The new make-up of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), which is described as "the voice of organised civil society in Europe", begins its five-year term in October and includes the nine members from Croatia.

The EESC has 329 Members from all EU Member States, who are appointed for a renewable five-year term of office. The number of Members per country is in proportion to the country’s population.

Of the nine members from Croatia, six are women and three are men, who are representatives of the trade union sector, civil society associations as well as of employers’ associations.

Women make up a third (33%) in the new EESC, which is a rise from 27.30% in the previous EESC.

Broken down by gender, Estonia, Czechia and Croatia have more women than men as their representatives to the EESC.

On the other hand, for instance, members from Portugal and Cyprus are only men.

Broken down by age, the youngest member of the new EESC is a 27-year-old person and the oldest member is 76 years old.

The EESC contributes to strengthening the democratic legitimacy and effectiveness of the European Union by enabling civil society organisations from the Member States to express their views at European level.

The EESC is a consultative body that gives representatives of Europe’s socio-occupational interest groups and others a formal platform to express their points of view on EU issues. Its opinions are addressed to the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament. It thus has a key role to play in the Union’s decision-making process.