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 the EIB Institute.[1]
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 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;[2] 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 the council.[3]
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 the European Environment Agency and Europol.[4]
Other bodies and inter-institutional services
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;[5] and the two relatively new: the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), a recruitment body which organises competitions for posts within Union institutions;[6] and the European Administrative School, which provides specific training for the staff of Union institutions.[7]
Another body is the anti-fraud office OLAF whose mission is to protect the financial interests of the European Union.[8]