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Rules of Procedure of the Committee of the Regions

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is a consultative body of the European Union (EU). Article 306 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) confers on the CoR the right to adopt its own Rules of Procedure.

ACT

Committee of the Regions - Rules of Procedure.

SUMMARY

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is a consultative body of the European Union (EU). Article 306 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) confers on the CoR the right to adopt its own Rules of Procedure.

WHAT DO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE DO?

They govern the operation and organisation of the CoR.

KEY POINTS

Composition

The CoR comprises 350 members and an equal number of alternate members who are appointed for 5 years. Members - who are representatives of regional and local bodies - are nominated by their country. The Council adopts the list of members and alternates by qualified majority.

Under Decision 2014/930/EU, the seats are distributed as follows:

24: Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom;

21: Spain and Poland;

15: Romania;

12: Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Sweden;

9: Denmark, Ireland, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Finland;

7: Latvia and Slovenia;

6: Estonia;

5: Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta.

Consultation

The CoR must be consulted, as part of the EU’s decision-making process, in the following areas:

economic and social cohesion;

health, education and culture;

employment policy;

social policy;

the environment;

vocational training; and

transport.

CoR members must be completely independent when performing their duties, which are in the general interest of the EU.

Members and alternates from each country form national delegations.

They also form groups that reflect their political views. Groups must comprise at least 18 members representing at least one fifth of the EU countries. At least half of a group must comprise full members.

Theplenaryassembly

The CoR meets as a plenary assembly to:

adopt opinions, reports and resolutions;

adopt the draft estimates of expenditure and revenue;

adopt its political programme at the beginning of every 5-year term;

elect the president, the first vice-president and other members of the bureau;

set up commissions;

adopt and revise the Rules of Procedure;

decide to bring actions before the Court of Justice of the EU.

The plenary assembly meets at least once every 3 months. At the request of at least one quarter of the members, the president must convene an extraordinary plenary session.

Sessions are open to the public unless the plenary assembly decides otherwise.

A quorum (i.e. the minimum number that must be present in order for decisions to be taken) exists at a plenary session if a majority of the members is present.

The plenary assembly decides by a majority of the votes cast, unless the Rules of Procedure provide otherwise.

Thebureau

The bureau reflects the CoR’s overall composition. It consists of the president, the first vice-president and one vice-president per EU country, 28 other members and the chairpersons of the political groups. The plenary assembly elects the bureau for 2½ years. Excluding the president, the first vice-president and the chairmen of the five political groups, the seats are allocated as follows:

three seats: Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Poland;

two seats: the Netherlands, Greece, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Hungary, Portugal, Sweden, Austria, Slovakia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Croatia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Romania;

one seat: Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta.

Its tasks include:

drawing up the draft policy programme at the beginning of each term and monitoring its implementation;

coordinating the work of the plenary assembly and the commissions;

financial, organisational and administrative matters;

appointing the Secretary-General and certain categories of officials and other servants.

The bureau may bring an action before the Court of Justice of the EU on behalf of the CoR. This arises, for example, if an EU law does not respect the subsidiarity principle and violates regional and local competences or if the CoR’s institutional rights have not been respected (i.e. consultation on legislation of relevance). The plenary assembly must decide at the following session whether to maintain the action in question.

Thepresident

The president represents the Committee and directs its work.

Commissions

At the beginning of each mandate, commissions are set up. These draw up the draft versions of opinions, reports and resolutions to be adopted by the plenary assembly. There are six commissions:

CIVEX: Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs;

COTER: Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget;

ECON: Commission for Economic Policy;

ENVE: Commission for Environment, Climate Change and Energy;

NAT: Commission for Natural Resources;

SEDEC: Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture.

Commission composition reflects that of the CoR overall. Each member belongs to at least one commission but to no more than two. Exceptions may be made for members from countries with fewer members than the number of commissions. Commission meetings are normally open to the public.

Documents drawn up by the Committee of the Regions

The CoR draws up opinions, reports and resolutions. These are published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It adopts opinions:

on legislative proposals and policy papers drawn up by the Commission, the Council or the Parliament in the cases provided for by EU treaties or when one of these institutions considers it should;

on its own initiative;

when, in the event of the European Economic and Social Committee being consulted, it considers that specific regional interests are involved.

Secretariat-General

The CoR has a Secretariat-General headed by a Secretary-General. He/she ensures that the decisions taken by the bureau or the president are carried out. He/she is appointed by the bureau by a two-thirds majority of its members for a period of 5 years.

BACKGROUND

In 2012, a protocol on cooperation between the European Commission and the CoR was adopted. It seeks to ensure the two parties work closely in areas of joint interest. These include aspects relating to the Europe 2020 strategy, economic, social and territorial cohesion and, in particular, the implementation of interregional and transnational cooperation.

For more information, see the Committee of the Regions’ website.

REFERENCE TABLE

Act

Entry into force

Deadline for transposition in the Member States

Official Journal

Committee of the Regions - Rules of Procedure.

10.1.2010

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OJ L 6 of 9.1.2010, pp. 14-31

RELATED ACTS

Protocol on cooperation between the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions (OJ C 102, 5.4.2012, pp. 6-10).

Council Decision 2014/930/EU of 16 December 2014 determining the composition of the Committee of the Regions (OJ L 365, 19.12.2014, pp. 143-144).

Last updated: 22.07.2015

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