REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION ON THE WORKING OF COMMITTEES DURING 2017
Date: 2018-10-11
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: EU control, activity report, comitology, committee (EU), official statistics, power of implementation

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 11.10.2018  COM(2018) 675 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION ON THE WORKING OF COMMITTEES DURING 2017 {SWD(2018) 432 final}  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 

ON THE WORKING OF COMMITTEES DURING 2017 

In accordance with Article 10(2) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 laying down the rules and 
general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s 
exercise  of  implementing  powers1  (the  ‘Comitology  Regulation’),  the  Commission  hereby 
presents the annual report on the working of committees for 2017. 

This  report  gives  an  overview  of  developments  in  the  comitology  system  in  2017  and  a 
summary  of  the  committees’  activities.  It  is  accompanied  by  a  staff  working  document 
containing detailed statistics on the work of the individual committees. 

1. 

OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COMITOLOGY SYSTEM IN 2017 

General development 

1.1. 
As described in the 2013 annnual report2, all comitology procedures provided for in the ‘old’ 
Comitology  Decision3,  with  the  exception  of  the  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny,  were 
automatically  adapted  to  the  new  comitology  procedures  provided  for  in  the  Comitology 
Regulation (Regulation (EU) 182/2011). 

In 2017, the comitology committees were therefore operating under the procedures set out in 
the Comitology Regulation, i.e.  advisory  (Article 4)  and examination (Article 5),  as well as 
under the regulatory procedure with scrutiny set out in Article 5a of the Comitology Decision. 

The Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 20164 recalls the need to 
align the regulatory procedure with scrutiny: 

"The  three  institutions  acknowledge  the  need  for  the  alignment  of  all  existing  legislation  to 
the legal framework introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, and in particular the need to give high 
priority to the prompt alignment of all basic acts which still refer to the regulatory procedure 
with scrutiny. The Commission will propose that latter alignment by the end of 2016." 

In line with this commitment, the Commission adopted a new proposal for the alignment of 
the  basic  acts  providing  for  the  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  to  delegated  and 
implementing acts5. It also adopted a second proposal, dealing specifically with the alignment 
of  basic  acts  in  the  field  of  justice6.  The  interinstitutional  negotiations  on  both  files  are 
ongoing. The Committee on Legal Affairs adopted its report on the proposal and received a 

1 

2 
3 

4   

5 

6 

Regulation  (EU)  No  182/2011  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16  February  2011 
laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of 
the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13). 
Report from the Commission on the working of committees during 2013, COM(2014)572 final. 
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 (OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23), as amended by Council 
Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ C 255, 21.10.2006, p. 4). 
Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and 
the European Commission on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016 (OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1).  
Proposal  for  a  Regulation  of  the  European Parliament  and  of  the  Council  adapting  a  number  of  legal 
acts  providing  for  the  use  of  the  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  to  Articles  290  and  291  of  the 
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (COM(2016)799). 
Proposal  for  a  Regulation of  the  European Parliament  and  of  the  Council adapting  a number  of  legal 
acts in the area of Justice providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Article 290 
of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (COM(2016)798). 

1 

 
                                                            
mandate to enter into negotiations7. The Council adopted its General Approach on 20 March 
20188.   

The Commission on 26 February 2016 adopted a Report on the implementation of Regulation 
(EU)  182/20119.  In  this  report,  the  Commission  concluded  that  the  overall  legal  framework 
for  comitology  is  functioning  well.  However,  it  also  pointed  at  the  time  to  the  political 
problem  of  "no  opinion"  outcomes  especially  in  a  few  very  sensitive  areas  such  as  the 
authorisation of genetically modified organisms. Therefore and notably in light of experiences 
with the authorisation procedure for glyphosate, President Juncker in his State of the Union 
address in September 2016 announced a Commission initiative to address this problem and to 
increase  accountability,  responsibility  and  transparency  on  the  side  of  Member  States  when 
voting  in  committee,  and  in  particular  in  the  appeal  committee.  Subsequently,  the 
Commission  on  14  February  2017  adopted  a  proposal  for  a  Regulation  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council amending 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  (COM(2017)  85  final).  This  proposal  puts 
forward a number of targeted changes to the functioning of the appeal committee to address 
no  opinion  situations  in  sensitive  areas.  The  interinstitutional  negotiations  on  this  file  are 
ongoing. 

Negotiations  between  the  three  institutions  are  also  ongoing  on  non-binding  criteria  for  the 
application of Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 
so the delineation between delegated and implementing acts.  

In  its  Communication  “Better  regulation  for  better  results”  of  May  2015,  the  Commission 
committed that draft texts for delegated acts and drafts for important implementing acts will 
be made public for a four week feedback period, allowing stakeholders to submit comments. 
In 2017, 165 such draft acts were published for public feedback on the Commission's "Have 
your say" website10.  

Development of case law 

1.2. 
In its judgment of 20 September 2017 in Case C-183/1611 (Tilly Sabco), the Court of Justice 
underlined the need to respect the timeframes for the submission of draft implementing acts to 
the committee ahead of the vote and to only deviate in well justified cases. In line with Article 
3(3)  of  Regulation  182/2011  the  chair  has  to  submit  the  draft  agenda  and  the  draft 
implementing  act  to  the  committee  not  less  than  14  calendar  days  before  the  meeting.  The 
time  limit  for  submission  can  be  shortened  in  exceptional  cases.  This  possibility  is  further 
detailed  in  the  Standard  Rules  of  Procedure  for  committees12,  on  the  basis  of  which 
committees  adopt  their  rules  of  procedure.  The  chair  can  also  set  a  time  limit  for  the 
committee  to  deliver  its  opinion  on  the  draft.  The  time  limits  have  to  be  proportionate  and 
afford  the  committee  members  early  and  effective  opportunities  to  examine  the  draft  and 
express their views. 

7  

8  

9  

10  
11  
12  

Report  on  the  proposal  for  a  regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  adapting  a 
number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Articles 290 and 
291  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  Committee  on  Legal  Affairs,  A8-
0020/2018. 
Proposal  for  a  Regulation of  the  European Parliament  and  of  the  Council adapting  a number  of  legal 
acts  providing  for  the  use  of  the  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  to  Articles  290  and  291  of  the 
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union - Partial general approach, 6933/18, 9 March 2018.  
Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the  implementation  of 
Regulation (EU) 182/2011, COM(2016)92. 
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say_en  
Judgment of the Court of Justice of 20 September 2017, Tilly-Sabco v Commission, C-183/16. 
Standard Rules of Procedure for comitology committees, OJ C 206, 12.7.2011, p. 11. 

2 

 
                                                            
2. 

OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES 

2.1. 

Number of committees and meetings 

It is important to distinguish between the comitology committees on the one hand, and other 
entities, in particular ‘expert groups’ created by the Commission itself, on the other. The latter 
provide  expertise  to  the  Commission13  in  preparing  and  implementing  policy  as  well  as 
delegated acts, whereas comitology committees assist the Commission in the exercise of the 
implementing powers that have been conferred upon it by basic legal acts. This report focuses 
exclusively on comitology  committees.  The number of active comitology committees  in the 
period 1 January to 31 December 2017 was calculated by sector of activity (see Table I). The 
figures  for  the  previous  year  (on  31  December  2016)  are  also  given  for  purposes  of 
comparison.  Sections  and  configurations  are  not  counted  separately  as  these  belong  to  a 
parent committee. 

TABLE I — TOTAL NUMBER OF COMMITTEES 

Policy sector 

2016 

2017 

AGRI   (Agriculture and Rural Development 
BUDG   (Budget) 
CLIMA   (Climate Action) 
CNECT   (Communications Networks, Content and Technology) 
DEVCO   (International Cooperation and Development) 
DIGIT   (Informatics) 
EAC   (Education and Culture) 
ECFIN   (Economic and Financial Affairs) 
ECHO   (Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection) 
EMPL   (Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) 
ENER   (Energy) 
ENV   (Environment) 
ESTAT   (Eurostat) 
FISMA   (Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital markets Union) 
FPI   (Service for Foreign Policy Instruments) 
GROW   (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs) 
HOME   (Migration and Home Affairs) 
JUST   (Justice and Consumers) 
MARE   (Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) 
MOVE   (Mobility and Transport) 
NEAR   (Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations) 
OLAF   (European Anti-Fraud Office) 
REGIO   (Regional and Urban Policy) 
RTD   (Research and Innovation) 
SANTE   (Health and Food Safety) 
SG   (Secretariat-General) 
TAXUD   (Taxation and Customs Union) 
TRADE   (Trade) 

TOTAL: 

17 
2 
5 
6 
5 
1 
2 
1 
2 
5 
14 
30 
6 
8 
4 
41 
13 
23 
4 
31 
3 
1 
1 
5 
21 
3* 
11 
12 
277 

12 
2 
5 
7 
5 
1 
2 
1 
2 
5 
13 
30 
4 
8 
4 
42 
13 
23 
3 
31 
3 
1 
1 
5 
17 
3* 
11 
13 
267 

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

In 2017, the comitology committees could generally be broken down according to the type of 
procedure under which they operated (advisory procedure, examination procedure, regulatory 
procedure  with  scrutiny  —  see  Table  II).  Certain  committees  which  applied  multiple 
procedures have been separated from committees operating under a single procedure. 

13 

For more details see: http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm.  

3 

 
                                                            
TABLE II — NUMBER OF COMMITTEES BY PROCEDURE 

Type of procedure 

Advisory 

Examination 

Regulatory with 
scrutiny 

AGRI 
BUDG 
CLIMA 
CNECT 
DEVCO 
DIGIT 
EAC 
ECFIN 
ECHO 
EMPL 
ENER 
ENV 
ESTAT 
FISMA 
FPI 
GROW 
HOME 
JUST 
MARE 
MOVE 
NEAR 
OLAF 
REGIO 
RTD 
SANTE 
SG 
TAXUD 
TRADE 

TOTAL: 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
2 
0 
0 
0 
0 
4 
2 
7 
0 
3 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
3 
23 

7 
1 
1 
3 
2 
1 
1 
0 
1 
0 
4 
7 
2 
2 
4 
9 
9 
6 
2 
8 
1 
1 
0 
4 
8 
3 
8 
4 
99 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
2 
1 
4 
0 
2 
0 
4 
0 
4 
0 
4 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
21 

Operates under 
several 
procedures 
5 
1 
4 
4 
3 
0 
1 
1 
1 
3 
6 
19 
2 
4 
0 
25 
2 
6 
1 
16 
1 
0 
1 
1 
9 
0 
2 
6 
124 

TOTAL: 

12 
2 
5 
7 
5 
1 
2 
1 
2 
5 
13 
30 
4 
8 
4 
42 
13 
23 
3 
31 
3 
1 
1 
5 
17 
3* 
11 
13 
267 

* Including the appeal committee. 

The  number  of  committees  is  not  the  only  indicator  of  activity  at  comitology  level.  The 
number  of  meetings  held,  as  well  as  the  number  of  written  procedures14  used  in  2017,  also 
reflects  the  intensity  of  work  in  general,  both  at  sector  level  and  in  individual  committees 
(Table III). 

14 

The  committee  voting  can  take  place  in  a  regular  committee  meeting  or,  in  duly  justified  cases,  by 
written procedure, in accordance with Article 3(5) of the Comitology Regulation. 

4 

 
  
 
                                                            
TABLE III — NUMBER OF MEETINGS AND WRITTEN PROCEDURES 

Number of 
committees  

12 
2 
5 
7 
5 
1 
2 
1 
2 
5 
13 
30 
4 
8 
4 
42 
13 
23 
3 
31 
3 
1 
1 
5 
17 
3 
11 
13 
267 

AGRI 
BUDG 
CLIMA 
CNECT 
DEVCO 
DIGIT 
EAC 
ECFIN 
ECHO 
EMPL 
ENER 
ENV 
ESTAT 
FISMA 
FPI 
GROW 
HOME 
JUST 
MARE 
MOVE 
NEAR 
OLAF 
REGIO 
RTD 
SANTE 
SG 
TAXUD 
TRADE 

TOTAL 

* 8 meetings of the appeal committee. 

Meetings 

Written procedures 

2016 

2017 

2016 

111 
4 
7 
18 
18 
2 
5 
0 
4 
4 
12 
26 
6 
11 
5 
63 
36 
22 
6 
52 
7 
1 
1 
57 
117 
5 
50 
24 
674 

90 
4 
7 
17 
17 
1 
6 
3 
4 
6 
6 
29 
6 
10 
2 
70 
28 
10 
4 
54 
8 
0 
1 
57 
108 
8* 
33 
27 
616 

7 
0 
1 
12 
11 
0 
3 
0 
4 
1 
4 
11 
5 
13 
2 
36 
65 
4 
5 
25 
12 
1 
0 
263 
437 
0 
22 
38 
982 

2017 

17 
0 
2 
11 
9 
0 
1 
0 
3 
1 
5 
13 
2 
18 
0 
34 
29 
5 
10 
35 
19 
0 
2 
246 
494 
1* 
29 
38 
1 024 

2.2. 

Number of opinions and implementing acts/ measures 

As  always,  this  report  provides  overall  figures  on  the  formal  opinions  delivered  by  the 
committees  and  the  subsequent  implementing  acts/measures  adopted  by  the  Commission15. 
These figures quantify the tangible ‘output’ of the committees (see Table IV). Out of the total 
number  of  draft  implementing  acts  submitted  to  the  committeess  in  2017,  the  European 
Parliament  adopted  9  resolutions  on  the  basis  of  Article  11  of  the  Comitology  Regulation, 
while the Council has not adopted any such resolution. 

15 

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

5 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
TABLE IV — NUMBER OF OPINIONS AND IMPLEMENTING ACTS/MEASURES ADOPTED 

Opinions16 

Implementing Acts 
adopted 

 Regulatory procedure with 
scrutiny - measures 
adopted 

AGRI 
BUDG 
CLIMA 
CNECT 
DEVCO 
DIGIT 
EAC 
ECFIN 
ECHO 
EMPL 
ENER 
ENV 
ESTAT 
FISMA 
FPI 
GROW 
HOME 
JUST 
MARE 
MOVE 
NEAR 
OLAF 
REGIO 
RTD 
SANTE 
SG 
TAXUD 
TRADE 

2017 
2017 
142 
137 
7 
5 
11 
3 
19 
18 
53 
54 
1 
1 
5 
4 
3 
3 
7 
6 
7 
5 
8 
7 
31 
16 
9 
4 
22 
7 
4 
2 
104 
83 
76 
68 
10 
6 
20 
17 
59 
50 
74 
74 
0 
0 
2 
0 
248 
176 
803 
753 
16* 
17 
79 
85 
86 
86 
1687 
1906 
*   Including 16 opinions delivered by the appeal committee and 17 adopted acts. 

2016 
105 
0 
6 
14 
55 
1 
4 
0 
4 
3 
4 
13 
3 
28 
0 
45 
61 
6 
10 
44 
65 
2 
1 
191 
632 
9 
67 
75 
1 448 

2016 
110 
7 
7 
20 
57 
1 
4 
0 
7 
4 
8 
38 
11 
28 
2 
84 
76 
6 
10 
65 
64 
2 
2 
270 
717 
11 
82 
75 
1 768 

TOTAL 

2016 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
6 
11 
5 
0 
0 
21 
0 
0 
0 
17 
0 
0 
0 
0 
55 
0 
0 
0 
116 

2017 
0 
0 
4 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
0 
18 
6 
0 
0 
24 
0 
0 
0 
4 
0 
0 
0 
0 
56 
0 
0 
0 
113 

2.3.  Meetings of the appeal committee 

The appeal committee met 8 times and was consulted by written procedure once during 2017, 
and  discussed  16  draft  implementing  acts  (in  the  areas  of  health  and  consumer  policy  and 
trade) which were referred by the Commission. The appeal committee delivered no opinion in 
15 cases and a favorable opionion once. The Commission decided to adopt 17 implementing 
acts of which one was voted on by the appeal committee in 2016. 

2.4. 

Use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny  

As mentioned under Section 1, the regulatory procedure with scrutiny has not been affected 
by the comitology reform of 2011. This procedure can no longer be used in new legislation, 
but it still appears in many existing basic acts and will continue to apply under those acts until 
they are aligned. In 2017 113 measures were adopted according to the regulatory procedure 
with scrutiny (see Table V). The right to oppose was used once, by the European Parliament. 
In 2016, by comparison, the right to oppose was also used once. 

16  

A vote resulting in "no opinion" is counted towards the total number of opinions. 

6 

 
  
 
 
 
                                                            
TABLE V — NUMBER OF MEASURES ADOPTED ACCORDING TO THE REGULATORY 
PROCEDURE WITH SCRUTINY  

Regulatory procedure with 
scrutiny - measures 
adopted 
0 
0 
4 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
0 
18 
6 
0 
0 
24 
0 
0 
0 
4 
0 
0 
0 
0 
56 
0 
0 
0 
113 

European Parliament 
opposed adoption of draft 
measures  
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 
0 
1 

Council opposed adoption of 
draft measures  
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

AGRI 
BUDG 
CLIMA 
CNECT 
DEVCO 
DIGIT 
EAC 
ECFIN 
ECHO 
EMPL 
ENER 
ENV 
ESTAT 
FISMA 
FPI 
GROW 
HOME 
JUST 
MARE 
MOVE 
NEAR 
OLAF 
REGIO 
RTD 
SANTE 
SG 
TAXUD 
TRADE 

TOTAL 

3. 

DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEES 

The  working  document  accompanying  this  report  provides  detailed  information  about  the 
work  of  the  individual  committees  in  2017,  broken  down  on  the  basis  of  the  different 
Commission departments concerned. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The European Parliament and the Council are invited to take note of this Report.  

7