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Summaries of EU Legislation

    The EU’s Economic Policy Committee

     

    SUMMARY OF:

    Council Decision 2000/604/EC — the composition and the statutes of the Economic Policy Committee

    WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DECISION?

    • It confirms the tasks, the composition, the organisation and the operation of the Economic and Policy Committee of the European Union (EU), a committee originally created in 1974.
    • This decision followed the EU’s move into the final stage of economic and monetary union (EMU) when exchange rates were irrevocably fixed and the single currency, the euro, was introduced on the foreign exchange markets and for electronic payments.
    • It was subsequently amended in 2003 to take account of the 2004 enlargement of the EU.

    KEY POINTS

    The committee’s work

    • The committee was set up to:
      • contribute to the work of the Council (and more specifically the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs ministers — Ecofin) on coordinating the EU’s and the EU countries’ economic policies and budgets;
      • advise the European Commission;
      • prepare some of the work of the Eurogroup.
    • The committee:
      • carries out economic analyses;
      • presents opinions on methodologies;
      • leads in the preparation of Council work on the European Semester, including the formulation of policy recommendations to EU countries based on Commission drafts;
      • formulates policy recommendations, such as the broad economic policy guidelines that are designed to improve the EU’s job creation and growth potential;
      • contributes to the multilateral surveillance of national economic policies by conducting regular reviews of EU countries’ structural reforms;
      • provides policy advice regarding the part of the investment plan for Europe which aims to remove regulatory barriers to investment both nationally and at EU level.
    • In particular, the committee focuses on:
      • the operation of the EU’s goods, capital, services and labour markets, including developments in wages, productivity, employment and competitiveness;
      • the role and efficiency of the public sector and the long-term sustainability of public finances;
      • the economy-wide implications of specific policies, such as those relating to the environment, to research and development and to social cohesion.
    • The committee supports the work of the Economic and Financial Committee. This involves, among other things, monitoring the short- and medium-term macroeconomic developments both at EU and at national levels. It provides analysis and opinions on to the interaction between structural and macroeconomic policies and on wage developments.
    • It also serves as a forum for technical macroeconomic discussions with the European Central Bank (ECB), the Economic and Financial Committee, the Employment Committee, the Commission and social partners.

    Composition and operation

    • There are two representatives per EU country, and two each from the Commission and the ECB.
    • When the committee meets in its Eurogroup form, it comprises the representatives of the Commission, the ECB and those countries whose currency is the euro.
    • A president is elected every 2 years and a secretariat supports the committee’s work.
    • Meetings are confidential but reports and opinions are normally publicly available.
    • Where committee opinions or reports are subject to a vote, they must be adopted by a majority of members. The committee must also report on minority or dissenting views expressed in the course of its discussions.
    • Where reports concern issues on which the Council may subsequently take a decision, members from central banks and the Commission may not take part in the vote.
    • The committee has set up several working groups which examine specific issues:

    FROM WHEN DOES THE DECISION APPLY?

    It has applied since 12 October 2000.

    BACKGROUND

    For more information, see:

    MAIN DOCUMENT

    Council Decision 2000/604/EC of 29 September 2000 on the composition and the statutes of the Economic Policy Committee (OJ L 257, 11.10.2000, pp. 28–31)

    Successive amendments to Decision 2000/604/EC have been incorporated in the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

    last update 11.04.2017

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