EU: members of new parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs committee named

In a statement issued on 4 July, the names of the 55 full members and 55 substitute members of the Employment and Social Affairs committee of the newly elected European Parliament were confirmed. The committee will have its first meeting on 10 July. Of the 55 MEPs who sat on the previous committee, only 8 remain in place. Newly elected MEPs account for 44 of the positions on the committee. The make-up of the new European Parliament is reflected in the number of committee members from each political group: 13 come from the PPE (centre-right), 11 from the S&D (socialists and democrats), 8 from Renew Europe (centrist), 5 from the Greens–European Free Alliance, 5 from Identity and Democracy (right nationalist), 4 from the European United Left–Nordic Green Left, 4 from the European Conservatives and Reformists, and 5 non-attached members (from Italy’s Five Star Movement (2), the Greek communist party, the Brexit party and the Slovak People’s Party). The European Parliament has 20 standing committees. The Employment and Social Affairs committee (EMPL) proposes and votes on amendments to European legislative and non-legislative initiatives in areas such as social policy and employment, workers’ rights, and health and safety at work. Negotiations between the political groups take place within the committee so that in plenary votes a compromise on a given text has already been achieved.