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26-739: The European Economic and Social Committee ( EESC ) is a consultative body of the European Union (EU) established in 1958. It is an advisory assembly composed of representatives from employers' associations , workers' unions ( trade unions ) and civil society organisations. Its seat, which it shares with the Committee of the Regions , is the Jacques Delors building on Belliardstraat / Rue Belliard 99 in Brussels . Once known by

52-538: A Polish business representative Jacek Krawczyk for another five-year term as a member of the EESC became a target of harsh criticism as the EESC faced pressure to better prevent harassment in the organization. Mr. Krawczyk was himself accused of psychological harassment and is prosecuted by Belgian authorities. Besides that, the conduct of Jacek Krawczyk has been investigated by the EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF. MEPs therefore rejected

78-581: A critic of the posted workers directive. He was the chair of the pre-accession EU-Bulgaria Consultative Committee, and of the Employer's Group from 2016 to 2013 - In 2013, He was elected the 30th President of the EESC. His presidency took attention to the European media thanks to his critical position on EU stand to Greece during the financial crisis . He signed a Protocol of cooperation with Martin Schulz ,

104-418: A third group of various other changing interests such as: farmers, consumer groups, professional associations and so on. Members are appointed by the council (by qualified majority) following nominations made by the government of the respective Member State . However, once appointed, the members are completely independent of their governments. They have a renewable term of office of five years. The President of

130-703: The Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF) is in charge of registering, controlling and imposing sanctions on European political parties and European political foundations . Henri Malosse Henri Malosse was born in Montpellier in a family of professors from Corsica . He graduated from the Sciences Po in 1976. He began exploring the cultures of Germany, Eastern Europe and speaks Polish , Russian English and German . Henri Malosse supported strongly

156-778: The Council and the European Parliament . The EESC declares itself to be "a bridge between Europe and organised civil society". It is mandatory for the committee to be consulted on those issues stipulated in the Treaties and in all cases where the institutions deem it appropriate. The Treaty of Maastricht considerably enlarged the committee's domain. Its influence now extends to matters such as social policy, social and economic cohesion, environment, education, health, customers protection, industry, Trans-European Networks , indirect taxation and structural funds. On certain issues

182-489: The European Administrative School , which provides specific training for the staff of Union institutions. Another body is the anti-fraud office OLAF whose mission is to protect the financial interests of the European Union. The European Data Protection Supervisor ensures the institutions respect citizens' privacy rights in relation to data processing. Established by Regulation 1141/2014,

208-721: The European Environment Agency and Europol . There are also three inter-institutional bodies lacking juridical personality: the Publications Office , the oldest one, which publishes and distributes official publications from the European Union bodies; and the two relatively new: the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), a recruitment body which organises competitions for posts within Union institutions; and

234-818: The Delegation of the Assembly of French Chambers of Commerce and Industry to the European Union, and assumed its Direction six years later. He also participated in the European Association of Small and Medium Enterprises at the European Parliament . In 1995 he was appointed by the French government in the European Economic and Social Committee - EESC , the 5th Institution of the European Union , writing more than 50 reports including

260-466: The EESC has also been questioned recently. While the number of administrative staff has decreased from 727 in 2013 to 668 in 2019 and the number of opinions has gone down, the annual EESC's budget has continued to grow. Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský said, that “very few lawmakers are reading the opinions of this committee. The impact is close to zero.” He also described the EESC as “a zombie committee that lost its purpose but still lives on.” Body of

286-460: The EESC works in partnership with the Committee of the Regions . In latest years, the committee has taken up the challenge of civil society, opening up its forum to representatives of all sectors, developing two complementary missions: It is mandatory for the committee to be consulted on those issues stipulated in the Treaties and in all cases where the institutions deem it appropriate. The EESC may also be consulted on an exploratory basis by one of

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312-535: The EESC, elected for a 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -year term, is Oliver Röpke (since 2023), and the previous presidents were Christa Schweng (2020–2023) Luca Jahier (2018–2020) Georges Dassis (2015–2018) and Henri Malosse (2013–2015). Selected own-initiative opinions include: In a report reviewing 50 years of the EESC, C.S. Dimitrioulas cited Jacques Delors as saying that EESC contributions from 1958 to 2008 on civil and social matters were "remarkable". Dimitrioulas commented: "Thanks to its membership and unique role in

338-461: The EESC’s 2018 financial accounts over its failure to deal with the issue of harassment. According to the words of MEP Tomáš Zdechovský , who led the budget discharge procedure, the EESC was not able to answer questions regarding its various mistakes and take measures which would make MEPs believe that this particular institution is able to protect the interests of European citizens. Overall usefulness of

364-838: The EU's priority objectives, especially boosting sustainable growth and job creation. The Group also includes the European Investment Fund and the EIB Institute. There are a number of other bodies and agencies of note that are not formal institutions. There are two consultative committees to the EU institutions: the Economic and Social Committee (EESC) advises on economic and social policy (principally relations between workers and employers) being made up of representatives of various industries and work sectors. Its 344 members (with an additional nine members joining following

390-507: The EU’s institutional framework, the Committee will in future have special responsibility for making a reality of participatory democracy and for working towards the development of structured dialogue between organised civil society and Union institutions." The Lisbon Treaty has confirmed the EESC's role and influence. According to proponents of the EESC: "Indeed, significant prospects for

416-857: The European Union The main bodies of the European Union and Euratom are: Apart from them, some several other bodies exist. The Treaty on European Union in Article 13 lists seven institutions of the European Union , including one which is an international entity (the European Central Bank ). and the President of the Commission In addition, the European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution. The EIB supports

442-424: The European political process. In this context, the EESC has a particular responsibility in bringing participatory democracy to life. In view of its membership and role, as laid down in the Treaties, and in partnership with the other institutions, the Committee's purpose is to be even more in the future the means of developing participatory democracy and civil dialogue at Union level." In October 2020 reappointment of

468-797: The President of the European parliament. He was the first EU representative to participate at Euromaidan in Kiev in December 2013 and to pay a visit to the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamsala on 10 March 2014. His political engagement raised a lot of criticism from the Chinese Communist Party and their supporters in Europe. He was also put temporarily on a blacklist by the Russian federation. On 15 October 2014, Henri Malosse received

494-566: The accession of Croatia to the EU), appointed by the council for four-year terms, are organised into three fairly equal groups representing employers, employees and other various interests; while the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is composed of representative of regional and local authorities who hold an electoral mandate. It advises on regional issues. It has 344 members, organised in political groups, appointed every four years by

520-614: The acronym "EcoSoc", the body is now referred to as the "EESC", to avoid confusions with the United Nations ECOSOC . The European Economic and Social Committee was established by the Treaty of Rome of 1957 in order to unite different economic interest groups to establish a Single Market . The creation of this committee gave them an institution to allow their voices to be heard by the European Commission ,

546-460: The council. The European Ombudsman deals with citizens grievances against the Union's institutions and is elected for five-year terms by the Parliament. A number of decentralised, executive and Eurarom agencies, decentralised independent bodies and joint undertakings exist, which are bodies of the EU or Euratom established as juridical persons through secondary EU legislation. These include

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572-421: The development of participatory democracy are opened through Article 11 of the new Treaty on the European Union, which lays the foundations for the future establishment of a genuine structured civil dialogue at European level alongside the political dialogue between the EU and its Member States and the social dialogue with the social partners, thereby ensuring sustainable participation of organised civil society in

598-639: The freedom's movement in Poland ( Solidarnosc ), met Lech Walesa in 1976 in Gdansk and was banned by the polish communist regime of Jaruzelski during 8 years. He has been harassed by the secret police of the polish communist regime. His file can be found in the archivum of IPN in Warsaw. He was involved in European policies for SMEs , inspiring the creation of the Euro Info Centres. He worked to create

624-413: The other institutions, and under Rule 29(2) of its Rules of Procedure may issue opinions on its own initiative. Around 15% of its opinions are own-initiative opinions. Own-initiative and exploratory opinions often raise the awareness of decision-making bodies, and of the commission in particular, about subjects which have hitherto barely attracted their attention, if at all. Exploratory opinions drawn up at

650-509: The processes of shaping Community policies and preparing Community decisions. Currently, EESC membership numbers 329 (same as the Committee of the Regions ). The number of members per EU state varies according to the population of each state (see table below for state-by-state membership figures; the breakdown is the same for the Committee of the Regions). Members of the EESC are divided into three groups of equal number, employers, employees and

676-399: The request of other institutions before the commission has even drafted its proposals enable the various components of organised civil society represented within the EESC to express the expectations, concerns and needs of grassroots stakeholders. The Committee adopts on average 170 opinions a year on a wide range of subjects concerning European integration. It therefore plays an active role in

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