EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 27.10.2025
COM(2025) 642 final
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL
on the working of committees in 2024
{SWD(2025) 334 final}
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 27.10.2025
COM(2025) 642 final
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL
on the working of committees in 2024
{SWD(2025) 334 final}
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL
on the working of committees in 2024
1.Introduction
The Commission presents its annual report on the working of committees in 2024 in line with Article 10(2) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers 1 (the ‘Comitology Regulation’).
The report gives an overview of developments in 2024 in the ‘comitology’ system, which refers to the committees that the Commission asks to deliver an opinion on draft implementing acts. These committees are composed of Member States’ representatives and chaired by the Commission. They follow different operating procedures depending on the relevant basic legal act empowering the Commission to adopt implementing acts (see Table II).
The report provides a summary of the committees’ activities. It is accompanied by a staff working document containing detailed statistics on the work of the individual committees for each policy sector 2 . It highlights the main changes and trends observed on an annual basis, presenting overall figures on meetings, written procedures, opinions delivered (i.e. positive, negative or no opinion) and acts adopted. It also provides an overview of cases referred to the Appeal Committee and the exercise of the right of scrutiny by the European Parliament and the Council under Article 11 of the Comitology Regulation. Information is also provided on the measures adopted under the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (RPS).
2.Overview of developments in the comitology system in 2024
2.1.General developments
In 2024, comitology committees continued to operate under the procedures set out in the Comitology Regulation, i.e. the advisory procedure (Article 4) and the examination procedure (Article 5), as well as the regulatory procedure with scrutiny set out in Article 5a 3 of the Comitology Decision 4 .
All meetings, regardless of their format (in person, remote or hybrid), are listed as meetings in the Comitology Register 5 , and the summary record specifies the format of the meeting.
As to the alignment of acts still referring to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to the legal framework introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, in 2024, interinstitutional discussions on the Commission’s proposal 6 did not achieve progress towards aligning the remaining basic acts.
As regards the Commission proposal of 14 February 2017 7 aiming to amend the Comitology Regulation concerning the Appeal Committee, and notably to address ‘no opinion’ situations in sensitive areas 8 , no progress was possible in 2024, given that the respective positions of the European Parliament and the Council (the ‘co-legislators’) remained far apart.
Consequently, following up on the Commission Work Programme 2025 presented on 11 February 2025 9 , the Commission withdrew these two proposals 10 . However this does not call into question the need to proceed with the alignment of the remaining RPS empowerments, as agreed by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission in the 2016 Inter-institutional agreement on Better Lawmaking 11 . The Commission will initiate the alignment of existing RPS empowerments to the Lisbon Treaty in the context of the substantive revision/amendment of the individual legislative acts that still contain such empowerments.
The Commission continued to make draft texts for important implementing acts public for a
4-week period, allowing stakeholders to submit comments. In 2024, 108 draft implementing acts were published for public feedback on the ‘Have your say’ website
12
.
2.2.Case-law developments
In three similar cases T‑395/22, T-406/22 and T-599/22, the General Court was again invited to assess the conditions and validity of the exercise of implementing powers by the Council 13 .
The Court recalled its judgment in the case Fenix International, C‑695/20 14 , and reiterated that for the use of Council implementing powers, Article 291(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the Union (TFEU) required a detailed statement of the reasons, in light of the nature and content of the basic act, why that institution is entrusted with the adoption of measures implementing a legally binding act of the Union. Against this background, the Court held that the legislative act did not contain any justification or specific grounds regarding the conferral of implementing powers on the Council, contrary to Article 291(2) TFEU which requires such a conferral to constitute a ‘duly justified specific case’.
The Court also recalled, in all three cases, the substantive limits of implementing measures, indicating that ‘it follows from case-law 15 that those powers entail, in essence, the power to adopt measures which are necessary or appropriate for the uniform implementation of the provisions of the legislative act on the basis of which they are adopted and which merely specify the content of that act, in compliance with the essential general aims pursued by that act, without amending or supplementing it, in its essential or non-essential elements’. It held that the contested implementing measure altered the normative content of its basic act, instead of simply specifying it, and thus the Council exceeded its impementing powers. As a result, the Court declared Article 70(7) of Regulation No 806/2014, and the relevant provisions of the contested implementing regulation based on it, inapplicable in the present case.
3.Overview of activities
The figures indicated in the following sections are all based on the findings presented in detail in the accompanying staff working document.
3.1.Number of committees
This report focuses exclusively on comitology committees, which have been set up by the legislator to assist the Commission in its exercise of the implementing powers that have been conferred upon it by basic legal acts. Other entities, in particular expert groups set up by the Commission itself, are not covered in this report.
16 Table I shows the number of comitology committees that existed during the period of 1 January to 31 December 2024, with the figures for the previous year added for comparison.
TABLE I — Total number of committees
|
Commission department |
2023 |
2024 |
|
AGRI (Agriculture and Rural Development) |
11 |
11 |
|
BUDG (Budget) |
2 |
2 |
|
CLIMA (Climate Action) |
5 |
7 |
|
CNECT (Communications Networks, Content and Technology) |
17 |
17 |
|
COMP (Competition) |
2 |
2 |
|
DEFIS (Defence Industry and Space) |
10 |
10 |
|
DIGIT (Digital Services) |
0 |
1 |
|
EAC (Education and Culture) |
4 |
4 |
|
ECFIN (Economic and Financial Affairs) |
2 |
2 |
|
ECHO (Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection) |
2 |
2 |
|
EMPL (Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) |
5 |
6 |
|
ENER (Energy) |
14 |
16 |
|
ENV (Environment) |
26 |
29 |
|
ESTAT (Eurostat) |
1 |
1 |
|
FISMA (Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union) |
10 |
11 |
|
FPI (Service for Foreign Policy Instruments) |
1 |
1 |
|
GROW (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs) |
39 |
46 |
|
HERA (Health Emergency Preparedness and Response) |
1 |
1 |
|
HOME (Migration and Home Affairs) |
19 |
25 |
|
INTPA (International Partnerships) |
3 |
3 |
|
JUST (Justice and Consumers) |
24 |
32 |
|
MARE (Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) |
3 |
3 |
|
MOVE (Mobility and Transport) |
33 |
35 |
|
NEAR (Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations) |
2 |
3 |
|
OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office) |
1 |
1 |
|
REFORM (Structural Reform Support) |
1 |
1 |
|
REGIO (Regional and Urban Policy) |
2 |
2 |
|
RTD (Research and Innovation) |
17 |
17 |
|
SANTE (Health and Food Safety) |
32 |
33 |
|
SG (Secretariat-General) * |
4 |
4 |
|
TAXUD (Taxation and Customs Union) |
27 |
27 |
|
TRADE (Trade) |
13 |
13 |
|
TOTAL |
334 |
368 |
* Including the Appeal Committee 17
In 2024, there were 368 comitology committees during the year 18 , including committee configurations 19 . This represents an increase in the number of committees as compared to 2023 (when there were 334 comitology committees), reflecting the establishment of new committees by new legislation which entered into force in 2024.
Table II shows a breakdown of the committees in 2024 by type of procedure under which they operated (i.e. advisory procedure, examination procedure, regulatory procedure with scrutiny). Committees with multiple procedures 20 are indicated separately.
TABLE II — Number of committees by procedure
|
Commission department |
Type of procedure |
||||
|
Advisory |
Examination |
Regulatory with scrutiny |
Multiple procedures |
TOTAL |
|
|
AGRI |
0 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
11 |
|
BUDG |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
CLIMA |
0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
|
CNECT |
1 |
11 |
0 |
5 |
17 |
|
COMP |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
DEFIS |
0 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
10 |
|
DIGIT |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
EAC |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
ECFIN |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
ECHO |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
EMPL |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
|
ENER |
2 |
8 |
0 |
6 |
16 |
|
ENV |
0 |
9 |
1 |
19 |
29 |
|
ESTAT |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
FISMA |
0 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
11 |
|
FPI |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
GROW |
2 |
16 |
2 |
26 |
46 |
|
HERA |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
HOME |
2 |
19 |
0 |
4 |
25 |
|
INTPA |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
JUST |
7 |
20 |
0 |
5 |
32 |
|
MARE |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
|
MOVE |
2 |
15 |
1 |
17 |
35 |
|
NEAR |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
OLAF |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
REFORM |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
REGIO |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
RTD |
0 |
12 |
0 |
05 |
17 |
|
SANTE |
0 |
13 |
0 |
20 |
33 |
|
SG* |
0 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
TAXUD |
0 |
11 |
0 |
16 |
27 |
|
TRADE |
3 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
13 |
|
TOTAL: |
22 |
181 |
7 |
158 |
368 |
* Including the Appeal Committee
3.2. Number of meetings and written procedures
The intensity of committees’ activity is primarily defined by the number of committee meetings held and written procedures 21 conducted. These are shown in Table III.
TABLE III — Number of meetings and written procedures
|
Commission department |
Number of committees |
Meetings |
Written procedures |
||
|
2023 |
2024 |
2023 |
2024 |
||
|
AGRI |
11 |
77 |
86 |
1 |
2 |
|
BUDG |
2 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
CLIMA |
7 |
9 |
9 |
2 |
11 |
|
CNECT |
17 |
24 |
28 |
19 |
13 |
|
COMP |
2 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
|
DEFIS |
10 |
50 |
49 |
13 |
9 |
|
DIGIT |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
EAC |
4 |
10 |
10 |
15 |
18 |
|
ECFIN |
2 |
18 |
21 |
0 |
0 |
|
ECHO |
2 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
|
EMPL |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
ENER |
16 |
20 |
10 |
8 |
20 |
|
ENV |
29 |
23 |
28 |
7 |
9 |
|
ESTAT |
1 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
FISMA |
11 |
6 |
9 |
15 |
11 |
|
FPI |
1 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
GROW |
46 |
28 |
35 |
38 |
43 |
|
HERA |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
HOME |
25 |
42 |
53 |
15 |
22 |
|
INTPA |
3 |
21 |
21 |
8 |
12 |
|
JUST |
32 |
13 |
26 |
4 |
6 |
|
MARE |
3 |
5 |
4 |
7 |
6 |
|
MOVE |
35 |
41 |
39 |
17 |
13 |
|
NEAR |
3 |
11 |
17 |
17 |
15 |
|
OLAF |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
REFORM |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
REGIO |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
|
RTD |
17 |
43 |
56 |
223 |
222 |
|
SANTE |
33 |
98 |
107 |
769 |
704 |
|
SG* |
4 |
10 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
|
TAXUD |
27 |
48 |
30 |
33 |
30 |
|
TRADE |
13 |
29 |
29 |
20 |
35 |
|
TOTAL: |
368 |
650 |
692 |
1 242 |
1211 |
* Including meetings/written procedures of the Appeal Committee
There were 692 meetings in 2024, which is more than in 2023 (when there were 650 meetings), and 1 211 written procedures, which is lower than the year before (when there were 1 242 written procedures).
3.3.Number of opinions and implementing acts
This report also gives an indication of the specific output of the committees, which is another important indicator of the level of activity.
TABLE IV — Number of opinions and implementing acts adopted 22
|
Commission department |
Opinions 23 |
Implementing acts
|
Parliament resolutions /Council decisions
|
||
|
2023 |
2024 |
2023 |
2024 |
2024 |
|
|
AGRI |
102 |
86 |
102 |
76 |
0 |
|
BUDG |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
CLIMA |
11 |
20 |
11 |
17 |
0 |
|
CNECT |
26 |
43 |
23 |
43 |
0 |
|
COMP |
2 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
|
DEFIS |
19 |
18 |
19 |
12 |
0 |
|
DIGIT |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
EAC |
20 |
20 |
17 |
18 |
0 |
|
ECFIN |
25 |
32 |
25 |
32 |
0 |
|
ECHO |
3 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
|
EMPL |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
ENER |
13 |
21 |
9 |
18 |
0 |
|
ENV |
26 |
20 |
17 |
17 |
0 |
|
ESTAT |
15 |
15 |
14 |
13 |
0 |
|
FISMA |
14 |
12 |
10 |
11 |
0 |
|
FPI |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
GROW |
63 |
127 |
67 |
83 |
0 |
|
HERA |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
HOME |
62 |
45 |
68 |
54 |
0 |
|
INTPA |
118 |
103 |
118 |
103 |
0 |
|
JUST |
4 |
13 |
4 |
11 |
0 |
|
MARE |
10 |
11 |
10 |
10 |
0 |
|
MOVE |
44 |
43 |
40 |
46 |
0 |
|
NEAR |
37 |
63 |
37 |
62 |
0 |
|
OLAF |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
REFORM |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
REGIO |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
RTD |
223 |
221 |
213 |
209 |
0 |
|
SANTE |
1041 |
1076 |
967 |
969 |
8 |
|
SG* |
22 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
TAXUD |
52 |
36 |
45 |
44 |
0 |
|
TRADE |
81 |
82 |
87 |
79 |
0 |
|
TOTAL: |
2 039 |
2129 |
1 916 |
1938 |
8 |
*Including opinions delivered by the Appeal Committee. To avoid double-counting, adopted implementing acts passing through the Appeal Committee are counted towards the first-level committees in the respective policy areas. See also Section 3.4 and Table V.
Table IV shows overall figures on the formal opinions delivered by the committees and the subsequent implementing acts adopted by the Commission 24 . It also indicates the cases where either the European Parliament or the Council have exercised their right of scrutiny under Article 11 of the Comitology Regulation.
The committees delivered 2129 opinions 25 in 2024, which is a small increase compared with 2023 (2039). Similarly, the 1938 implementing acts adopted following a committee procedure were slightly more than in the previous year (1904).
The European Parliament and the Council have a right of scrutiny under Article 11 of the Comitology Regulation. In 2024, the European Parliament adopted eight resolutions based on Article 11 of the Comitology Regulation, all of which concerned acts by DG SANTE.
The Council did not exercise its right to oppose a draft measure under this provision in 2024.
3.4.Meetings of the Appeal Committee
As shown in Table V below, the Appeal Committee met 5 times during 2024, and discussed 11 draft implementing acts which the Commission referred to it. Voting at the meetings in all cases and not using written procedures, it delivered a ‘no opinion’ in all 11 cases 26 . The Commission adopted all 11 implementing acts during the year, following the Appeal Committee’s respective votes, given its obligation to act under the basic acts.
TABLE V — activity of the appeal committee
|
Commission department |
Number of meetings/written consultations of the Appeal Committee |
Number of opinions 27 of the Appeal Committee |
Number of acts adopted following an opinion of the Appeal Committee |
|||
|
2023 |
2024 |
2023 |
2024 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
|
MOVE |
1(0) |
1(0) |
1 (1) |
1 (1) |
1 |
1 |
|
SANTE |
9(0) |
4(0) |
21 (21) |
10 (10) |
18 |
10 |
|
TRADE |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
TOTAL: |
10(0) |
5(0) |
22 (22) |
11 (11) |
19 |
11 |
3.5.Use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny
The Comitology Regulation provisionnally maintained the effects of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny for the purposes of existing basic legal acts referring to it 28 . This procedure can no longer be introduced into new legislation, but it still appears in some existing basic legal acts and will continue to apply under those acts until the respective empowerments have been aligned to empowerments for either delegated or implementing acts.
In 2024, 67 measures were adopted under the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (see Table VI), which is more than in 2023 (when 57 measures were adopted). The right to oppose acts under the regulatory procedure with scrutiny was used twice in 2024, by the European Parliament.
For comparison, in 2023, the co-legislators (European Parliament) used this right once.
TABLE VI — Number of measures adopted according to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny
|
Commission department |
Regulatory procedure with scrutiny – measures
|
European Parliament opposed adoption of draft measures |
Council opposed adoption of draft measures |
|
AGRI |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
BUDG |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
CLIMA |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
CNECT |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
COMP |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
DEFIS |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
EAC |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
ECHO |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
ECON |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
EMPL |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
ENER |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
ENV |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
ESTAT |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
FISMA |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
FPI |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
GROW |
5 |
0 |
0 |
|
HERA |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
HOME |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
INTPA |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
JUST |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
MARE |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
MOVE |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
NEAR |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
OLAF |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
REFORM |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
REGIO |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
RTD |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
SANTE |
54 |
2 |
0 |
|
SG |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
TAXUD |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
TRADE |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
TOTAL |
67 |
2 |
0 |
4.Conclusion
The committees continued to work in 2024 at a similar level of intensity as the previous year. There were 368 committees, which held 692 meetings, carried out 1211 written procedures and delivered 2129 opinions, leading to the adoption of 1938 implementing acts and 67 measures under the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. Enabling Member States to exercise their control powers in line with the Comitology Regulation, the committees provide valuable assistance to the Commission in exercising the implementing powers conferred on it by the co-legislators.
The Commission invites both the European Parliament and the Council to take note of this report.