12
3.1 The role of European Institutions and Policy Committees
Looking at the main OMC actors it has to be distinguished between the level of decision-making
and the Committee level. The main actors at the decision-making level are the European Council,
the Council of the EU, and the European Commission.36
The European Council brings together the Heads of States and Governments of the fifteen mem-
ber states of the European Union and the President of the European Commission. During its
spring meetings the European Council passes general political guidelines and observes recent
developments so far.37 The Council is the central decision-making body, consisting of member
states governments, respectively ministers, whose representatives regularly meet at the lower
ministerial level. The Council is the legislative authority of the EU. Regarding the OMC, the
Council for Economics and Finances (Ecofin) and for Employment and Social Policy (ESP) are
the main players.38 The European Commission embodies the general interests of the EU and acts
as a driving force in the integration process. It proposes directions to take, and implements the
measures decided upon by Council and Parliament as well. Regarding the OMC, the Commission
on her part is responsible for co-ordination and for development of an evaluation method. The
Commission plays a catalysing role in several respects, notably by presenting proposals concern-
ing the European guidelines as well as the social indicators and benchmarks, organising the ex-
change of best-practice, and providing support to the follow-up and examination by the peers.39 In
addition, the European Commission has the capacity to build up knowledge through its involve-
40
ment in all stages of the process.
On the committee level there are two main actors:41 the Economic Policy Committee (EPC)42 pre-
pares the work that supports the discourse of the Ecofin Council, whereas the Social Protection
36
The other decision-making actors of the EU - the European Parliament (EP), the European Court of Justice
(ECJ) and the Economic and Social Committee (ESC) - are completely absent from the OMC process. Cf.
the figure concerning the role of European institutions and policy committees related to old-age security
systems in Council of the European Union (2001: 10).
37
Cf. Council of the European Union (2001: 10).
38
The Ecofin Council is the crucial actor within the OMC process, because of its leading role in the EMU.
The ESP Council is not as influential as the Ecofin Council, since it is not equipped with comparable
mechanisms yet.
39
Cf. Council of the European Union (2001: 8).
40
Cf. Gesellschaft für Versicherungswissenschaft und -gestaltung e.V. (2001: 9). The documents published
by the Commission originate from different Directorates General (DG), namely the DG for Economic and
Financial Affairs (DG Ecfin) and the DG for Employment and Social Affairs (DG ESA). This implies the
co-existence of different positions within the European Commission as a whole. For these aspects see
Porte / Pochet (2002).
41
Moreover, there are two more Committees regarding old-age security, namely the Economic and Financial
Committee (EFC) and the Employment Committee (EMCO), but these committees are not as crucial as the
other actors. Cf. Council of the European Union (2001: 10).
42
Regarding the OMC the EPC assists the Ecofin Council and the DG Ecfin in the assessment of national
old-age security policy, focusing on the economic and budgetary implications of financing old-age secu-
rity. Moreover, the EPC assists the Ecofin Council in drafting the joint Council/Commission report on pen-