Proposal for a Council Decision determining the composition of the Economic and Social Committee

Article 301 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that the number of members of the Economic and Social Committee, called “the European Economic and Social Committee” in accordance with its Rules of procedure (hereinafter "the Committee"), shall not exceed 350. Until the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty, the composition of the Committee was laid down in the Treaties. Henceforth, the second paragraph of Article 301 provides that the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt a decision determining the Committee's composition.

Article 7 of the Protocol (No 36) on Transitional Provisions maintained the composition of the Committee as it was previously determined in Article 258 EC treaty "until the entry into force of the decision referred to in Article 301 TFEU".

From 1 July 2013, the composition of the Committee was adapted by Article 23(1) of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Croatia. Article 23(2) of that Act provides that the number of members of the Committee "shall be temporarily increased to 353 to take account of the accession of Croatia for the period running from the date of accession until the end of the term of office during which Croatia accedes to the Union or until the entry into force of the decision referred to in Article 301, second paragraph, TFEU, whichever comes first".

The current term of office of the Committee will come to an end on 20 September 2015. Therefore, it is necessary that the Council adopts the decision on the composition of the Committee in time before the Council launches the procedure for the renewal of the Committee for the period 2015-2020.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)227: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:227:FIN

ESO: Information Guide: European Economic and Social Committee http://www.europeansources.info/record/information-guide-european-economic-and-social-committee/

ESO: European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-economic-and-social-committee-eesc/

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