European Committee of the Regions

is an EU body based in Brussels, responsible for:
 
- representing local and regional authorities of all EU Member States, and
- advising on legislation and innovations affecting EU regions and cities.
 
Due to the above, it is placed among the consultative bodies.
The European Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament are required to consult the European Committee of the Regions when drafting legislation affecting regional and local authorities, otherwise European Committee of the Regions may seek redress before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
 

European Committee of the Regions:
- obtain the opinions and views of EU regional and local authorities through organized consultations based on dialogue and the promotion of integration,
- submit all these obtained views to the plenary procedure of the members of the European Committee of the Regions,
- send the opinions adopted by its members to the competent institutions at EU level.
 

The organizational structure of the European Committee of the Regions is as follows:
   

Any member of the Committee may, optionally, join a political group:
 

or remain independent.