Committees of the European Parliament

A committee room in the Parliament

The committees of the European Parliament are designed to aid the European Commission in initiating legislation.

Standing committees are made up of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), who are directly elected to the seats in the European Parliament by the electorate. Each committee has a chair and four vice-chairs, along with numerous committee members. Each committee also has substitute members.

Reports are usually compiled by a rapporteur, who is appointed by the chair of the committee, selected from amongst the members or permanent substitutes.

Appointment

The established system for the appointment of committee chairs follows the D'Hondt method.^[1]

Legislative reports

In the process of proposing and drafting legislation, the European Commission will consult the various standing committees during the codecision procedure, and these committees will advise the commission by producing reports, proposing amendments to the draft legislation, and providing, if necessary, a drafted legislative resolution.

In the event of at least one-tenth of the members objecting to any particular amendment, the amendment will be put to a vote at the committee's next meeting.

Similarly, unless at least one-tenth of committee members object, committees can also pass legislation back to the commission without amendments.

Non-legislative reports

Committees are also able to produce non-legislative reports. The appointed rapporteur is responsible for preparing the report, and presenting it to Parliament on the committee's behalf. These reports must include a motion for a resolution, an explanatory statement, and must also outline financial implications.

Own-initiative reports

Committees can also produce reports relevant to their competence, without having to be consulted. These are called "Own-Initiative Reports", and are used to submit a motion for a resolution.

Before drawing up any such report, a committee must obtain the permission of the Conference of Presidents. The Conference of Presidents has two months to make a decision, and any reasons for withholding permission must always be stated.

Cross-committee co-operation

When drawing up a report, a committee may ask the opinion of another committee on the matter, particularly if it is felt that a proposed amendment would fall into the interests of another committee. The committee asked for an opinion will be named as such in the final report. The chair and drafter of the secondary committee may be invited to take part in any committee discussions held by the primary committee, where the meeting deals with the matter that the secondary committee is advising on.

Amendments that are proposed by the secondary committee will be voted on by the committee responsible for producing the report.

If the Conference of Presidents decides that a requested report falls equally to two committees, both committees will agree upon a joint timetable, and shall work together in producing the report.

List of standing committees

This is a list of standing committees along with the respective chairperson as of January 2022.^[2]

Committee			Members	Chair								Vice Chairs
				1st half of term (2019-2022)				2nd half of term (2022-2024)				1st half of term (2019-2022)				2nd half of term (2022-2024)
Committee on Foreign Affairs		AFET	79		EPP	David McAllister					GER		ECR	Witold Waszczykowski					POL
													RE	Urmas Paet					EST
													S&D	Sergei Stanishev					BUL
													EPP	Željana Zovko					HRV
	Subcommittee on Security and Defence	SEDE	30		RE	Nathalie Loiseau					FRA		S&D	Nikos Androulakis					GRE
													EPP	Rasa Juknevičienė					LIT
													GUE / NGL	Özlem Demirel					GER
													EPP	Lukas Mandl					AUT
	Subcommittee on Human Rights	DROI	30		S&D	Marie Arena	BEL		S&D	since Feb 2023 Udo Bullmann	GER		RE	Bernard Guetta					FRA
													G / EFA	Hannah Neumann					GER
													EPP	Christian Sagartz					AUT
													S&D	Raphaël Glucksmann					FRA
Committee on Development		DEVE	26		EPP	Tomas Tobé					SWE		G / EFA	Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana					GER
													S&D	Norbert Neuser	GER		S&D	Pierfrancesco Majorino	ITA
													RE	Chrysoula Zacharopoulou					FRA
													G / EFA	Erik Marquardt					GER
Committee on International Trade		INTA	41		S&D	Bernd Lange					GER		ECR	Jan Zahradil					CZE
													EPP	Iuliu Winkler					ROM
													EPP	Anna-Michelle Assimakopoulou					GRE
													RE	Marie-Pierre Vedrenne					FRA
Committee on Budgets		BUDG	41		ECR	Johan Van Overtveldt					BEL		EPP	Janusz Lewandowski					POL
													RE	Olivier Chastel					BEL
													S&D	Margarida Marques					POR
													EPP	Niclas Herbst					GER
Committee on Budgetary Control		CONT	30		EPP	Monika Hohlmeier					GER		S&D	Isabel García Muñoz					ESP
													S&D	Caterina Chinnici					ITA
													RE	Martina Dlabajová	CZE		RE	Gilles Boyer	FRA
													EPP	Petri Sarvamaa	FIN		EPP	Tomáš Zdechovský	CZE
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs		ECON	61		S&D	Irene Tinagli					ITA		EPP	Luděk Niedermayer					CZE
													RE	Stéphanie Yon-Courtin					FRA
													ECR	Michiel Hoogeveen					NLD
													GUE / NGL	José Gusmão					POR
	Subcommittee on Tax Matters	FISC	30		S&D	Paul Tang					NLD		EPP	Markus Ferber					GER
													RE	Martin Hlaváček					CZE
													G / EFA	Kira Marie Peter-Hansen					DEN
													EPP	Othmar Karas					AUT
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs		EMPL	55		RE	Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová	SVK		RE	Dragoș Pîslaru	ROM		S&D	Vilija Blinkevičiūtė	LIT		S&D	Elisabetta Gualmini	ITA
													GUE / NGL	Sandra Pereira	POR		GUE / NGL	Leïla Chaibi	FRA
													EPP	Tomáš Zdechovský	CZE		EPP	Romana Tomc	SLO
													G / EFA	Katrin Langensiepen					GER
Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety		ENVI	88		RE	Pascal Canfin					FRA		G / EFA	Bas Eickhout					NED
													S&D	César Luena					ESP
													EPP	Dan-Ștefan Motreanu					ROM
													GUE / NGL	Anja Hazekamp					NED
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy		ITRE	72		EPP	Cristian Bușoi					ROM		ECR	Zdzisław Krasnodębski					POL
													RE	Morten Helveg Petersen					DEN
													S&D	Patrizia Toia					ITA
													S&D	Lina Gálvez					ESP
Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection		IMCO	45		G / EFA	Anna Cavazzini					GER		RE	Andrus Ansip					EST
													S&D	Maria Grapini					ROM
													EPP	Krzysztof Hetman					POL
													S&D	Maria Manuel Leitão Marques					POR
Committee on Transport and Tourism		TRAN	49		G / EFA	Karima Delli					FRA		S&D	István Ujhelyi					HUN
													EPP	Jens Gieseke					GER
													S&D	Andris Ameriks					LAT
													RE	Jan-Christoph Oetjen					GER
Committee on Regional Development		REGI	43		GUE / NGL	Younous Omarjee					FRA		EPP	Krzysztof Hetman					POL
													RE	Vlad-Marius Botoş					ROM
													S&D	Adrian-Dragoş Benea	ROM		S&D	Nora Mebarek	FRA
													EPP	Isabel Benjumea Benjumea					ESP
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development		AGRI	48		EPP	Norbert Lins					GER		G / EFA	Francisco Guerreiro	POR		G / EFA	Benoît Biteau	FRA
													EPP	Daniel Buda					ROM
													ECR	Mazaly Aguilar					ESP
													RE	Elsi Katainen					FIN
Committee on Fisheries		PECH	28		RE	Pierre Karleskind					FRA		EPP	Peter van Dalen					NED
													RE	Søren Gade					DEN
													S&D	Giuseppe Ferrandino					ITA
													EPP	Maria da Graça Carvalho					POR
Committee on Culture and Education		CULT	31		EPP	Sabine Verheyen					GER		G / EFA	Romeo Franz					GER
													ECR	Dace Melbārde					LAT
													S&D	Victor Negrescu					ROM
													EPP	Milan Zver	SVN		EPP	Michaela Šojdrová	CZE
Committee on Legal Affairs		JURI	25		RE	Adrián Vázquez Lázara					ESP		G / EFA	Sergey Lagodinsky					GER
													EPP	Marion Walsmann					GER
													S&D	Iban García del Blanco	ESP		S&D	Lara Wolters	NED
													ECR	Raffaele Stancanelli					ITA
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs		LIBE	69		S&D	Juan Fernando López Aguilar					ESP		RE	Maite Pagazaurtundúa					ESP
													S&D	Pietro Bartolo					ITA
													EPP	Andrzej Halicki					POL
													EPP	Emil Radev					BUL
Committee on Constitutional Affairs		AFCO	28		EPP	Antonio Tajani					ITA		S&D	Gabriele Bischoff					GER
													RE	Charles Goerens					LUX
													S&D	Giuliano Pisapia					ITA
													EPP	Lóránt Vincze					ROM
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality		FEMM	37		S&D	Evelyn Regner	AUT		S&D	Robert Biedroń	POL		GUE / NGL	María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop					ESP
													G / EFA	Sylwia Spurek					POL
													EPP	Eliza Vozemberg					GRE
													S&D	Robert Biedroń	POL		S&D	Radka Maxová	CZE
Committee on Petitions		PETI	35		EPP	Dolors Montserrat					ESP		G / EFA	Tatjana Ždanoka					LAT
													RE	Yana Toom					EST
													ECR	Ryszard Czarnecki					POL
													S&D	Cristina Maestre	ESP		S&D	Alex Agius Saliba	MLT
Sources:[3][4][5][6]

Temporary committees

Under Rules 175 and 176 the European Parliament may at any time set up temporary committees for specific reports for an initial period of no longer than 12 months. Examples of such temporary committees have been:

• The temporary committee on the Echelon interception system
• The temporary committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transport and illegal detention of prisoners.
• The temporary committee of Inquiry into the crisis of The Equitable Life Assurance Society.

On 25 April 2007 MEPs voted to set up a temporary committee on climate change. The committee will have a year to come up with proposals on the EU's future integrated climate-change policy, to co-ordinate the EP's position in this field, to assess the latest evidence on climate change and to evaluate the cost of action.^[7]

Following the 2009 elections, in light of the Late 2000s recession, Parliament set up a Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis.

Delegations

MEPs also compose delegations to various Parliaments outside of the European Union. Joint parliamentary committees are set up with candidate countries. There are also delegations to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly^[8] the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly and the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly.^[9]

• North Macedonia
• Turkey
• Mexico
• Chile
• Switzerland, Iceland and Norway and European Economic Area
• Russia
• South-East Europe
• Ukraine
• Moldova
• Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia
• Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
• Belarus
• Israel
• Palestinian Legislative Council
• Maghreb
• Mashreq
• Arabian Peninsula
• Iran
• United States
• Canada
• Central America
• Andean Community
• Mercosur
• Japan
• People's Republic of China
• Southeast Asia, ASEAN
• Korean peninsula
• Australia and New Zealand
• South Africa
• NATO
• South Asia
• India
• Afghanistan
• Pan-African Parliament
• Caribbean Forum

Conference of Committee Chairs and Conference of Delegation Chairs

Two major bodies in the Parliament are the Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC) and the Conference of Delegation Chairs (CDC). The Conference of Committee Chairs is the political body in Parliament that works for better cooperation between the committees and consists of the chairs of all the standing and special committees. The Conference of Delegation Chairs is the political body in Parliament that periodically considers all matters concerning the smooth running of interparliamentary delegations and delegations to the joint parliamentary committees. They may make recommendations to the Conference of Presidents and can be instructed to carry out particular tasks by the Bureau or Conference of Presidents.^[10][11]

References

1. "Greens back Farage in row over EU Parliament chairman". Euractiv. 4 July 2014. The appointment of committee chairs follows the D'Hondt system – named after the Belgian mathematician who designed the method – which allocates positions on the basis of political groups' size. However, the precise allocation of seats may shift until the last minute, as political horse-trading continues between the main political groups.
2. "Parliament updates the composition of its committees and subcommittees". European Parliament. 20 January 2022.
3. "About Parliament | Committees | European Parliament". European Parliament. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
4. "Parliamentary committees | Committees | European Parliament". European Parliament. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
5. "Parliament's committee membership determined | News | European Parliament". European Parliament. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
6. "Parliament's committees elect chairs and vice chairs | News | European Parliament". European Parliament. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
7. Temporary Committee on Climate Change
8. Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly
9. Delegations
10. Conference of Committee Chairs
11. Conference of Delegation Chairs Archived 31 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official Website
• Lists of MEPs by committee membership
• Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament
• List of delegations on EP website