Commissions and Delegations
The ESEC has 3 types of working group.
The most common type of working group at the ESEC is the Commission. This is a group of members responsible for responding to referrals in a given area. It prepares opinions, reports and studies. The ESEC has 7 standing commissions.
- European and International Affairs Commission: This commission is responsible for cooperation and development aid, the management of global common goods, bilateral and multilateral issues, international relations, migration issues, European issues and the French-speaking world.
- Social Affairs and Health Commission: This commission is responsible for demography, the family, social protection, overall health, healthcare provision, poverty, exclusion, prevention, loss of independence, solidarity and social action.
- Economy and Finance Commission: The Commission is responsible for economic and financial policies, the social and solidarity economy, the monitoring of indicators including GDP, corporate social responsibility, income and wealth distribution, savings and credit, banking and insurance systems, public finance and taxation, research and development, emerging technologies, raw and secondary materials, energy, the digital economy, industry, trade, crafts and services, consumption and consumer protection.
- Education, Culture and Communication Commission: This commission is responsible for citizenship, initial training, guidance and integration of young people, higher education and research, access to rights, the information society, digital technology, the dissemination of knowledge and cultural, sporting and leisure activities.
- Environment Commission: This commission is responsible for the protection and enhancement of the environment, climate change, biodiversity and natural environments, the sea and oceans, ecological and energy transitions, the prevention, management and repair of environmental risks and housing quality.
- Territory, Agriculture and Food Commission: This commission is responsible for decentralisation, territorial development and access to public services, territorial planning and organisation, town and country planning, rural areas, town planning and housing, public facilities, transport, communications, tourism, territorial equality and solidarity, agricultural production, fisheries, aquaculture, forestry and agri-food sectors, agricultural cooperatives, food safety, etc.
- Work and Employment Commission: The commission is responsible for working realation, employment policy, including forward planning and retraining, organisation, content, quality, new forms of work, professional mobility, working conditions, reconciling work and life, the rights of employees and self-employed workers, and vocational and lifelong training.
The second type of working group is the Delegation. As with the commissions, this is also a group of members, but its purpose is to complement the commissions by dealing with subjects that are considered to be cross-cutting. The ESEC has 2 delegations:
- The Delegation for Overseas France : The delegation to the overseas countries and territories ensures that the economic, social or environmental specificities of the overseas territories are taken into account in the ESEC’s work. It may be entrusted by the Bureau with studies on overseas countries and territories, contributions to projects of other working groups and the preparation of draft opinions or resolutions falling within its field of competence.
- The Delegation for Women's Rights and Equality: The Delegation for Women's Rights and Equality is responsible for monitoring, promoting and following up gender mainstreaming in the ESEC's work. The Bureau may entrust it with studies relating to the promotion of equality between women and men and with the preparation of draft opinions or resolutions falling within its remit.
Sometimes, because of the subject matter, a referral cannot be dealt with by a particular commission or delegation. In such cases, the Bureau decides to set up what is known as a Temporary Commission: a group of councillors will work together to form a working group whose sole purpose will be to work on this particular referral. Once the draft opinion, study or report has been finalised, the temporary commission is disbanded.