COMMISSION OPINION on the draft Council Decision on a revision of the Statutes of the Economic and Financial Committee
Date: 2012-04-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: committee (EU), economic relations, financial situation, legal status

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 17.4.2012  
COM(2012) 177 final 

COMMISSION OPINION 

on the draft Council Decision on a revision of the Statutes of the Economic and 
Financial Committee 

 
 
 
 
  
 
COMMISSION OPINION 

on the draft Council Decision on a revision of the Statutes of the Economic and 
Financial Committee 

In accordance with Article 242 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, the 
Council shall, after receiving an Opinion of the Commission, determine the rules governing 
the  Committees.  The  Council  requested  the  Opinion  of  the  Commission,  in  a  letter  dated 
1 March 2012, on a revision of the Statutes of the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), 
which are currently set out in the Council Decision of 18 June 2003 (2003/476/EC). 

The  proposed  revision  aims  at  accommodating  some  of  the  decisions  concerning  the 
governance of the euro area taken on 26 October 2011 by the Heads of State or Government 
of  the  Member  States  whose  currency  is  the  euro.  In  particular,  the  Heads  of  State  or 
Government stated that: 

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the Eurogroup Working Group (i.e. the preparatory body referred to in Article 1 of 
Protocol  No  14  on  the  Euro  Group,  composed  of  representatives  of  the  Ministers 
with responsibility for finance of the Member States whose currency is the euro and 
of the Commission), would be chaired by a full-time President; 

the  Presidents  of  the  Eurogroup  Working  Group  (EWG)  and  of  the  Economic  and 
Financial Committee (EFC) would in principle be elected at the same time; 

the  existing  administrative  structures  (i.e.  the  Council  General  Secretariat  and  the 
EFC  Secretariat)  will  be  strengthened  and  co-operate  in  a  well-coordinated  way  to 
provide  adequate  support  to  the  Euro  Summit  President  and  the  President  of  the 
Eurogroup, under the guidance of the President of the EFC/EWG. 

Currently,  the  EFC  Statutes  stipulate  that  the  President  of  the  EFC  should  be  elected  from 
among  the  EFC  Members  representing  national  administration.  As  the  full-time  EWG 
President will cease to be an official in a national administration and will be employed by the 
EU  Institutions,  this  provision  therefore  does  not  allow  electing  the  permanent  EWG 
President as the EFC President. It is therefore proposed to revise the EFC Statutes to allow for 
such a possibility. In particular, the following amendments are being introduced:  

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Article 1 and Article 2 are amended to take into account the entry into force of the 
Treaty on the functioning of the European Union; 

Article 4 is amended to specify that the Committee meets under the chairmanship of 
the President; 

Article 6 is amended and makes the EWG President eligible to be elected as the EFC 
President; 

Article 7 is amended and makes the EWG President eligible to be elected as the EFC 
Vice-President unless he/she is already elected as the President of the EFC;  

Article 7 also stipulates that the EWG President – if not already being President of 
the EFC – shall take part in the EFC meetings unless the EFC decides otherwise. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
The  Commission  considers  that  the  proposed  revision  is  appropriate.  The  revision  properly 
implements  the  decisions  by  the  Heads  of  State  or  Government  referred  above.  A  shared 
chairmanship  would  contribute  to  effective  cooperation  between  the  EFC  and  the  EWG,  in 
view of the close links between the two committees. Moreover, the permanent nature of the 
position  would  also  benefit  the  EFC  itself  as  it  would  free  its  President  from  duties  in  the 
national administration. Altogether the revision would lead to a strengthening of the economic 
governance  framework  of  the  Union.  The  revision  has  no  impact  on  the  role  of  the 
Commission in the Committee. It is to be noted that the proposed revision is without prejudice 
to  the  Council  Decision  of  21  December  1998  on  the  detailed  provisions  concerning  the 
composition of the Economic and Financial Committee (98/743/EC). 

At the same time, the Commission considers that it would be useful for the Council to avail 
itself of the opportunity to make two technical corrections to the draft revised Statutes: 

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in Article 1, refer to the Treaty on the functioning of the EU (instead of the TEC) 

"The  Economic  and  Financial  Committee  ("Committee")  shall  carry  out  the 
tasks  described  in  paragraphs 2  and 4  of  Article 134  of  the  Treaty  on  the 
functioning of the European Union"; 

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in Article 3, refer to "the Union" (not "the Community") 

"Members of the Committee and alternates shall be guided, in the performance 
of their duties, by the general interests of the Union". 

In conclusion, the Commission issues a favourable opinion on the proposed decision on the 
revision of the Statutes of the Economic and Financial Committee. 

EN 

3 

   EN