Brussels, 18/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The call from the ALDE Group for the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) to be abolished to save money in the EU budget after 2013 (see EUROPE 10291) is “sadly surprising”: that is the reaction of EESC President Staffan Nilsson. He says that the proposal “is all the more misplaced in the midst of national budget crisis, when trade-unions, employers and consumers' representatives are trying to make the ends meet for those they represent”.
Nilsson states that the Lisbon Treaty, unanimously approved by the 27 heads of state or government, highly debated, supported and voted by the European Parliament itself, not only consolidated the role of the European Economic and Social Committee but actually increased its tasks, prerogatives and potential, particularly in the context of participatory democracy. The budget of the Committee is, in comparative terms, a small part of the Union's overall administrative budget (just 1.57%).
EESC members, representing a wide range of citizens' associations from all the member states, are not paid; they are volunteers and they work for the EESC because the organisations they represent in the member states believe “it can make a difference”, Nilsson says. EESC members themselves feel that they can make an authentic contribution by translating different needs and interests in society into constructive policy guidance. (G.B./transl.rt)