Is There a Tomorrow for the Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR)?

Abstract

The main purpose of the two Committees is to engage participation from citizens in order to ensure that EU laws are geared to economic, social and regional conditions. In their core, the Committees are advisory bodies whose purpose is to give interest groups a formal say on EU legislative proposals. Moreover, the CoR has a legal mechanism (an action for annulment) to control the EU legislation. Thus far, there has been much criticism about the effectiveness of their work and the irrational costs that the two Committees produce. However, they represent the decrease of the democratic deficit, which seems to be one of the EU’s incurable diseases. In order to reach a conclusion on the necessity and effectiveness of the two Committees, this paper shall focus on their influence in the legislative procedure and try to determine whether the influence is visible and valuable. Finally, the paper shall assess the effectiveness of the single judicial instrument for control: an action for annulment that the CoR can bring before the CJEU. In accordance with the research results, the paper shall propose one of the possible solutions for the Committees’ future: status quo, the merger of the EESC and CoR into a more effective body or their complete abolition.