Membership
Currently, EESC membership numbers 344 (same as the Committee of the Regions). The number of members per EU state varies according to the population of each state (see table below for state-by-state membership figures; the breakdown is the same for the Committee of the Regions). Members of the EESC are divided into three groups of equal number, employers, employees and a third group of various other changing interests such as: farmers, consumer groups, professional associations and so on.
Members are appointed by the Council (by qualified majority) following nominations made by the government of the respective Member State. However, once appointed, the members are completely independent of their governments. They have a renewable term of office of five years. The President of the EESC, elected for a two-and-a-half year term, is Staffan Nilsson (since October 2010) and the Secretary-General is Martin Westlake.
| Members | States |
|---|---|
| 24 | Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom |
| 21 | Poland, Spain |
| 15 | Romania |
| 12 | Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary |
| 9 | Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia |
| 7 | Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia |
| 6 | Luxembourg, Cyprus |
| 5 | Malta |
Read more about this topic: European Economic And Social Committee
Famous quotes containing the word membership:
“The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people don’t acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)