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Social Protection Committee

Mandate

The Social Protection Committee is a Treaty-based Committee (Article 160 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU) which was formally created through Council Decisions in 2000 and 2004.

The SPC serves as a vehicle for cooperative exchange between Member States and the European Commission in the framework of the Open Method of Co-ordination on social inclusion, health care and long-term care as well as pensions ("Social" OMC).

In particular, the Committee plays a central role in preparing the discussion in the Council on the annual Joint Report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion.

The Committee also prepares reports, formulates opinions or undertakes other work within its fields of competence, at the request of either the Council or the Commission or on its own initiative. 

Outputs

Opinions and other working documents produced by the Social Protection Committee are available using the documents database on this website.

The main outputs of the SPC are:

• Joint Reports on Social Protection and Social Inclusion
• National Strategies Reports (2008-2010)
• Opinions  
• Reports
• Work Programme for 2012 and from previous years
• National Social Reports (2012)

The Social Protection Committee documents can also be downloaded from the Council of the European Union's public register. 

Organisation and work plan

The SPC is composed of two delegates from each Member State and the Commission. The Committee elects a Chairperson who holds office for a two-year non-renewable period.

The Chairperson is aided by a bureau consisting of the Commission, two elected Vice-Presidents and two further Vice-Presidents, one representing the country currently holding the Presidency of the Council and another from the succeeding Presidency.

The current composition of the Bureau is as follows : Thomas Dominique (Chair), Jerzy Ciechanski (Vice-Chair), Muriel Rabau (Vice-Chair)

The Committee's Secretariat is provided by the Commission. The current Secretary of the SPC is Mr. Dimo Iliev.

To support its work, the Committee has set up the Indicators sub-group (ISG).