New European Parliament Committees

Publication date: 26 July 2004

Following the European Parliament's constituent sitting earlier this week, the 20 parliamentary committees held their first meetings on Thursday and Friday in Strasbourg to elect their chairs and vice-chairs.

All the committees meet this week in Brussels, with the main item on their agendas being the drafting of questionnaires for the hearings of the new Commissioners at the end of September.

The number of EP committees has increased from 17 in the 1999-2004 term to 20 in the new Parliament, thus reverting to the previous situation: there will once again be a Committee on International Trade (an area which had been merged with industrial affairs), while the former Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism is split into two separate committees, as is the old Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market. The Committee on Transport and Tourism will be chaired by Paolo Costa.

A list of the committees, with their chairs and vice-chairs can be found here.