European Economic and Social Committee Revenue and Competitors

European Union, Advisory body of the European Union, Organised Civil Society, Energy & Transport, Europe 2020, Information Society, Agriculture and Environment, Institutional Reform, Consumers, Social Affairs, Enterprises and Industry, External Relations, Economics The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body that gives representatives of Europe's socio-occupational interest groups, and others, a formal platform to express their points of views on EU issues. Its opinions are forwarded to the larger institutions - the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament. It thus has a key role to play in the Union's decision-making process. The EESC was set up by the 1957 Rome Treaties in order to involve economic and social interest groups in the establishment of the common market and to provide institutional machinery for briefing the European Commission and the Council of Ministers on European Union issues. The 350 members of the EESC are drawn from economic and social interest groups in Europe. Members are nominated by national governments and appointed by the Council of the European Union for a renewable 5-year term of office.