Derk Jan Eppink, vice president of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, wrote on the Euobserver In these times of austerity when the EU Council, European Commission and the European Parliament are making efforts to cut costs, there are two EU bodies operating under the radar whose budgets have been increasing in an unchallenged way: the Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR).

Derk Jan Eppink noted “Over the last eight years, the budgets of the EESC and CoR will have increased by some 50 percent, reaching €130 million and €86.5 million, respectively.” Moreover, he pointed out “There are around 50 officials at each committee with a minimum salary of €123.890 and six officials at each committee earning over €180,000 (…)” Then, Derk Jan Eppink concluded that “Over half of the EESC's and the CoR's annual budgets are devoted to their members' expenses, travel costs and staff salaries and pensions.”

Furthermore, the author noted that there is no information on how the COR and the EESC opinions influenced legislation and that both committees have not been successful in fulfilling their mandate to "engage participation" from citizens.

Hence, both committees are useless and a waste of money, they should therefore be abolished. In fact, according to Derk Jan Eppink the European Parliament “may finally have to demand a merger of the EESC and CoR into a more cost-effective body, or indeed, as the current Prime Minister of Denmark and rotating president of the EU Council once proposed, their complete abolition.”