REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION ON THE WORKING OF COMMITTEES DURING 2010
Date: 2011-12-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU control, comitology, committee (EU), implementing Regulation, official statistics, power of implementation

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 12.12.2011 
COM(2011) 879 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 

ON THE WORKING OF COMMITTEES DURING 2010 

{SEC(2011) 1553 final} 

 
 
 
 
  
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 

ON THE WORKING OF COMMITTEES DURING 2010 

In  accordance  with  Article  7(4)  of  Council  Decision  1999/468/EC  of  28  June  19991 
(hereinafter  referred  to  as  the  "Comitology  Decision"),  the Commission  hereby  presents  the 
annual  report  on  the  working  of  committees  for  2010.  This  is  the  last  report  under  the 
Comitology Decision. 

This  report  contains  an  overview  of  developments  in  the  comitology  system  in  2010  and  a 
summary  of  committees’  activities.  It  is  accompanied  by  a  staff  working  document  with 
detailed statistics on the work of the individual committees. 

1. 

OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COMITOLOGY SYSTEM IN 2010 

In accordance with Article 291 TFEU, the Commission adopted a proposal for a “Comitology 
Regulation”  (COM(2010)83)  on  9  March  2010.  The  Comitology  Regulation,  i.e.  the 
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 was adopted  by  the European  Parliament and the Council on 16 February  2011  and 
entered  into  force  on  1  March  2011.2  It  repealed  the  Comitology  Decision  and  replaced  the 
procedures  set  out  in  that  Decision  by  just  2  procedures  (advisory  and  examination). 
However, the entry into force of the new Comitology Regulation did not affect the regulatory 
procedure with scrutiny (Article 5a of the Comitology Decision) that will continue to apply in 
all basic acts which make reference to it until those acts are formally amended.  

In 2010, the comitology committees operated under the procedures set out in the Comitology 
Decision:  advisory,  management,  regulatory,  safeguard  and  regulatory  procedure  with 
scrutiny.  

2. 

OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES 

2.1 

Number of committees and meetings 

It is important to draw a distinction 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, 
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 comitology committees on 31 December 2010 was 
calculated  by  sector  of  activity  (see  Table  I).  The  figures  for  the  previous  year  (on 
31 December 2009) are also given for comparison. 

1 
2 

OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23; as amended by Council Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ C 255, 21.10.2006, p. 4) 
OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13. 

EN 

2 

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TABLE I – TOTAL NUMBER OF COMMITTEES 

Policy sector 

2009 

Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) 

Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) 

Budget (BUDG) 

Climate Action (CLIMA) 

Communication (COMM) 

Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN) 

Education and Culture (EAC) 

Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (EMPL) 

Energy (ENER) 

Enlargement (ELARG) 

Enterprise and Industry (ENTR) 

Environment (ENV) 

EuropeAid (AIDCO)* 

External Relations (RELEX)** 

Health and Consumers (SANCO) 

15 

1 

2 

(see DG ENV) 

- 

- 

6 

5 

(ex DG TREN - 39) 

3 

39 

36 

7 

4 

16 

Home Affairs (HOME) 

(ex DG JLS - 24) 

Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) 

Informatics (DIGIT) 

Information Society and Media (INFSO) 

Internal Market (MARKT) 

Justice (JUST) 

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE) 

1 

2 

8 

14 

(ex DG JLS - 24) 

4 

Mobility and Transport (MOVE) 

(ex DG TREN - 39) 

Regional Policy (REGIO) 

Research (RTD) 

Statistics (ESTAT) 

Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD) 

Trade (TRADE) 

1 

7 

10 

12 

10 

* 
** 
*** 

In 2011 DG AIDCO (and DG DEV) became DG DEVCO 
In 2011 DG RELEX became Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) 
See Annual report 2009 

TOTAL: 

266*** 

2010 

14 

1 

2 

4 

1 

1 

7 

4 

14 

4 

30 

32 

6 

4 

22 

10 

2 

1 

6 

13 

13 

4 

29 

1 

6 

8 

10 

10 

259 

In  2010,  the  comitology  committees  could  generally  be  classified  according  to  the  type  of 
procedure under which they operated (advisory procedure, management procedure, regulatory 
procedure, regulatory procedure with scrutiny and safeguard procedure - see Table II). Since 
certain committees applied multiple procedures (ranging from the advisory procedure to the 
regulatory  procedure,  plus  the  safeguard  procedure),  they  have  been  singled  out  from 
committees operating under a single procedure. 

EN 

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TABLE II – NUMBER OF COMMITTEES BY PROCEDURE (2010) 

Type of procedure 

AGRI 

AIDCO 

BUDG 

CLIMA 

COMM 

DIGIT 

EAC 

ECFIN 

ECHO 

ELARG 

EMPL 

ENER 

ENTR 

ENV 

ESTAT 

HOME 

INFSO 

JUST 

MARE 

MARKT 

MOVE 

OLAF 

REGIO 

RELEX 

RTD 

SANCO 

TAXUD 

TRADE 

TOTAL: 

Advisory 
0 
0 
1 
0 
0 
0 
1 
1 
0 
1 
1 
1 
6 
0 
0 
0 
0 
2 
0 
0 
3 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
1 
2 
21 

Management 
4 
5 
0 
0 
0 
1 
1 
0 
0 
3 
0 
2 
1 
0 
1 
0 
1 
1 
1 
0 
1 
0 
0 
2 
3 
0 
3 
2 
32 

Regulatory 
4 
0 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
4 
3 
5 
1 
3 
0 
0 
0 
1 
4 
1 
0 
1 
0 
6 
5 
3 
42 

Regulatory 
w/srcutiny 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
2 
1 
5 
4 
0 
0 
0 
4 
0 
4 
2 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
0 
0 
23 

Operates under 
several 
procedures 
6 
1 
0 
4 
1 
0 
5 
0 
2 
0 
1 
6 
15 
23 
6 
7 
5 
6 
3 
8 
19 
0 
1 
1 
3 
14 
1 
3 
141 

TOTAL 
14 
6 
2 
4 
1 
1 
7 
1 
2 
4 
4 
14 
30 
32 
8 
10 
6 
13 
4 
13 
29 
1 
1 
4 
6 
22 
10 
10 
259 

The  figures  indicate  that  about  16%  of  the  committees  (42  out  of  259)  worked  exclusively 
under  the  regulatory  procedure,  followed  by  a  smaller  number  of  committees  working 
exclusively  under  the  management  procedure  (32).  However,  most  committees  (54%) 
operated under several procedures (141 out of 259). The breakdown by policy sector shows 
that use of the different types of procedures varies from one policy sector to another.  

The  number  of  committees  is  not  the  only  indicator  of  activity  at  comitology  level.  The 
number of meetings held in 2010 reflects the intensity of work in general, at sector level and 
in individual committees (Table III).  

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TABLE III – NUMBER OF MEETINGS 

AGRI 

AIDCO 

BUDG 

CLIMA 

COMM 

DIGIT  

EAC 

ECFIN 

ECHO 

ELARG 

EMPL 

ENER 

ENTR 

ENV 

2009 

165 

40 

5 

- 

- 

3 

13 

- 

4 

5 

5 

- 

48 

67 

2010 

148 

28 

4 

15 

2 

1 

17 

1 

5 

5 

4 

19 

56 

48 

2009 

2010 

ESTAT 

HOME 

INFSO 

JUST 

MARE 

MARKT 

MOVE 

OLAF 

REGIO 

RELEX 

RTD 

SANCO 

TAXUD 

TRADE 

TOTAL: 

19 

- 

24 

- 

15 

32 

- 

3 

10 

3 

62 

124 

107 

17 

771* 

16 

23 

24 

6 

11 

34 

60 

2 

9 

5 

60 

131 

107 

18 

859 

* 

See Annual Report 2009 

As was the case in 2009, Agriculture (AGRI) leads the field with 148 meetings. These figures 
witness  the  intensity  of  managing  the  different  agricultural  markets.  Agriculture  (AGRI)  is 
followed by Health and Consumers (SANCO) with 131 meetings and Taxation and Customs 
Union (TAXUD) with 107 meetings. 

2.2 

Number of opinions and implementing measures 

As  in  previous  reports,  this  report  gives  global  figures  on  formal  opinions  delivered  by  the 
committees and the subsequent implementing measures (i.e. legal acts or administrative and 
financing  decisions)  adopted  by  the  Commission3.  These  figures  quantify  the  tangible 
“output”  of  the  committees  (see  Table  IV).  The  total  number  of  opinions  delivered  by  the 
committees in 2010 was 1 904 (compared with 2 091 in 2009); the number of implementing 
measures adopted by the Commission was 1 812 (compared with 1 808 in 2009).  

3 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  there  can  be  discrepancies  between  the  number  of  opinions  and  the  number  of 
implementing measures in any given year. The reasons for these are explained in the introduction to the 
accompanying staff working document. 

EN 

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TABLE IV – NUMBER OF OPINIONS AND IMPLEMENTING MEASURES ADOPTED (2010) 

Opinions  Measures 
adopted 
based on 
acts other 
than co-
decision 
acts 

Measures 
adopted 
based on 
co-
decision 
acts 

Opinions 

Measures 
adopted 
based on 
acts other 
than co-
decision acts 

Measures 
adopted 
based on co-
decision 
acts 

AGRI 

AIDCO 

BUDG 

CLIMA 

COMM 

DIGIT 

EAC 

ECFIN 

ECHO 

ELARG 

EMPL 

ENER 

ENTR 

ENV 

345 

181 

0 

22 

4 

1 

101 

1 

39 

58 

8 

18 

67 

48 

342 

3 

ESTAT 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

32 

0 

2 

58 

0 

4 

6 

0 

175 

HOME 

0 

16 

4 

1 

64 

1 

47 

0 

9 

12 

31 

40 

INFSO 

JUST 

MARE 

MARKT 

MOVE 

OLAF 

REGIO 

RELEX 

RTD 

SANCO 

TAXUD 

TRADE 

30 

21 

35 

18 

23 

20 

65 

0 

5 

3 

185 

562 

37 

7 

TOTAL: 

1 904 

0 

13 

0 

8 

23 

0 

0 

0 

1 

3 

169 

132 

37 

1 

832 

35 

9 

10 

13 

0 

20 

69 

0 

0 

0 

0 

415 

6 

0 

980 

The large number of implementing measures adopted in certain policy sectors – Health and 
Consumers (547), Agriculture (345), Europe Aid (175), Research (169), – again reflects the 
intensity of work delegated to the Commission in these areas4.  

2.3 

Use of the Regulatory Procedure with Scrutiny (RPS) 

The figures provided in Table IV on the number of implementing measures adopted include 
the number of measures that are adopted according to RPS. This figure stands at 164 for 2010, 
Health and Consumers being the sector that uses the procedure most (46 measures), followed 
by Environment (30) (see Table V).  

In 2010 the European Parliament made use of its right of veto on draft measures in one case 
and the Council in two cases. This means that in total the two legislators used their right of 
veto in 1,8 % of the cases: 

4 

Note that the sheer number of measures adopted as such gives no indication of the political, economic 
or financial importance of the decisions taken. 

EN 

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–  In  May  2010  the  European  Parliament  opposed  a  draft  Commission  Directive  amending 
the  Annexes  to  European  Parliament  and  Council  Directive  95/2/EC  on  food  additives 
other than colours and sweeteners and repealing Decision 2004/374/EC. The draft measure 
was consequently not adopted. A revised measure was adopted by the Commission on 22 
October (OJ L 279, 23.10.2010, p. 22). 

–  In May 2010 the Council opposed a draft Commission Directive amending annexes I and II 
to  Directive  98/70/EC  (the  Fuel  Quality  Directive)  for  the  purpose  of  their  adaptation  to 
technical  progress.  The  draft  measure  was  consequently  not  adopted.  A  revised  measure 
was adopted by the Commission on 1 June 2011 (OJ L 147, 2.6.2011, p. 15).  

–  In May 2010 the Council opposed the adoption of a draft Commission Directive related to 
the use of organic solvents in certain paints and varnishes and vehicle refinishing products. 
The draft measure was consequently not adopted. A revised measure was adopted by the 
Commission on 19 November 2010 (OJ L 304, 20.11.2010 p. 18). 

For comparison, in 2009 the veto right was used in 1 case. 

TABLE V – NUMBER OF IMPLEMENTING MEASURES ADOPTED ACCORDING TO THE 
REGULATORY PROCEDURE WITH SCRUTINY (RPS) (2010) 

AGRI 

AIDCO 

BUDG 

CLIMA 

COMM 

DIGIT 

EAC 

ECFIN 

ECHO 

ELARG 

EMPL 

ENER 

ENTR 

ENV 

ESTAT 

HOME 

INFSO 

JUST 

MARE 

MARKT 

MOVE 

OLAF 

REGIO 

RELEX 

RTD 

SANCO 

TAXUD 

TRADE 

Measures adopted according 
to RPS 
0 

EP opposed adoption of 
draft measures under RPS 
0 

Council opposed adoption 
of draft measures under RPS 
0 

0 

0 

9 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

6 

18 

30 

25 

0 

0 

0 

0 

12 
18 
0 

0 

0 

0 

46 

0 

Total: 

0 
164 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 
0 
0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 
1 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 
0 
0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 
2 

EN 

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3. 

DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEES 

The accompanying document to this report provides detailed information on the work of the 
individual  committees  in  2010,  classified  on  the  basis  of  the  different  Commission 
departments concerned. It also provides information on changes in the number of committees 
as  well  as  on  specific  situations  relating  to  particular  draft  measures,  such  as  unfavourable 
opinions, referrals to the Council or oppositions of the Council or the Parliament under RPS. 

EN 

8 

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