Report from the Commission on the working of committees during 2004 {SEC(2005) 1420}
Date: 2005-11-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, activity report, comitology, committee (EU)

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.11.2005 
COM(2005) 554 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 

on the working of committees during 2004 

{SEC(2005) 1420} 

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1. 

GENERAL COMMENTS REGARDING THE COMITOLOGY SYSTEM 

The  present  report  covers  the  activities  of  comitology  committees  during  the  year  2004.  It 
contains  an  introductory  section,  a  horizontal  overview  of  committees’  activities  and  an 
Annex with detailed statistics on the individual comitology committees, organised according 
to the different departments of the Commission.1 The Annex also provides textual comments 
on  changes  regarding  the  number  of  committees  and  on  extraordinary  events  related  to 
specific  draft  measures,  such  as  unfavourable  opinions,  EP  resolutions  resulting  from  the 
exercise of its right of scrutiny (see also point 1.2 below) and referrals to the Council (see also 
point 1.3 below). 

1.1 

Comitology committees and their institutional context 

a) The function of comitology committees in the institutional architecture 

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

First,  they  are  created  by  the  legislator  (the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament)  in 
accordance  with  the  “legislative”  procedures  in  force  at  the  time  of  adoption  of  the  basic 
instrument  under  which  they  are  established,  since  the  Maastricht  Treaty,  namely  the 
codecision procedure. Hence, the legal basis of the comitology committees is enshrined in a 
so-called “basic instrument”. 

Second,  their  structure  and  working  methods  are  in  several  respects  standardised.  A 
representative  of  the  Commission  chairs  each  committee,  which  consists  of  Member  State 
representatives;  these  are  the  only  “members”  of  the  committees.  The  committees  intervene 
within  the  framework  of  the  procedures  set  out  in  the  basic  legislative  instrument,  in 
compliance with the Council’s comitology decision, Decision 1999/468/EC.2 

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

Pursuant to Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC, the management procedure should be 
reserved  for  management  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 (Article 2(a)). The regulatory procedure 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. 

1 
2 

The Annex is presented as a separate Commission staff working paper. 
OJ L 184, 17.07.1999, p. 23. 

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Under  the  management  (Article  4(2)  of  Council  Decision  1999/468/EC)  and  the  regulatory 
procedure (Article 5(2) of Council Decision 1999/468/EC) a qualified majority of the votes of 
the committee members, as defined in Article 205(2) of the Treaty, has to be obtained in order 
to deliver an opinion (positive or negative).3 Since the entry into force of the last amendment 
of the EC Treaty on 1 November 2004,4 the new regime defined in Article 205(2) has applied. 
It provides for a “double majority”, of a) at least 232 of a total of 321 votes, as well as b) a 
majority of the (25) Member States, to reach the qualified majority.  

As to the additional criteria set out in Article 205(4), giving any member of the Council the 
option to ask for verification whether the Member States voting in favour of an act represent 
62% of the EU population, the Commission concludes that it does not apply in the context of 
the comitology procedures, since reference is made in Council Decision 1999/468/EC only to 
Article 205(2). 

There are other committees and groups of experts set up by the Commission itself to assist it 
in  exercising  its  right  of  initiative  or  in  exercising  monitoring,  coordination  or  cooperation 
tasks with the Member States. These consultative bodies (they number several hundred) are 
not the subject of this report and have to be distinguished from comitology committees.  

b) Comitology and transparency: the register and repository for comitology documents 

As an important transparency element, Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC, and Council and 
Commission  statements  relating  to  that  provision  (notably  statements  No  4  and  5),  put  in 
place  measures  designed  to  improve  the  transparency  of  the  working  of  the  comitology 
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  under  comitology 
procedures. This register has been in operation since December 2003.5  

According to its statement (No 5) on Council Decision 1999/468/EC, the Commission added 
a repository to the register as an additional transparency measure, making many documents 
communicated to the European Parliament directly available to the public in accordance with 
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the Parliament and of the Council regarding public access 
to the institutions’ documents,6 which came into effect on 3 December 2001. The function of 
the  register  is  to  indicate  the  existence  of  a  document,  whereas  the  repository  contains  the 
document in a downloadable format.  

The  ordinary  mandatory  transmission  of  documents  defines  the  content  of  the  register  and 
repository. There are:  

–  agendas, summary records and voting results of all committee meetings,  

3 
4 
5 

6 

For an opinion under the advisory procedure, a simple majority, as defined by the Treaty, is sufficient. 
As amended by the Act of Accession of the ten new Member states, OJ L 236 of 23.9.2003, p. 33. 
See  the  Internet  address:  http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/regcomito/registre.cfm?CL=en. 
The register covers documents as of the beginning of 2003. 
OJ L 145, 31.05.2001, p. 43. 

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–  draft  implementing  measures  “submitted  to  the  committees  for  the  implementation  of 
instruments  adopted  by  the  procedure  provided  for  by  Article  251  of  the  Treaty”  (the 
codecision procedure; see Article 7(3) of Council Decision 1999/468/EC).  

Beyond  the  ordinary  transmissions  listed  above,  the  register  and  repository  contains 
documents  sent  by  the  Commission  departments  to  the  European  Parliament  at  its  specific 
request or under special arrangements:  

–  Specific  draft  measures  which,  although  not  subject  to  the  codecision  procedure,  are  of 
particular importance to the European Parliament are sent for information, at the request of 
the parliamentary committee responsible, based on the Commission’s commitment in  the 
Bilateral  Agreement  with  the  European  Parliament  on  procedures  for  implementing 
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise 
of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (see point No 2 of the Agreement).7  

–  Minutes of committee meetings may be requested by the European Parliament.8  

–  Other  accompanying  documents  such  as  working  papers,  non-papers  or  information 
material,  originating  from  Commission  departments,  the  Member  States  and/or  third 
parties, are currently sent by the departments, on a non-mandatory basis.9 

All  documents  are  uploaded  on  a  decentralised  basis  by  the  Commission  departments 
responsible  for  managing  the  comitology  committees  and  then  transmitted  centrally  by  the 
Secretariat-General  of  the  Commission  to  a  central  point  in  the  European  Parliament,  from 
where  they  are  dispatched  to  the  different  parliamentary  committees.  References  of 
documents may not appear if they are regarded as “sensitive” within the meaning of Article 9 
of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. 

The “Transparency” Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 protects the decision-making process of 
the  EU  institutions,  of  which  the  comitology  procedures  are  part,  under  Article  4(3).  The 
Commission has meanwhile decided how it intends to take advantage of this legal protection: 
draft implementing measures should normally become publicly accessible after the vote in a 
committee has taken place10. Only in the case of the exceptions defined in Article 4(1) and (2) 
of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1049/2001  (i.e.  matters  of  security  or  commercial  interests)  should 
direct access be  delayed until the final adoption of the measures by the College. After final 
adoption,  the  measures  are  accessible  via  the  common  databases  and  registers  of  the 
Commission (minutes of Commission meetings, see Register of Commission Documents). 

1.2 

The European Parliament’s right of scrutiny 

The  Commission  is  obliged  to  inform  the  European  Parliament  about  the  work  of  the 
committees  and  to  send  it  all  draft  implementing  measures  pursuant  to  a  basic  instrument 
adopted under Article 251 of the Treaty (legal acts adopted in conformity with the codecision 

7 
8 
9 

10 

OJ L 256/19 of 10.10.2000. 
See point No 2 of the Agreement. 
Existing  practices  may  continue  after  the register becomes  operational; it  remains  at  the discretion of 
each  department  to  decide  which  accompanying  documents  they  want  to  send  to  the  European 
Parliament.  However,  the  present  Operational  Instructions  for  uploading  in  the  register  and  the 
repository apply to such documents in the same manner as to mandatory transmissions. 
The  committee  voting  can  take  place  in  a  regular  committee  meeting  or  by  written  procedure,  in 
accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the committee. 

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procedure),  so  that  the  European  Parliament  can  exercise  its  right  of  scrutiny  enshrined  in 
Article 8 of Decision 1999/468/EC. 

In February 2000, the European Parliament and the Commission concluded an Agreement on 
procedures  for  implementing  Council  Decision  1999/468/EC,  designed  specifically  to 
regulate the procedures for implementing the obligations incumbent on the Commission.11 

Except  in  emergencies,  the  agreement  stipulates  a  period  of  one  month  from  receipt  of  a 
“definitive”  draft  implementing  measure12  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 measure 
exceeds the implementing powers enshrined in the basic instrument.13 

In  practice,  the  Commission  departments  upload  the  draft  implementing  measure  in  the 
register at the same time as they send it to the Member States in preparation for a committee 
meeting. If a vote is to be held by written procedure (without holding a committee meeting), 
according  to  a  Committee's  Rules  of  Procedure,  the  same  applies.  Once  the  vote  has  taken 
place, the Commission department – since mid-2004 – is instructed to fill out a voting sheet, 
which indicates the overall result of the vote on the specific draft implementing measure. The 
department also indicates whether the draft implementing measure was amended as a result of 
its examination by the committee, or not.  

If  the  draft  implementing  measure  is  amended,  it  will  be  uploaded  a  second  time,  together 
with the voting sheet, into the register and sent to the European Parliament. Thus Parliament 
and the public, which will normally be granted direct access to the draft measure at this stage 
of  the  comitology  procedure,  are  clearly  informed  of  the  “definitive”  draft  of  the 
implementing measure. If the draft implementing measure is unchanged, only the voting sheet 
is uploaded and transmitted to the European Parliament. The initially uploaded version of the 
draft implementing measure is then considered as being the final draft. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  during  2004,  as  in  2003,  there  were  no  cases  reported  where  the 
European  Parliament  felt  the  need  to  adopt  a  resolution  based  on  Article  8  of  Council 
Decision 1999/468/EC.  

Without formally resorting to that provision, the European Parliament adopted a resolution14 
concerning  one  Draft  Commission  Regulation15  in  the  field  of  animal  nutrition  to  ask  the 
Commission to revise the scope of the draft measure, which in its views exceeded the powers 
delegated  to  the  Commission  by  the  legislature.  The  draft  was  modified  in  accordance  with 

11 

12 

13 

14 
15 

OJ  L  256,  10.10.2000,  p. 19.  The  agreement  replaces  certain  earlier  agreements:  the  Plumb/Delors 
Agreement of 1988, the Samland/Williamson Agreement of 1996 and the “modus vivendi” of 1994. 
The drafts are first sent before the committee meeting and, if they are substantially amended during the 
meeting, again afterwards.  
This basic instrument must itself have been adopted under the codecision procedure (Article 251 of the 
Treaty) by the Council and the European Parliament. 
Resolution N° 43/2004 adopted on 28/10/2004 (OJ C174E of 14/7/2005, p. 63). 
Draft  Commission  Regulation  amending  Annex  IV  to  Regulation  (EC)  n°  999/2001  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain 
transmissible  spongiform  encephalopathies,  submitted  to  the  Standing  Committee  for  the  Food  Chain 
and Animal Welfare on 12 October 2004. 

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the recommendations of the Parliament before being submitted to the Committee for vote and 
then adopted by the Commission16. 

1.3 

Referrals to the Council 

There  were  a  total  of  17  cases  of  referrals  to  the  Council  reported  in  2004.  Pursuant  to 
Council  Decision  1999/468/EC,  draft  measures  must  be  referred  to  the  Council  when  the 
Commission  fails  to  obtain  the  necessary  majority  for  an  opinion  confirming  the  draft 
implementing  measure  under  the  regulatory  procedure  or  faces  an  opposing  qualified 
majority under the management procedure. The total of 17 referrals in 2004 occurred in three 
policy  sectors:  Environment  (12),  Health  and  Consumer  Protection  (4)  and  Taxation  and 
Customs Union. Although the total figure represents only some 0,5 % of the total number of 
implementing  measures  adopted  by  the  Commission  under  the  management  and  regulatory 
procedures, it is the highest figure in absolute terms since the beginning of regular reporting 
in  2000  (with  a  high  concentration  in  the  Environment  sector).  Whilst  the  work  of  the 
committees  is  characterised  in  general  by  a  high  degree  of  consensus,  it  may  be  that  the 
increased  number  of  delegations  in  the  committees  (25  Member  States  since  enlargement) 
sometimes makes it more difficult now to obtain the necessary qualified majority to deliver a 
favourable opinion (at least in one policy sector). Another reason could be the sensitive nature 
of  implementing  measures  in  the  environment  field  (concerning,  for  instance,  GMO 
products). 

1.4 

Wider developments 

The  Commission’s  proposal  for  a  revised  regulatory  procedure17  for  executive  measures 
having  a  general  scope  or  adapting  certain  other  aspects  of  basic  acts  adopted  under  the 
codecision procedure (Article 251 of the Treaty) is still under examination in the Council. 

in  supervising 

the  Commission’s  exercise  of 

This  proposed  new  procedure  places  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  an  equal 
footing 
implementing  powers.  On 
2 September 2003,  the  European  Parliament  broadly  endorsed  the  Commission’s  proposal,18 
while  suggesting  a  very  limited  number  of  technical  amendments.  On  22  April  2004,  the 
Commission  issued  an  amended  proposal19  to  take  on  board  the  bulk  of  the  European 
Parliament’s amendments, and further clarify the new procedure. The executive powers of the 
Commission  would  be  reorganised  by  the  Treaty  establishing  a  Constitution  for  Europe.20 
The  Constitution  introduces  the  instrument  of  “delegated”  regulations  to  be  adopted  by  the 
Commission  and  designed  to  supplement  or  amend  certain  “non-essential”  elements  of 
European  laws  under  the  control  of  the  Parliament  and  the  Council,  which  may  revoke  the 
delegation itself or object to a specific draft regulation; these delegated regulations are to be 
distinguished  from  the  mere  implementing  acts  that  the  Commission  will  adopt  under  the 

16 

17 

18 
19 
20 

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1292/2005 amending Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of 
the European Parliament and of the Council as regards animal nutrition (OJ L 205 of 6/8/2005, p.3). 
Proposal for a Council Decision amending Decision 1999/468/EC laying down the procedures for the 
exercise  of  implementing  powers  conferred  on  the  Commission  (COM  (2002)  719  final,  adopted 
11.12.2002). 
Resolution adopted on 2 September 2003 (P5-TA(2003)0352), based on the report of R. Corbett. 
COM (2004) 324 final, dated 22.4.2004. 
Draft  Treaty  establishing  a  Constitution  for  Europe,  submitted  to  the  European  Council  meeting  in 
Thessaloniki, 20.6.2003, Articles I-35 and I-36. 

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control of the Member States.21 The declaration by the Heads of State or Government at the 
European  Council  meeting  in  June  2005  on  the  ratification  process  of  the  Constitution 
provides for a period of reflection until mid-2006. 

The  integration  of  the  ten  new  Member  States  in  the  work  of  the  comitology  committees  – 
following the enlargement of the European Union on 1 May 2004 – took place without any 
significant problems. Until the accession date, they enjoyed active observer status, which they 
were granted by the Commission Decision of 25 February 200322 (and which applied from the 
day  after  the  Accession  Treaty  was  signed  on  16  April  2003).23  Under  this  arrangement, 
representatives of the acceding states were invited to most comitology committees; they had 
the opportunity of expressing their views on the issues discussed in the meetings but no right 
to  take  part  in  the  voting  on  draft  implementing  measures.  From  accession,  there  was  no 
difference in the rights and obligations of “old” and “new” Member States. 

In  December  2004,  the  accession  negotiations  with  Bulgaria  and  Romania  were  concluded 
and on 25 April 2005 the Accession Treaty was signed. Similarly to the approach described 
above  for  the  ten  new  Member  States  during  the  period  preceding  accession,  Bulgaria  and 
Romania have been granted active observer status as from 26 April 2005 and may participate 
in committee meetings.24 

For  Turkey  and  Croatia  as  the  remaining  candidate  countries,  participation  continued  to  be 
organised  on  the  basis  of  the  “Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council  on  the 
participation of candidate countries in Community programmes, agencies and committees”25 
and  the  “Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council  and  Parliament  on  preparing 
for  the  participation  of  the  Western  Balkan  countries  in  Community  programmes  and 
agencies”.26  

2. HORIZONTAL OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES 

2.1 

Number of committees and types of procedures 

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  hand. 
The  latter  are  concerned  with  preparing  and  carrying  out  policies,  whereas  the  comitology 
committees  are  involved  in  the  context  of  implementing  legislative  acts.  The  present  report 
focuses  exclusively  on  comitology  committees.  The  number  of  comitology  committees  has 
been calculated by sector of activity (Table I) as at 31.12.2004. The figures for the previous 
year (status as at 31.12.2003) are given for comparison. 

21 

22 
23 

24 
25 
26 

The consolidated version of the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe has been published 
in the Official Journal, C 310 of 16.12.2004, p. 1-465. 
Commission Document C(2003)341. 
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). 
Decision of the Commission of 23 March 2005 - C(2005)874 (Article 7). 
COM (1999) 710 final, adopted 20.12.1999. 
COM (2003) 748 final, adopted 03.12.2003. 

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TABLE I – TOTAL NUMBER OF COMMITTEES 

Policy Sector  

Enterprise (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)∗ 

Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) 

Statistics (ESTAT) 

Budget (BUDG) 

Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) 

TOTAL 

2003 

2004 

33 

8 

30 

45 

35 

2 

13 

3 

12 

2 

9 

7 

13 

7 

3 

13 

2 

8 

1 

7 

2 

1 

30 

6 

30 

40 

35 

3 

10 

3 

11 

2 

10 

9 

13 

10 

3 

11 

2 

9 

1 

7 

2 

1 

256 

248 

∗ 

The figures for AIDCO do not include the European Development Fund (EDF) committee, which is not 
subject to comitology procedures. 

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The figures indicate the relative importance of comitology procedures in the activities in the 
different  policy  sectors.  Transport/Energy  (40),  Environment  (35),  Agriculture  (30)  and 
Enterprise (30) continue to have the largest number of committees. With 136 out of a total of 
248 committees, these policy sectors alone account for more than half of the committees. The 
Commission’s  efforts  to  minimise  the  growth  in  the  number  of  committees  have  produced 
results.  It  has  even  reduced  the  number  of  existing  committees,  as  at  the  end  of  2004, 
compared  with  2003.  Whilst  the  legislator  has  established  new  committees  in  some  policy 
areas where activity has increased (for example Justice and Home Affairs, and Education and 
Culture), in other policy sectors the number has decreased with the reorganisation of the legal 
framework  (see  in  particular  Transport  and  Energy).  Detailed  information  on  the  creation, 
abolition and mergers of committees is given in the annotations to the table for each policy 
sector in the Annex. 

The comitology committees can be classified according to the type of procedure under which 
they  operate  (advisory  procedure,  management  procedure,  regulatory  procedure,  and 
safeguard procedure – see Table II). The year 2004 is the first year in which the “alignment 
regulations” applied in full,27 so that the different variants according to the 1987 comitology 
procedures (IIa and IIb, IIIa and IIIb) do not apply any more. Since certain committees apply 
multiple  procedures  (ranging  from  the  advisory  procedure  to  the  regulatory  procedure,  plus 
the  safeguard  procedure),  they  have  been  singled  out  from  the  committees  operating 
according to a single procedure. 

TABLE II – NUMBER OF COMMITTEES BY PROCEDURE (2004)  

Type of procedure 

Committees operating 
under several procedures 

Advisory  Management  Regulatory 

Safeguard 

ENTR 

EMPL 

AGRI 

TREN 

ENV 

RTD 

27 

6 

1 

- 

7 

3 

- 

5 

- 

24 

2 

5 

2 

16 

2 

4 

24 

23 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

3 

3 

3 

7 

4 

1 

instruments  adopted 

Council  Regulations  (EC)  No  806/2003  (OJ  L  122,  16.05.2003,  p.  1)  and  No  807/2003  (OJ  L  122, 
16.05.2003,  p.  36)  of  14.4.2003  adapting  to  Decision  1999/468/EC  the  provisions  relating  to 
committees  which  assist  the  Commission  in  the  exercise  of  its  implementing  powers  laid  down  in 
(qualified 
Council 
majority/unanimity), Council Regulation (EC) No 1105/2003 (OJ L 158, 27.06.2003, p. 3) of 26.5.2003 
amending  Regulation  (EC)  No  1260/1999  laying  down  general  provisions  on  the  Structural  Funds 
(assent procedure) and Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
(OJ  L  284,  31.10.2003,  p.  1)  of  29.9.2003  adapting  to  Council  Decision  1999/468/EC  the  provisions 
relating  to  committees  which  assist  the  Commission  in  the  exercise  of  its  implementing  powers  laid 
down in instruments subject to the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the EC Treaty (codecision). 

the  consultation  procedure 

in  accordance  with 

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INFSO 

FISH 

MARKT 

REGIO 

TAXUD 

EAC 

SANCO 

JAI 

RELEX 

TRADE 

ELARG 

AIDCO  

ECHO 

ESTAT 

BUDG 

OLAF 

- 

- 

2 

- 

1 

1 

2 

4 

1 

2 

- 

- 

- 

- 

1 

- 

3 

1 

2 

1 

4  

- 

- 

- 

1 

3 

1 

7 

- 

4 

- 

- 

3 

- 

7 

- 

3 

- 

6 

1 

- 

1 

- 

2 

- 

1 

1 

1 

TOTAL 

31 

64 

95 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

2 

1 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

3 

4 

2 

- 

1 

2 

8 

5 

5 

1 

3 

- 

- 

1 

2 

- 

- 

55 

The figures indicate that about 40% of the committees (95 out of 248) work exclusively under 
the  regulatory  procedure,  followed  by  a  smaller  number  of  committees  working  exclusively 
under the management procedure (64). The breakdown by policy sector shows that the use of 
the three types of procedures varies from policy sector to policy sector. However, in some of 
the policy sectors, a clear predominance of one of the procedures is noted: for instance, the 
Transport/Energy  and  Environment  sectors  work  with  a  large  number  of  committees 
functioning under the regulatory procedure, whereas Agriculture works with a large number 
of committees functioning under the management procedure. 

2.2 

Number of meetings 

The  number  of  committees  is  not  the  only  indicator  of  activity  at  comitology  level.  The 
number of meetings held in 2004 reflects the intensity of work in general, at sector level and 
in individual committees (Table III). 

EN 

10 

   EN 

 
TABLE III – NUMBER OF MEETINGS 

2003 

2004 

2003 

2004 

ENTR 

EMPL 

AGRI 

TREN  

ENV 

RTD 

INFSO 

FISH 

MARKT 

REGIO 

59 

17 

322 

44 

54 

50 

31 

25 

38 

12 

54 

10 

EAC 

SANCO 

344 

JAI 

51 

64 

58 

31 

22 

40 

11 

RELEX 

TRADE 

ELARG 

AIDCO  

ECHO 

ESTAT 

BUDG 

TAXUD 

113 

108 

OLAF 

23 

101 

21 

5 

32 

8 

35 

10 

17 

6 

1 

28 

111 

26 

5 

21 

6 

38 

11 

15 

6 

2 

As  in  2003,  Agriculture  leads  the  field  (with  344  meetings),  since  managing  the  different 
agricultural  markets  requires  frequent  meetings.  It  is  followed  by  Health  and  Consumer 
Protection (with 111 meetings) and Taxation and Customs Union (with 108 meetings) and a 
group  of  other  sectors,  like  Enterprise,  Research  and  Environment,  where  the  number  of 
meetings is in the range from 54 to 64 meetings.  

2.3 

Number of opinions and implementing measures 

Like previous reports, the present report gives global figures on the formal opinions delivered 
by the committees28 and the subsequent implementing measures (= legal acts, administrative 
and  financing  decisions)  adopted  by  the  Commission.  These  figures  describe  the  concrete 
“output”  of  the  committees  (Table  IV).  The  total  number  of  opinions  delivered  by  the 
committees  in  2004  was  2 777  (compared  to  2 981  in  2003);  the  number  of  implementing 
measures adopted by the Commission was 2 625 (compared to 2 768 in 2003).  

28 

Including  favourable  and  unfavourable  opinions,  following  a  formal  vote  in  the  case  of  regulatory, 
management and advisory procedures. 

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
 
 
                                                 
TABLE IV – NUMBER OF OPINIONS AND IMPLEMENTING MEASURES (2004)  

Opinions 

Implementing 
measures 

Opinions 

Implementing 
measures 

ENTR 

EMPL 

AGRI 

TREN  

ENV 

RTD 

INFSO 

FISH 

MARKT 

REGIO 

TAXUD 

89 

6 

59 

EAC 

0 

SANCO 

1 279 

1 279 

JAI 

36 

40 

RELEX 

TRADE 

185 

ELARG 

128 

370 

53 

2 

45 

90 

115 

352 

31 

2 

44 

89 

34 

26 

12 

26 

47 

AIDCO  

183 

182 

ECHO 

ESTAT 

BUDG 

OLAF 

52 

51 

2 

1 

52 

12 

2 

0 

38 

42 

185 

35 

29 

13 

29 

55 

The large number of implementing measures adopted in certain policy sectors – Agriculture 
(1 279),  Health  and  Consumer  Protection  (352),  Research  (185),  EuropAid  (182)  and 
Education  and  Culture  (115)  –  again  reflects  the  intensity  of  work  delegated  to  the 
Commission in these areas via the comitology procedures.29 

29 

However, it has to be noted that the sheer number of instruments adopted as such does not indicate the 
political, economic or financial importance of the decisions taken. 

EN 

12 

   EN