Economic and Social Committee (1976)

The Economic and Social Committee (ESC) is the consultative body of the Council, the Commission and, since the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997, the European Parliament.

The Committee was established in 1957 by the Treaties of Rome with the aim of involving representatives of the economic and social spheres and civil society in the realisation of the Common Market and Euratom. Originally it was envisaged to be consulted as a point of referral for the Council and the Commission in a limited number of areas (agriculture, free movement of persons and services, transport and social policy) as anticipated by the Treaties. During the Paris summit in 1972 it decided to grant the right of initiative to the ESC. This meant that the Committee could issue opinions on its own initiative. These opinions are published in the Official Journal of the European Communities however they are not binding. The areas of mandatory consultation were successively expanded with the various modifications to the treaties as well as with the increase of the Commission’s competences: in 1986 with the Single Act (approximation of legislation, research and technological development and the environment), in 1992 with the Maastricht Treaty (trans-European networks, industry, cohesion fund, indirect taxation) and in 1997 with the Amsterdam Treaty (employment, equal pay, equal opportunities, public health, consumer protection). In addition, the Maastricht Treaty allowed the ESC to meet on its own initiative and establish its own rules of procedure.

Today, the Committee aims to bring Europe closer to its citizens and to make the European Union’s decision-making process more transparent.

The Committee is composed of members from the socio-economic area of the Community. They are nominated by the national governments and personally chosen by the Council of Ministers for a period of four years (renewable).

The last deposit of the ESC archives to the Historical Archives of the European Union contains documents for the year 1976. During this period, the ESC was consulted in particular areas such as: agricultural policy (European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, review of the CAP, first activity report of the European Fund for Regional Development for 1975); transport (Convention for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution, relations with the countries of Eastern Europe, security, respect for the environment); economic and monetary policy (relations with Portugal - first financing agreement in the framework of pre-accession aid, annual report, taxes on business transactions,action programme in fiscal matters, information on the creation of a European bank for exports); social policy (employment and inflation, unemployment, illegal employment and migrant workers, report of the social situation in 1975; industrial and energy policy (nuclear safety code, objectives for 1985, results and prospects, regulation of harmful substances, four-year programme for the development of computer technology).