Miscellaneous news: Commission proposals to reform comitology procedures

Miscellaneous news:
Commission proposals to reform comitology procedures:
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Council Decision to make the procedures relating to the work of committees in the EU policy-making process ('comitology') simpler, more democratic and more transparent.

The current law in this area is Council Decision 87/373/EEC (published in Official Journal L197, 18.7.87, p33-35). A Declaration at the European Council in Amsterdam in 1997 called upon the Commission to present a proposal for the revision of that Decision by the end of 1998.

While the proposal will go some way to opening up one of the most confusing and complex areas of the EU it is still the case that it seems impossible to find out exactly how many comitology committees (and indeed, other committees as well) exist within the EU, the nature of their remit and current agenda and how to contact them. The EU budget does list about 380 comitology committees, but it is acknowledged that this is not a complete list and no information is given of the function of each one. Since the crisis over BSE both DG VI and DGXXIV of the European Commission do give some information on their homepages about a number of committees within their areas of interest, but generally these committees remain hidden from the outside world. Information professionals should campaign for greater openness and transparency in this area.

Further details:
Press Release (European Commission), IP/98/554 (24.6.98). See also Section 2.3 in 'Recent references'.