52018PC0782

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 28.11.2018

COM(2018) 782 final

2018/0401(NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

determining the composition of the Committee of the Regions

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

Article 305 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that the number of members of the Committee of the Regions (hereinafter "the Committee") shall not exceed 350.

Until the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty, the composition of the Committee was laid down in the Treaties. Henceforth, the second paragraph of Article 305 TFEU provides that the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt a decision determining the Committee's composition.

It should be recalled that Article 300(5) TFEU provides that the rules governing the nature of the composition of the Advisory Bodies "shall be reviewed at regular intervals by the Council to take account of economic, social and demographic developments within the Union. The Council, on a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt decisions to that end".

As of 1 July 2013, the composition of the Committee was adapted by Article 24(1) of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Croatia 1 and Article 24(2) provided for a temporary increase of the number of the Committee members to 353 to take account of the accession of the Republic of Croatia. For the period 2015-2020, the Council adopted on 16 December 2014 the decision determining the composition of the Committee 2 in order to comply with the maximum number of 350 provided for in the Treaty. It led to the reduction by one seat each for the Estonian, Cyprus and Luxembourg delegations.

The current term of office of the Committee will come to an end on 25 January 2020. Therefore, it is necessary that the Council adopts the decision on the composition of the Committee in time before the Council launches the procedure for the renewal of the Committee for the period 2020-2025.

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 30 March 2019 will result in 24 vacant seats in the Committee.

The Commission is of the view that the current balance in the composition of the Committee should be maintained as far as possible, as it is the result of successive Intergovernmental Conferences.

Therefore, it is proposed to restitute to Estonia, Cyprus and Luxembourg the three seats they lost following the last decision determining the composition of the Committee and leave the rest of the vacated seats as a reserve for possible future enlargements. As a result, for the period 2020-2025, the Committee would be composed of 329 members.

•Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area

N/A

•Consistency with other Union policies

The Commission adopts this proposal in parallel to the proposal on the composition of the Economic and Social Committee. The parallelism with regard to the allocation of seats between Member States in both Committees is to be maintained.

The Treaties make no provisions on the method of composition of the Economic and Social Committee or the Committee of the Regions within the maximum number of 350 members. This is in contrast to the criteria for the composition of the European Parliament that are laid down in Article 14(2) of the Treaty on European Union. Whereas the Parliament is composed of directly elected representatives of the Union's citizens, the Committee consists of representatives of regional and local bodies (Article 300(3) TFEU). Therefore, ensuring that the voice of regions and local bodies is heard in the Committee should be the primary concern as opposed to establishing a direct link to the size of the respective populations of the Member States.

The Communication ‘The principles of subsidiarity and proportionality: Strengthening their role in the EU’s policy making’ 3 shows ways to ensure that local and regional authorities and their organisations can more effectively engage in the preparation and implementation of Union policies, and sees an important role of the Committee of the Regions in facilitating this.

2.LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY

•Legal basis

The proposal is based on the Article 305 TFEU, which provides for a unanimous Council decision determining the Committee's composition.

•Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)

N/A

•Proportionality

N/A

•Choice of the instrument

The second paragraph of Article 305 TFEU provides that the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt a decision determining the Committee's composition.

3.RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

•Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation

N/A

•Stakeholder consultations

In preparing the current proposal, the Commission has been in close dialogue with representatives of Member States and held several meetings with them. The Committee sent to the Commission its recommendation, based on the decision of its Bureau on 3 July 2018 4 , to restore three seats to Estonia, Cyprus and Luxembourg and not redistribute any other vacant seats, setting the number of members for the mandate of 2020-2025 at 329.

•Collection and use of expertise

N/A

•Impact assessment

This proposal is not accompanied by a specific impact assessment as it is not expected to have wider significant economic, social and environmental impacts.

•Regulatory fitness and simplification

N/A

•Fundamental rights

N/A

4.BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS

The reduced number of seats in consequence of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union might have a decreasing effect on the overall budget of the Committee.

5.OTHER ELEMENTS

•Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements

N/A

•Explanatory documents (for directives)

N/A

•Entry into force

It is proposed that the Council postpones the application of this decision until the day after the end of the current term of office of the Committee.

2018/0401 (NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

determining the composition of the Committee of the Regions

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 305 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1)Article 300 of the Treaty sets out the rules for the composition of the Committee of the Regions.

(2)Council Decision (EU) 2014/930 5 adapted the composition of the Committee of the Regions following the accession of Croatia. Estonia, Cyprus and Luxembourg each lost one seat in order to address the discrepancy between the maximum number of members set by the Treaty and the number of members following the accession of Croatia.

(3)The preamble to Decision (EU) 2014/930 states that it is to be revised in time for the mandate of the Committee starting in 2020.

(4)On 3 July 2018, the Committee of the Regions adopted recommendations to the Commission and to the Council on its future composition 6 .

(5)The current balance in the composition of the Committee of the Regions should be maintained, as far as possible, as it is the result of successive Intergovernmental Conferences.

(6)The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union has resulted in 24 vacant seats in the Committee. As a consequence, the balance in the allocation of seats existing before the adoption of Council Decision (EU) 2014/930 can be restored,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The composition of the membership of the Committee of the Regions shall be as follows:

Belgium 12

Bulgaria 12

Czech Republic 12

Denmark 9

Germany 24

Estonia 7

Ireland 9

Greece 12

Spain 21

France 24

Croatia 9

Italy 24

Cyprus 6

Latvia 7

Lithuania 9

Luxembourg 6

Hungary 12

Malta 5

Netherlands 12

Austria 12

Poland 21

Portugal 12

Romania 15

Slovenia 7

Slovakia 9

Finland 9

Sweden 12.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 26 January 2020.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

(1) Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Croatia and the adjustments to the Treaty on European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, OJ L 112, 24.4.2012, p. 6-110.

(2) Council Decision No 2014/930/EU, OJ L 365, 19.12.2014, p. 143-144.

(3) COM(2018) 703 final, adopted on 23 October 2018.

(4) Letter of the Committee’s President to the Commission of 27 July 2018.

(5) Council Decision No 2014/930/EU, OJ L 365, 19.12.2014, p. 143-144.

(6) Committee of the Regions Bureau decision of 3 July 2018.

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