Meet the chairs of Parliament's committees
Committees are the powerhouses of the European Parliament’s legislative work. Find out who heads them up.
Who's who : Committee chairs
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Committees
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Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs ( LIBE ) : Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR ( S&D )
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Subcommittees
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Parliament’s committees elected their chairs and vice-chairs at the half-way point of the legislative term in January 2022.
The Parliament has 20 standing committees and four subcommittees, covering various policy areas from environment to international trade.
Committees are responsible for drafting Parliament's positions on legislative proposals, which are then discussed and voted on during a plenary session. They also prepare own-initiative reports, appoint negotiating teams to conduct talks with the Council, organise hearings with experts and scrutinise other EU institutions and bodies.
Just as with other posts such as Parliament president and vice-presidents, chairs and vice-chairs of standing committees and sub-committees are elected for a period of twoand-a-half years, so half of Parliament’s legislative term.
Parliament can also set up special or inquiry committees. They are established for a given period of time that can be extended. Special committees deal with a concrete topic and produce a report with recommendations for EU action. Inquiry committees investigate alleged failures in the implementation of EU law.
In 2020, Parliament set up special committees on fighting cancer, artificial intelligence, and foreign interference, as well as an inquiry committee on the application of EU rules of animal transport. They completed their work in 2022.
In 2022, MEPs decided to set up a special committee on the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and a second special committee on foreign interference, as well as an inquiry committee on the use of Pegasus and other types of spyware.