28-581: The agencies of the European Union (formally: Agencies, decentralised independent bodies, corporate bodies and joint undertakings of the European Union and Euratom ) are bodies of the European Union and Euratom established as juridical persons through secondary EU legislation and tasked with a specific narrow field of work. They are distinct from: In contrast to other EU bodies established through secondary legislation, each of more than fifty such entities has its own juridical personality granted by
56-540: 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
84-418: 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
112-635: 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 the acronym "EcoSoc", the body is now referred to as the "EESC", to avoid confusions with
140-518: 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
168-460: 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 . Economic and Social Committee The European Economic and Social Committee ( EESC ) is a consultative body of the European Union (EU) established in 1958. It
196-489: 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,
224-721: 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
252-527: The European System of Financial Supervision ) London (2011–2019) ( [REDACTED] UK till 2019) Single Resolution Mechanism bodies (of the European banking union ) Common Security and Defence Policy agencies (under the former II Pillar) Executive agencies are created by European Commission for a fixed period. A joint undertaking is a juridical person and a subsidiary body of
280-785: 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 , the Council and the European Parliament . The EESC declares itself to be "a bridge between Europe and organised civil society". It
308-460: 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
SECTION 10
#1732791325052336-538: 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
364-462: 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
392-614: 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
420-552: The EU law, recognised across the EU, and in some cases, also across the EEA countries, Switzerland, Serbia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Turkey. Nevertheless, in relations with other non-EU third countries, they are in general not recognised as independent entities, thus being considered either parts of the juridical personality of the EU or Euratom. Some of the agencies, decentralised independent bodies and joint undertakings of
448-528: The EU or Euratom, established through an agreement between the European Commission , the participating member states, and the European industry of a certain field, with the purpose of implementing a public-private partnership project. The list includes the two decentralised bodies other than agencies, established as EU juridical persons through secondary legislation of the EU/Euratom. The list includes
476-507: 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
504-746: 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 the EU's priority objectives, especially boosting sustainable growth and job creation. The Group also includes the European Investment Fund and
532-529: The European Union and Euratom are tasked with answering the need to develop scientific or technical know-how in certain fields, others bring together different interest groups to facilitate dialogue at European and international level. They are divided into the following groups: Distinct from the EU institutions, the agencies of the European Union are specialist bodies set up to advise the Institutions and Member States in areas that affect everyone living in
560-425: 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
588-515: The Union. They are located in member states across the EU, providing services, information, and know-how. The total budget of all the decentralised agencies is approximately 0.8% of the EU's annual budget. Single market agencies (under the former I Pillar) London (1995–2019) ( [REDACTED] UK until 2019) Area of freedom, security and justice agencies (under the former III Pillar) Bramshill (2005–2014) ( [REDACTED] UK till 2014) European supervisory authorities (of
SECTION 20
#1732791325052616-566: 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
644-460: 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
672-421: 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
700-414: 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
728-510: 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
756-472: The remaining two bodies other than agencies, decentralised bodies or joint undertakings, established as EU juridical persons through secondary legislation of the EU/Euratom. Bodies of the European Union and Euratom 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
784-399: 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
#51948