Europe's Organised Civil Society and Regional Committees lead the way in achieving economies of scale through enhanced co-operation

Building on the success of existing cooperation, a new four year agreement between the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will enhance co-operation and lead to major savings for EU taxpayers.

"This innovative and model agreement between two European institutions goes further than anything agreed at the European level before", said Luis Planas, EESC Secretary General. "Administrative efficiency and savings have driven our joint agenda and the EESC intends to continue along this path in our cooperation with the Committee of the Regions and other institutions," he added.

The EESC also has a Cooperation agreement with the European Parliament and will also exploit how to increase this synergy over the coming period.

Extended cooperation

EESC-CoR cooperation will focus on two main areas. Firstly, they will continue and increase the joint functioning of two directorates which act as service providers for the both committees, principally, in the areas of translation and logistics, including IT, buildings management and sustainable environmental management procedures (EMAS).

In the second place, the two Committees will also continue to work closely together in other areas, such as jointly running a Library and Information Centre, cooperation between their health services, meeting room management and general administrative cooperation on efficient use of meeting rooms and other services.

Exceptional cooperation

The EESC, representing through its 350 members EU organised civil society, and the CoR, the political assembly of local and regional representatives, have been cooperating closely on administrative matters ever since the Committee of the Regions was set up in 1994, as equal and autonomous partners. It is, presently, the closest administrative cooperation existing between two European institutions, and it is often presented as an example of good administration.

Other cooperation

The Committees are also engaged in extensive cooperation with other institutions, enabling significant savings through the negotiated use of external meeting rooms for the Committees' plenary sessions (European Parliament, European Commission) and the sharing of buildings with the European Commission in the Van Maerlant building.

Full text of the Cooperation Agreement (Entry into force: 01/01/2016)

For more information, please contact:

Alun Jones, EESC Press Unit

E-mail: press@eesc.europa.eu

Tel: + 32 2 546 86 41

@EESC_PRESS