

The Commission is obliged to inform the European Parliament
about the work of the committees and to send it all draft
instrument
implementing measures pursuant
the
adopted under Article 251 of
European Parliament
scrutiny
enshrined in Article 8 of Decision 1999/468/EC.

the Treaty,
its

can exercise

to a basic

right of

so that

(5) OJ C 225, 8.8.2000, p. 2.
(6) OJ L 29, 31.1.2002, p. 1.
(7) OJ C 38, 6.2.2001, p. 3. Following a number of amendments to be
approved by the Commission and linguistic review, the standard
rules of procedure will be published afresh in the Official Journal.

(8) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.
(9) The next report will include an evaluation of the impact of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1049/2001, which was adopted during 2001.

the

European Parliament

the
In February 2000,
Commission concluded
for
designed
implementing
specifically to regulate the procedures for implementing the
obligations incumbent on the Commission (10).

and
procedures

Council Decision

an Agreement

1999/468/EC,

on

The agreement provides for the electronic transmission of
implemented progressively
documents, a task which was
from the various Commission
during 2001. Documents
departments are first
transmitted to the Secretariat-General,
which promptly dispatches them either electronically or via
the CIRCA network to a central service at
the European
Parliament. Today practically all documents are transmitted
electronically.

Except in emergencies, the agreement stipulates a period of one
month from receipt of a ‘definitive’ draft
implementing
measure (11) under a legal act adopted through codecision to
allow the European Parliament, where appropriate, to adopt a
resolution (in plenary session), pursuant to Article 8 of Council
Decision 1999/468/EC, if it considers that the draft exceeds the
implementing powers enshrined in the basic instrument (12).

The bilateral agreement of February 2000 was implemented by
a further administrative agreement by the Secretariats General of
the European Parliament and the Commission, dated 14
December 2001. This administrative agreement is intended to
the
ensure a harmonised approach by the departments of
Commission so that all
the Commission obligations under
the bilateral agreement of February 2000 are properly fulfilled.
In particular, it provides for minimum standards with regard to
the types of documents and their structure. It is worth noting
that during 2001 there were no cases where the European
Parliament
the need to adopt a resolution based on
Article 8 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC.

felt

1.4. Referrals to the Council

Ten cases of referrals to the Council were reported in 2001.
to Council Decision 1999/468/EC, draft measures
Pursuant
must be referred to the Council when the Commission fails
to obtain the necessary majority under the management or
regulatory procedure. The
referrals occurred in different
policy sectors. Two cases concern Enterprise policy (see
Annex, point 1), two cases concern Agriculture (see Annex,
point 3), one case concerns Transport policy (see Annex,
point 4) and five cases concern Health and Consumer
Protection (see Annex, point 13).

(10) OJ L 256, 10.10.2000, p. 19. The agreement nullifies certain
earlier agreements:
the
Samland/Williamson Agreement of 1996 and the modus vivendi
of 1994.

the Plumb/Delors Agreement of 1988,

(11) The drafts are first sent before the committee meeting and, if they
are substantially modified during the meeting, are sent again
afterwards.

(12) This basic instrument must itself have been adopted under the
the Treaty) between the

codecision procedure (Article 251 of
Council and the European Parliament.

19.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 223 E/3

As in 2000, the small percentage of referrals (less than 1 %)
compared with the total number of instruments adopted by the
Commission (under the management or regulatory procedure)
shows that the work of the committees achieves a high degree
of consensus and that the proposals by Commission represen-
tatives are normally approved by the committees.

the Stockholm European Council’ (18), considered the possibility
of making greater use of delegation of
the implementing
powers vested in it by the legislator under the existing legal
framework, as set out in Article 202 of the Treaty.

1.5. Other questions

the

chairmanship of Alexandre

In the field of securities markets, the European Institutions
agreed in principle to allow more frequent use of the comi-
tology procedures. This agreement is based on the recommen-
dations in the Final Report of the Committee of Wise Men
(under
Lamfalussy) of
February 2001. The European Council endorsed these recom-
mendations in its Resolution on more effective securities
markets regulation in the European Union in March 2001 at
its Stockholm summit. The European Parliament equally
approved these recommendations in its Resolution on the
implementation of
financial services legislation of February
2002 in the light of a solemn declaration made by President
Prodi to the European Parliament on the same day. A more
frequent use of the comitology procedures should be facilitated
in two ways: first, a new European Securities Committee (ESC)
was set up by a Commission decision in June 2001; the ESC is
composed of high level representatives of national competent
in future as so-called regulatory
ministries and should act
committee under the comitology framework (13). In 2001,
it
only acted in its advisory capacity since it has not been
vested with comitology powers (14). Second, the Commission
should receive technical advice in the phase of preparing draft
implementing measures; to this end, the Commission also set
up
Securities Regulators
(CESR) (15).

the Committee

European

of

During 2001, the Commission adopted two sectoral proposals
on financial services: the Proposal for a Directive of the European
Parliament and of the Council on the prospectus to be published when
securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading (Prospectus
Directive) (16) and the Proposal
the European
Parliament and of the Council on insider dealing and market manipu-
lation (Market abuse Directive) (17). In both proposals, reference is
made to the European Securities Committee with its functions
under the regulatory procedure.

for a Directive of

With regard to a coordinated strategy to simplify the regu-
latory environment, the Commission, in its ‘Interim report to

(13) Commission Decision 2001/528/EC of 6 June 2001 (OJ L 191,

13.7.2001, p. 45).

(14) Which will follow with the final adoption of the sectoral

legis-

lation, see following paragraph.

(15) Commission Decision 2001/527/ EC of 6 June 2001 (OJ L 191,

13.7.2001, p. 43).

(16) COM(2001) 280 final, adopted on 30.5.2001 (OJ C 240 E,
28.8.2001, p. 272); see also the amended proposal COM(2002)
460 final, adopted on 9.8.2002.

(17) COM(2001) 281 final, adopted on 30.5.2001 (OJ C 240 E,
the

see also the Common position of

28.8.2001, p. 265);
Council adopted 19.7.2001 (OJ C 228 E, p. 19).

the

conditions

under which

In the White Paper on Governance (19), the Commission proposed
re-examining
adopts
implementing measures
and the need to maintain the
existing committees, notably the management and regulatory
committees (20). Moreover,
the Commission announced its
intention to launch initiatives aimed at amending Article 202
of the Treaty with a view to putting the Council and the
European Parliament on an equal footing ‘in supervising the
way in which the Commission exercises its executive role’ (21).

it

In a consultative communication submitted to the Laeken European
Council (22), which was drawn up for the purpose of consulting
the European Parliament, the Council and the Member States,
and in the final Action plan for simplifying and improving the
regulatory environment, adopted in June 2002 (23), the Commission
underlined the need for a ‘review of the existing comitology
procedures and of the arrangements whereby the legislator vets
executive instruments’. Concrete Commission proposals for
reorganising the comitology framework without changing the
Treaty will be presented before the end of 2002.

agencies

countries

candidate

Preparations for the enlargement of the European Union
include the participation of representatives of the candidate
countries as observers in comitology committees on a case-
by-case basis. This participation is organised on the basis of
the ‘Communication from the Commission to the Council on
in Community
the participation of
and committees’ (24). The overall
programmes,
approach is intended to create a coherent
framework and
simplify conditions for participation by candidate countries in
Community measures to prepare them for accession. Candidate
countries are expected to participate under specific conditions,
i.e.
responsible for monitoring
Community programmes to which the candidate countries
already contribute to some extent, and in committees outside
the framework of Community programmes — except where
the committees exercise their formal role by issuing opinions
— in cases where the candidate countries in question already
fully or partially apply the acquis communautaire. The candidate
countries are represented on approximately 40 of the total of
247 committees.

in comitology committees

(18) COM(2001) 130 final, p. 9.
(19) COM(2001) 428 final.
(20) See the White Paper, p. 36.
(21) Idem.
(22) COM(2001) 726 final, adopted 5.12.2001.
(23) COM(2002) 278 final, adopted 5.6.2002.
(24) COM(1999) 710 final, adopted 20.12.1999.

C 223 E/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

19.9.2003

should be given, after

Building on the participation of candidate countries in comi-
tology committees as part of the pre-accession strategy and
integration of acceding
with a view to reinforce the gradual
it is envisaged that these
States into Community structures,
the Accession
states
Treaty in April 2003 (25), the possibility to further participate,
wherever legally possible, as observers in all committees set up
by the comitology procedure and all other committees.
In
order to facilitate financing the costs of effective participation,
the Commission proposed in its Strategy Paper of October
2002 that each acceding State could, if it so wishes, reserve
appropriate
its national
pre-accession programme.

envelope of

signature of

amounts

in the

2. HORIZONTAL OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES

2.1. Number of committees and types of procedures

In evaluating the activities of committees as a whole, the first
step is to identify the number of comitology committees in
existence on a specific date. Here it is important to distinguish
between the comitology committees, on the one hand, and the
so-called ‘consultative committees’ and ‘expert groups’ created
by the Commission itself, on the other hand, since the latter
are chiefly concerned with preparing and carrying out policies
rather
than with implementing legislative decisions. These
committees and groups are not addressed in this report. The
number of comitology committees has been calculated by sector of
activity on the basis of the list of committees published in the
Official Journal in 2000 (26) (Table I), updated with status as at
31.12.2001. The figures for the previous year (status as at
31.12.2000) are given for comparison.

(25) TOWARDS THE ENLARGED UNION, Strategy Paper and Report
of the European Commission on the progress towards accession by
each of the candidate countries (9.10.2002), COM(2002) 700 final,
see point 3.3 (p. 25).

(26) Reference — see note 5.

Table I

Total number of committees

Directorate General

2000

2001

Entreprises (ENTR)

Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL)

Agriculture (AGRI)

Transport/Energy/Trans-European Networks (TREN)

Environment (ENV)

Research (RTD)

Information Society (INFSO)

Fisheries (FISH)

Internal Market (MARKT)

Regional Policy (REGIO)

Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD)

Education and Culture (EAC)

Health and Consumer Protection (SANCO)

Justice and Home Affairs (JAI)

External Relations (RELEX)

Trade (TRADE)

Enlargement (ELARG)

Europe Aid (AIDCO, including former DEV (*))

Humanitarian Aid (ECHO)

Statistics (ESTAT)

Budget (BUDG)

Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)

32

8

30

39 (1)

41

6

10

3

10

2

9

6

22

2

7

11

2

5

1

6

1

1

31

7

29

39

36

6

10

3

10

2

9

6

22

5

2

11

2

8

1

6

1

1

(1) The overall number of Committees under the responsibility of DG TREN was 39 in the year 2000 but only 29 Committees were

listed in the previous report.

(*) DEV = DG Development.

Total

254

247

19.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 223 E/5

from the

comitology perspective.

The figures show the focus of activities in the different policy
sectors
Environment,
Enterprise, Agriculture, and Transport/Energy have the largest
number of committees (at least 20 each). With 135 out of a
total of 247 committees, these policy sectors alone account for
more than half the committees. However, the Commission's
efforts to limit
the growth in the number of committees
have been rewarded, since at the end of 2001 there were
slightly less committees (247) than in the previous year (254).

The overall figures can be broken down by type of procedure
(advisory
regulatory
procedure, and safeguard procedure — see Table II). The
in accordance with the 1987 comitology
different variants

procedure, management

procedure,

procedures (IIa and IIb, IIIa and IIIb) are classified together as
prescribed in Declaration No 2 on the implementation of
Council Decision 1999/468/EC (27). The overall
figure also
includes all corresponding functions — under both the 1987
Comitology Decision and the new 1999 Comitology Decision.
Since certain committees have multiple functions (i.e. they use
different procedures ranging from the advisory procedure to
the regulatory procedure, plus the safeguard procedure), they
have been singled out from the other committees to provide a
true picture of the procedures applicable.

(27) OJ C 203, 17.7.1999, p. 1.

Table II

Number of committees by procedure (2001)

Type of procedure

Advisory (*)

Management (*)

Regulatory (*)

Safeguard

Committees operating under
several procedures

ENTR

EMPL

AGRI

TREN

ENV

RTD

INFSO

FISH

MARKT

REGIO

TAXUD

EAC

SANCO

JAI

RELEX

TRADE

ELARG

AIDCO (incl. DEV)

ECHO

ESTAT

BUDG

OLAF

Total

9

—

—

—

4

—

1

1

1

—

1

—

8

3

1

1

—

—

—

—

1

—

31

5

—

22

10

4

6

2

2

4

1

5

1

—

—

—

3

1

6

—

4

—

—

76

17

3

3

28

28

—

5

—

4

—

3

—

9

1

—

2

—

2

—

—

—

1

106

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

4

1

—

—

—

—

—

5

(*) Including, respectively, procedures I, II and III in accordance with Council Decision 87/373/EC.

—

4

4

1

—

—

2

—

1

1

—

5

5

1

1

1

—

—

1

2

—

—

29

C 223 E/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

19.9.2003

committees working

Table II gives a breakdown by type of procedure. The global
figures indicate that a relative majority of the committees (106
out of 247) consists of committees working exclusively under
the regulatory procedure, followed by a considerably smaller
the
number of
management procedure (76). The horizontal breakdown by
policy sector is quite even, with a number of exceptions,
notably Environment and Transport and Energy (with a large
number of
regulatory
procedure) and Agriculture (with a large number of committees
working unde the managament procedure).

committees working

exclusively under

under

the

2.2. Number (and days) of meetings

The number of committees is not the only indicator of activity
at comitology level. The number of meetings held in 2001
reflects the intensity of each committee's work (Table III).

Table III

Number of meetings

ENTR

EMPL

AGRI

TREN

ENV

RTD

INFSO

FISH

MARKT

REGIO

TAXUD

EAC

SANCO

JAI

RELEX

TRADE

ELARG

AIDCO (incl. DEV)

ECHO

ESTAT

BUDG

OLAF

2000

54

14

367

45

52

32

30

10

24

16

110

23

122

6

42

30

7

28

9

15

5

1

2001

43

8

365

41

52

26

30

23

17

16

116

24

122

8

2

29

6

45

10

17

5

2

Agriculture leads the field (with 365 meetings), since managing
the different agricultural markets requires frequent meetings. It
is
followed by Taxation and Customs Union (with 116
meetings), where the focus is on customs matters involving
and Health and Consumer
trade with third countries,

Protection (with 122 meetings), which is responsible among
other things for food safety.

A further indicator, particularly as regards the allocation of
funds, is the number of days taken up by the meetings (Table
IV). Meetings normally take half a day, hence the decimals.

Table IV

Number of days

ENTR

EMPL

AGRI

TREN

ENV

RTD

INFSO

FISH

MARKT

REGIO

TAXUD

EAC

SANCO

JAI

RELEX

TRADE

ELARG

AIDCO (incl. DEV)

ECHO

ESTAT

BUDG

OLAF

2000

64

17

258,5

46,5

65,5

32

30,5

9

30

24

147,5

32

178,5

5,5

34,5

16,5

7,5

36,5

10

22

5

1

2001

41,5

8

302

46

66,5

26

30,5

15

17

22

168

30,5

164,5

8

1,5

15,5

7,5

48

10

20,5

5

2

The figures in Table IV broadly correspond to those of the
preceding table: a large number of meetings means a large
number of meeting days. This shows that meetings do not
normally last more than one day, or two half-days on two
consecutive days.

2.3. Number of consultations

A key indicator of the intensity of activities is the number of
consultations the Commission puts on a committee's agenda.
These can be all sorts of items: formal opinions, preparatory
exchanges of view in the run-up to a formal opinion, simple
communications from the Chair (or a delegation), etc. (Table
V). The total number of consultations in 2001 was 5 613,
compared to 4 561 in 2000.

19.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 223 E/7

Table V

Number of consultations

2000

269

44

2001

172

32

1 889

1 984

43

80

83

36

41

8

87

512

92

449

4

266

135

121

126

—

102

46

1

111

114

262

90

51

61

193

562

128

1 138

32

4

122

105

229

81

107

35

—

ENTR

EMPL

AGRI

TREN

ENV

RTD

INFSO

FISH

MARKT

REGIO

TAXUD

EAC

SANCO

JAI

RELEX

TRADE

ELARG

AIDCO (incl. DEV)

ECHO

ESTAT

BUDG

OLAF

The large number of consultations in certain policy sectors —
Agriculture (1 984), Health and Consumer Protection (1 138),
and Taxation and Customs Union (562) — again reflect the
intensity of work which was delegated to the Commission, via
the comitology procedures in these areas.

3. PRESENTATION OF ACTIVITIES BY SECTORAL POLICY

the activities of committees should
A sectoral snapshot of
include the opinions delivered by all
the committees in a
sector. Opinions may be of various kinds: they may concern
draft legislative instruments (directives, regulations), decisions
designed to regulate a specific (individual) legal situation or to
approve financial projects in the context of any of the many
Community programmes, or just position statements (which
explains why the total number of favourable opinions may
be greater than the total number of instruments adopted in a
specific sector).

the

adopts

the rule is that

implementing measures

the
In the event of a favourable opinion,
Commission
(the
instruments adopted); under the management procedure it
may also adopt an instrument in the absence of an opinion.
Only if there is an unfavourable opinion is the decision referred
to the Council as ‘an appeal body’, which then has the power
to decide (referrals to the Council); the Council is also consulted
in a regulatory procedure if there is no opinion.

There may be a difference between the total number of
favourable opinions delivered by committees and the number
of instruments adopted by the Commission in a given sector,
since opinions were delivered in 2001 but the instruments
were not adopted until the following year.

The annex shows the different results for the individual sectors
(using the breakdown under Chapter 2).

C 223 E/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

19.9.2003

This Annex provides an overview of ‘comitology’ activities during 2001 with a breakdown by sector. The heading
‘Instruments adopted’ includes all the instruments adopted by the Commission, whatever their nature.

ANNEX

Note also that in certain cases committees are required to deliver opinions on dossiers which will not be the subject of a
draft instrument until some time later (see Section 3 of the report). Hence there may be considerable discrepancies
between the total number of opinions and the number of instruments adopted by the Commission.

1. ENTERPRISE

In respect of a total of 172 dossiers submitted for consultation, the 31 committees of DG Enterprise delivered 345
favourable opinions under the different procedures, following which the Commission adopted 50 instruments. The two
unfavourable opinions in this policy sector were adopted (under the regulatory procedure) by the Standing Committee
on Veterinary Medicinal Products. They relate to two draft implementing measures (initially draft Commission regu-
lations) amending Annexes I and III to Regulation (EEC) No 2377/90 laying down a Community procedure for the establishment
of maximum residue limits of veterinary medicinal products in foodstuffs of animal origin, regarding restrictions of use of two groups
of hormones (1). The Council rejected one proposal submitted to it on 22 January 2002; the other was adopted by the
Council as Council Regulation (EC) No 2584/2001 of 19 December 2001 (2).

Number of favourable opinions

Advisory

275

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Management

Regulatory

38

32

2

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

50

2

2. EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS

In respect of a total of 32 dossiers submitted for consultation, the seven committees of DG Employment and Social
Affairs delivered 25 (favourable) opinions under the management procedure, followed by 25 instruments adopted by the
Commission in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

—

25

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

25

—

3. AGRICULTURE (AGRI)

In respect of a total of 1984 dossiers submitted for consultation, the 29 committees of DG AGRI delivered 1 453
(favorable) opinions and 99 ‘no opinions’. As 2 ‘no opinions’ were given in the framework of a regulatory committee,
those two proposals were referred to the Council. The other 1 550 instruments were adopted by the Commission.

(1) COM(2001) 627 final. The two groups of hormones are Progesterone and Norgestomet (see COM(2001) 627 (01)) and Chlor-

madinone, Flugestone acetate and Altrenogest (see COM(2001) 627 (02)).

(2) OJ L 345, 29.12.2001, p. 7 (concerning Chlormadinone, Flugestone acetate and Altrenogest).

19.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 223 E/9

Two referrals to the Council are reported for the regulatory committee for protection of geographical indications and
designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs. The committee voted ‘absence of opinion’ with regard to
the registration of the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) ‘Salamini italiani alla cacciatora’. As the Council has not
adopted or voted against the proposal of the Commission within the period of three months, the Commission has
adopted the proposed measure (Commission Regulation (EC) No 1778/2001 of 7 September 2001 (3) supplementing the
Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under
the procedure laid down in Article 7 of Council Regulations (EEC) No 2081/92).

The other ‘absence of opinions’ vote regarded the registration of the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) ‘Bayerisches
Bier’. The Council adopted the proposal of the Commission (Council Regulations (EC) No 1347/2001 of 28 June
2001 (4) supplementing the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 on the registration of geographical
indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No
2081/92).

Number of favourable opinions

Advisory

—

Procedure

Management

1 446

Regulatory

7

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

1

99

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

1 550

2

4. TRANSPORT/ENERGY/TRANS-EUROPEAN NETWORKS (TREN)

In respect of a total of 111 dossiers submitted for consultation concerning several proposed implementing measures, the
39 committees in this sector delivered 15 favourable opinions under the management procedure, 49 under the
regulatory procedure and one under the advisory procedure. During the year the Commission adopted thirty-nine
legislative instruments in this sector. The one case referred to the Council was Commission Regulation (EC) No
1360/2002 of 13 June 2002 adapting to technical progress for the seventh time Council Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 on
recording equipment in road transport (5). The Commission adopted the Regulation when, after a period of three months, no
opinion had been given by the Committee set up by Article 18 of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 (under the regulatory
procedure), and no position had been adopted by the Council.

Number of favourable opinions

Advisory

1

Procedure

Management

15

Regulatory

49

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

2

11

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

39

1

5. ENVIRONMENT

In respect of a total of 127 dossiers submitted for consultation, the 36 committees of DG Environment delivered 112
favourable opinions under the management and regulatory procedures, following which the Commission adopted 41
instruments. There were nine unfavourable opinions.

Number of favourable opinions

Advisory

—

Procedure

Management

54

Regulatory

58

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

9

4

(3) OJ L 240, 8.9.2001, p. 6.
(4) OJ L 182, 5.7.2001, p. 3.
(5) OJ L 207, 5.8.2002, p. 1.

C 223 E/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

19.9.2003

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

41

—

6. RESEARCH

In respect of a total of 144 dossiers submitted for consultation, the six committees of DG Research delivered 144
favourable opinions under the management procedure. The Commission adopted a total of 144 instruments in this
sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

—

144

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

144

—

7. INFORMATION SOCIETY

In respect of a total of 90 dossiers submitted for consultation, the 10 committees of DG Information Society delivered 6
favourable opinions under the management procedure and 45 under the regulatory procedure. The Commission adopted
a total of 35 instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

—

6

45

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

35

—

8. FISHERIES

In respect of a total of 51 dossiers submitted for consultation, the three committees of DG Fisheries delivered 18
favourable opinions under the advisory procedure and 29 under the management procedure. The Commission adopted
a total of 47 instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

18

29

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

47

—

19.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 223 E/11

9. INTERNAL MARKET

In respect of a total of 61 dossiers submitted for consultation, the 10 committees of DG Internal Market delivered three
favourable opinions under the management procedure, one under the advisory procedure and one under the regulatory
procedure. One was delivered without opinion. Six cases were the subject of instruments adopted by the Commission.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

1

3

1

—

1

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

6

—

10. REGIONAL POLICY

In respect of a total of 193 dossiers submitted for consultation, the two committees of DG Regional Policy delivered
102 favourable opinions under the management procedure and 91 under the advisory procedure. The Commission
adopted three legislative instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

91

102

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

3

—

11. TAXATION AND CUSTOMS UNION

In respect of a total of 562 dossiers submitted for consultation, the 9 committees of DG Taxation and Customs Union
delivered 65 favourable opinions. The Commission adopted 57 instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

5

44

16

2

7

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

57

—

C 223 E/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

19.9.2003

12. EDUCATION AND CULTURE

In respect of a total of 128 dossiers submitted for consultation, the six committees of DG Education and Culture
delivered 71 favourable opinions under the management procedure and 16 under the advisory procedure. The
Commission adopted 16 instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

16

55

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

16

—

13. HEALTH AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

In respect of a total of 1 138 dossiers submitted for consultation, the committees of DG Health and Consumer
Protection delivered 332 favourable opinions under the regulatory procedure, 2 under the management procedure
and 55 favourable opinions under the advisory procedure. The Commission adopted 329 instruments.

There were two referrals to the Council as regards the Standing Committee on Feedingstuffs (acting under the regulatory
procedure). The Committee voted ‘absence of opinion’ with regard to a withdrawal of the authorisation of certain
additives in feedingstuffs. As the Council did not adopt or vote against the Commission proposal for a Regulation (6), the
Commission adopted the proposed measure (Commission Regulation (EC) No 2205/2001 of 14 November 2001 amending
Council Directive 70/524/EEC concerning additives
the authorisation of certain
additives) (7). Another ‘absence of opinion’ vote concerned undesirable substances and products (maximum limits for
dioxins and furans in several feed materials and feedingstuffs). The Council adopted the Commission proposal for a
Directive (8) as Council Directive 2001/102/EC of 27 November 2001 amending Directive 1999/29/EC on the undesirable
substances and products in animal nutrition (9).

in feedingstuffs as regards withdrawal of

There were two other referrals to the Council concerning the Standing Veterinary Committee (acting under the
regulatory procedure). In one case the Committee did not give an opinion on the draft Commission Regulation laying
down transitional measures to permit the changeover to the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EC) No
999/2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control, and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and
amending Annexes VII and XI to that Regulation. After the Council had neither adopted the measures, nor opposed the
proposal, the Commission was finally entitled to adopt the measures as Commission Regulation (EC) No 1326/2001 of
29 June 2001 (10). Similarly, in the other case, the Council had not acted within the required time limit on the draft
Commission Decision on the total amount of Community aid for the eradication of classical swine fever in the Netherlands in 1998
submitted to it, and no favourable opinion since the committee had not given an opinion. Accordingly, the Commission
adopted the Decision on 17 October 2001 (11).

There is one referral to the Council in respect of the Standing Committee on Foodstuffs. A draft Commission measure to
reduce the presence of dioxins and PCBs in foodstuffs had not received a favourable opinion (under the regulatory
procedure) from the committee and was submitted to the Council (12) which adopted the measure as Council Regulation
(EC) No 2375/2001 of 29 November 2001 amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 466/2001 setting maximum levels for
certain contaminants in foodstuffs (13).

(6) COM(2001) 450 final.
(7) OJ L 297, 15.11.2001, p. 3.
(8) COM(2001) 493 final.
(9) OJ L 6, 10.1.2002, p. 45.
(10) OJ L 177, 30.6.2001, p. 60.
(11) OJ L 277, 20.10.2001, p. 28.
(12) COM(2001) 495 final.
(13) OJ L 321, 6.12.2001, p. 1.

19.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 223 E/13

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

55

2

332

108

5

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

329

5

14. JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

In respect of a total of 32 dossiers submitted for consultation, the five committees of DG Justice and Home Affairs
delivered 21 (favourable) opinions under the advisory procedure and one opinion under the management procedure.
The Commission adopted 18 instruments.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

21

1

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

18

—

15. EXTERNAL RELATIONS

In respect of a total of 4 dossiers submitted for consultation, the 2 committees of DG External Relations delivered 2
favourable opinions (one under the advisory and one under the management procedure). The Commission adopted 2
instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

1

1

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

2

—

16. TRADE

In respect of a total of 122 dossiers submitted for consultation, the 11 committees of DG Trade delivered 35 favourable
opinions under the regulatory procedure and four under the safeguard procedure. The Commission adopted 37
instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Safeguard

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

4

—

—

35

—

—

C 223 E/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

19.9.2003

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

37

—

17. ENLARGEMENT

In respect of a total of 105 dossiers submitted for consultation, the two committees of DG Enlargement delivered 58
favourable opinions under the management procedure. The Commission adopted 67 instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Safeguard

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

—

—

58

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

67

—

18. EUROPE AID — CO-OPERATION OFFICE (INCLUDING FORMER DEVELOPMENT)

In respect of a total of 229 dossiers submitted for consultation, the 8 committees delivered 142 favourable opinions
under the management procedure. The Commission adopted 152 instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

—

88

54

—

1

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

152

—

19. HUMANITARIAN AID (ECHO)

In respect of a total of 81 dossiers submitted for consultation, the Humanitarian Aid Committee delivered 39 favourable
opinions under the management procedure. The Commission adopted 39 instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

—

39

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

39

—

19.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 223 E/15

20. EUROSTAT

In respect of a total of 107 dossiers submitted for consultation, the six committees of DG Eurostat delivered one
favourable opinion under the advisory procedure, 12 favourable opinions under the management procedure and 5
favourable opinions under the regulatory procedure. The Commission adopted 17 instruments in this sector.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

1

12

5

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

17

—

21. BUDGET

The only committee of DG Budget — the Own Resources committee — was consulted on 35 dossiers, but did not
deliver any formal opinions.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Consultation

Management

Regulatory

—

—

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

—

—

22. EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)

The activities of the Anti-Fraud Office's only committee concerned implementation and co-ordination of operational
activities at Community level.

Number of favourable opinions

Procedure

Unfavourable opinions

No opinion

Advisory

Management

Regulatory

—

—

—

—

—

Instruments adopted by the Commission

Referred to Council

—

—