European Advisory Committee on statistical information: number of members

The Committee on Budgets unanimously adopted the draft resolution embodying the opinion of the European Parliament on the change in the European Advisory Committee on statistical information in the economic and social spheres following enlargement. While approving the technical change in the number of members sitting on the Committee to reflect recent accessions to the Union, the rapporteur, Mr Pronk (PPE, NL), rejected the second part of the amendments proposed by the Commission. If the committee accepted the deletion of references to the number of members on the advisory committee in question (which does not, however, come within the category provided for in the decision on comitology), there would be a risk in the event of subsequent enlargement that Council would not consult Parliament, thereby violating parliamentary prerogatives. This was why one of the amendments tabled changes to the formula used for the composition of the committee, which was thus set at thirty members (two per country), instead of the non-specific formula proposed by the Commission, which provided for two representatives per Member State.�