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 July 2024.

Committee			Members	Chair								Vice Chairs
				1st half of term (2024-2027)				2nd half of term (2027-2029)				1st half of term (2024-2027)				2nd half of term (2027-2029)
Committee on Foreign Affairs		AFET	79		EPP	David McAllister					GER		S&D	Hana Jalloul					ESP
													RE	Urmas Paet					EST
													ECR	Alberico Gambino					ITA
													EPP	Ioan-Rareș Bogdan					ROM
	Subcommittee on Security and Defence	SEDE	30		RE	Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann					GER		EPP	Christophe Gomart					FRA
													S&D	Mihai Tudose					ROM
													ECR	Alberico Gambino					ITA
													EPP	Riho Terras					EST
	Subcommittee on Human Rights	DROI	30		G/EFA	Mounir Satouri					FRA		S&D	Marta Temido					POR
													EPP	Łukasz Kohut					POL
												Vacant
												Vacant
Committee on Development		DEVE	25		RE	Barry Andrews					IRE		G/EFA	Isabella Lövin					SWE
													EPP	Hildegard Bentele					GER
													RE	Abir Al-Sahlani					SWE
													S&D	Robert Biedroń					POL
Committee on International Trade		INTA	43		S&D	Bernd Lange					GER		LEFT	Manon Aubry					FRA
													EPP	Iuliu Winkler					ROM
													RE	Karin Karlsbro					SWE
													S&D	Kathleen Van Brempt					BEL
Committee on Budgets		BUDG	40		ECR	Johan Van Overtveldt					BEL		EPP	Monika Hohlmeier					GER
													S&D	Giuseppe Lupo					ITA
													EPP	Janusz Lewandowski					POL
													RE	Lucia Yar					SVK
Committee on Budgetary Control		CONT	30		EPP	Niclas Herbst					GER		EPP	Caterina Chinnici					ITA
													ECR	Cristian Terheș					ROM
													S&D	Claudiu Manda					ROM
												Vacant
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs		ECON	60		S&D	Aurore Lalucq					FRA		G/EFA	Damian Boeselager					NED
													RE	Ľudovít Ódor					SVK
													EPP	Luděk Niedermayer					CZE
												Vacant
	Subcommittee on Tax Matters	FISC	30		LEFT	Pasquale Tridico					ITA		G/EFA	Kira Marie Peter-Hansen					DEN
													EPP	Regina Doherty					IRE
													EPP	Markus Ferber					GER
													S&D	Matthias Ecke					GER
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs		EMPL	60		LEFT	Li Andersson					FIN		S&D	Johan Danielsson					SWE
													EPP	Jagna Marczułajtis-Walczak					POL
													G/EFA	Katrin Langensiepen					GER
												Vacant
Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety		ENVI	90		S&D	Antonio Decaro					ITA		EPP	Esther Herranz García					ESP
													ECR	Pietro Fiocchi					ITA
													LEFT	Anja Hazekamp					NED
													EPP	András Tivadar Kulja					HUN
	Subcommittee on Public Health	SANT	30		EPP	Adam Jarubas					POL		G/EFA	Tilly Metz					LUX
													RE	Stine Bosse					DEN
													S&D	Romana Jerković					CRO
													ECR	Emmanouil Fragkos					GRE
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy		ITRE	90		EPP	Borys Budka					POL		S&D	Tsvetelina Penkova					BUL
													ECR	Elena Donazzan					ITA
													S&D	Giorgio Gori					ITA
													RE	Yvan Verougstraete					BEL
Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection		IMCO	52		G/EFA	Anna Cavazzini					GER		EPP	Christian Doleschal					GER
													RE	Nikola Minchev					BUL
													S&D	Maria Grapini					ROM
													EPP	Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz					POL
Committee on Transport and Tourism		TRAN	46		EPP	Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi					GRE		G/EFA	Virginijus Sinkevičius					LIT
													EPP	Sophia Kircher					AUT
													LEFT	Elena Kountoura					GRE
													S&D	Matteo Ricci					ITA
Committee on Regional Development		REGI	41		S&D	Dragoș Benea					ROM		EPP	Gabriella Gerzsenyi					HUN
													S&D	Nora Mebarek					FRA
													ECR	Francesco Ventola					ITA
													RE	Ľubica Karvašová					SVK
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development		AGRI	49		ECR	Veronika Vrecionová					CZE		EPP	Daniel Buda					ROM
													EPP	Norbert Lins					GER
													S&D	Eric Sargiacomo					FRA
												Vacant
Committee on Fisheries		PECH	27		EPP	Carmen Crespo Díaz					ESP		EPP	Sander Smit					NED
													ECR	Giuseppe Milazzo					ITA
													RE	Stéphanie Yon-Courtin					FRA
													EPP	Jessica Polfjärd					SWE
Committee on Culture and Education		CULT	30		G/EFA	Nela Riehl					GER		EPP	Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski					POL
													S&D	Emma Rafowicz					FRA
													G/EFA	Diana Riba					ESP
													RE	Hristo Petrov					BUL
Committee on Legal Affairs		JURI	25		RE	Ilhan Kyuchyuk					BUL		EPP	Marion Walsmann					GER
													ECR	Mario Mantovani					ITA
													S&D	Lara Wolters					NED
													EPP	Emil Radev					BUL
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs		LIBE	75		EPP	Javier Zarzalejos					ESP		S&D	Marina Kaljurand					EST
													ECR	Charlie Weimers					SWE
													S&D	Alessandro Zan					ITA
													LEFT	Estrella Galán					ESP
Committee on Constitutional Affairs		AFCO	30		EPP	Sven Simon					GER		S&D	Gabriele Bischoff					GER
													EPP	Adrián Vázquez Lázara					ESP
													RE	Charles Goerens					LUX
													EPP	Péter Magyar					HUN
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality		FEMM	40		S&D	Lina Gálvez					ESP		RE	Dainius Žalimas					LIT
													LEFT	Irene Montero					ESP
													EPP	Rosa Estaràs Ferragut					ESP
													S&D	Predrag Fred Matić					CRO
Committee on Petitions		PETI	35		ECR	Bogdan Rzońca					POL		EPP	Dolors Montserrat					ESP
													EPP	Fredis Beleris					GRE
													S&D	Nils Ušakovs					LAT
													G/EFA	Cristina Guarda					ITA
Sources: [2] [3] [4]

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. They can be either a special committee or a committee of inquiry.

Special committees

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.

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. ^[5]

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

Committees of Inquiry

The European Parliament created nine committees of inquiry in the period between the introduction of direct elections in 1979 and the inclusion of a legal basis for inquiry committees in the Maastricht Treaty in 1995. They were:

Year	Committee
1983	The Seveso disaster
1984	The rise of fascism and racism. The committee's work led to the 'Joint Declaration against racism and xenophobia'.
1985	The drugs problem
1986	Agricultural stocks
1988	The Transnuklear scandal
1988	Hormones in meat
1991	Racism and Xenophobia (The application of the Joint Declaration against racism and xenophobia)
1991	Trans-frontier crime linked to drug trafficking.

The European Parliament was granted the right to create temporary committees of inquiry under Article 226 of the 1993 Maastricht Treaty. Inquiry Committees since 1995 have been:

EP	Year	Abbrev	Committee of inquiry	Chairperson	Rapporteur
Fourth	1996-1997	TRANSIT	Temporary Committee of Inquiry into the Community Transit System	John Tomlinson	Edward Kellett-Bowman
Fourth	1996-1997	ESB I	Temporary Committee of Inquiry into BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy)	Reimer Böge	Manuel Medina Ortega
Sixth	2006-2007	EQUI	Temporary Committee of Inquiry into the Crisis of the Equitable Life Assurance Society	Mairead McGuinness	Diana Wallis
Eighth	2015	EMIS	on the measurement of emissions in the automotive sector, established on 17 December 2015, whose work was finalised on 4 April 2017. See Dieselgate.	Kathleen Van Brempt	Pablo Zalba Bidegain, Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy
Eighth	2016	PANA	on money laundering, tax avoidance and tax fraud, established on 8 June 2016, whose work was finalised on 13 December 2017. See Panama Papers.	Werner Langen	Jeppe Kofod, Petr Ježek
Ninth	2020	ANIT	on the Protection of animals during transport, established on 19 June 2020. [6]	Tilly Metz	Daniel Buda, Isabel Carvalhais
Ninth	2022	PEGA	On the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware, established on 10 March 2022. See Pegasus Project (investigation).	Jeroen Lenaers	Sophie in 't Veld

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 ^[7] the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly and the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly. ^[8]

• 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. ^{[9] [10]}

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. "List of Committees". europarl.europa.eu. European Parliament . Retrieved 24 July 2024.
3. "Parliament confirms the list and size of its committees and delegations". europarl.europa.eu. EP. 17 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
4. "Committee Chairs and Vice-Chairs elected". EP. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
5. Temporary Committee on Climate Change
6. REPORT on the investigation of alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to the protection of animals during transport within and outside the Union
7. Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly
8. Delegations
9. Conference of Committee Chairs
10. 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