A Committee of No Importance? Assessing the Relevance of the Committee of the Regions

As a result of its formal weakness, the Committee of the Regions is often presumed to be inconsequential in the development of European Union policy. This article draws on ongoing research to argue against this assumption. From an analysis of the Committee's output and an assessment of its impact on both Commission proposals and final legislation, it emerges that the Committee is already playing an important role in decision making. Moreover, the Committee has a strong and devoted protector in the Commission, enabling it further to escape the peripherality of the position it was assigned in the Maastricht Treaty.