L 257/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 11.10.2000 COUNCIL DECISION of 29 September 2000 on the composition and the statutes of the Economic Policy Committee (2000/604/EC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community and in particular Article 209 thereof, Having regard to the opinion of the Commission, Whereas: 1) The Economic Policy Committee (hereinafter ‘the Committee’) was set up by Council Decision 74/ 122/EEC (). The Committee has exercised all the functions hitherto assigned to the Short-term Economic Policy Committee set up by Council Decision of 9 March 1960 on coordi- nation of the conjunctural policies of the Member States (%), the Budgetary Policy Committee set up by Council Decision of 8 May 1964 on cooperation between the competent government departments of Member States in the field of budgetary policy (}), and the Medium-term Economic Policy Committee set up by Council Decision of 15 April 1964 setting up a Medium-term Economic Policy Committee (¥). The Committee is provided for in Article 272 of the Treaty. The statutes of the Committee should reflect the new institutional environment created by entry into the third stage of economic and monetary union; it seems advis- able to maintain the basic structure of the Committee while making the necessary adjustments to improve its functioning and to describe its tasks more precisely. The task assigned to the Committee shall be without prejudice to the right of the Commission to formulate recommendations or deliver opinions on matters dealt with in the Treaty. The introduction of the euro reinforces the need for a close coordination of economic policies and sustained convergence of the economic performances of the Member States; according to the resolution of the Euro- pean Council of 13 December 1997 on economic policy coordination in stage 3 of economic and monetary union (°) enhanced economic policy coordination should include a closer monitoring of macroeconomic develop- 63, 5.3.1974, p. 21. 1, 9.5.1960, p. 764/60. 7, 21.5.1964, p. 1205/64. 4, 2241964, p. 1031/64. 35, 2.2.1998, p. 1. AW (10) () ments in Member States and of Member States structural policies in labour, product and services markets, as well as of cost and price trends, particularly in so far as they affect the chances of achieving sustained non-infla- tionary growth and job creation. The broad economic policy guidelines and the multilat- eral surveillance procedure as provided for in Article 99 of the Treaty are at the centre of economic policy coor- dination; without prejudice to the tasks of the Economic and Financial Committee, the Committee should provide support for the formulation of the guidelines and contri- bute to the multilateral surveillance procedure in the areas mentioned in this Decision. The European Council at its meeting in Cardiff on 16 June 1998 welcomed the decision of the Ecofin Council and the ministers meeting in that Council on 1 May 1998 (%) to establish a light procedure, fully respecting the subsidiarity principle, for monitoring progress on economic reform. The resolution of the European Council of 3 and 4 June 1999 launched a process of macroeconomic dialogue at Community level. This macroeconomic dialogue is aimed at improving the interaction between wage devel- opments and macroeconomic policies. The European Council has concluded that the macroeconomic dialogue at technical level should take place in a working party set up in the framework of the Committee in collabora- tion with the Employment and Labour Market Committee, with the participation of representatives of both committees (including the European Central Bank), of the Commission and of the Macroeconomic Group of the Social Dialogue. The Committee should in particular organise the contribution of government representatives to the dialogue at this level. The resolution of the European Council of 16 June 1997 on growth and employment () called for an enhanced coordination of economic policies to complement the procedure as envisaged in the new title on employment in the Treaty, and requested that the Employment Committee should work closely together with the Committee. 139, 11.5.1998, p. 28. o L () O] C 236, 2.8.1997, p. 3.