The EESC was set up in 1957 by the Rome Treaties in order to represent economic and social interest groups, as well as to become a bridge between the civil society and EU institutions. Its task is to brief the European Commission , the Council of Ministers and European Parliament on European Union issues in following areas: agriculture, freedom of movement of workers, transport and trans-european networks, internal market, employment and social policy, education, public health, consumer protection, industrial policy, economic and social cohesion, R&D, environment, etc. The EESC currently consists of 344 members, nominated by national governments and appointed by the Council of the European Union for a renewable 5-year term of office. The latest renewal was in October 2010 for the mandate 2010-2015. They belong to one of three groups: • Employers (Gr. I), • Workers (Gr.II) • Various Interests (GR.III) The Committee has six sections: • Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment (NAT) • Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO) • Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship (SOC) • External Relations (REX) • The Single Market, Production and Consumption (INT) • Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN) The EESC has the right to set up temporary sub-committees, for specific issues. These sub-committees operate on the same lines as the sections. Institutional cooperation EESC – Croatia, during the accession negotiations period, in the form of Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) has been established in 2007. JCC consists of 12 members (6 representatives on both sides) with bi-annual meetings, once a year in Croatia and once in the EU. Croatian side in the JCC consists of two representatives of employers (CEA), two representatives of trade-unions, and two representatives of civil society. Representatives of Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Ministry of Labour and Pension System act as observers, while Office for social partnership acted as Croatian secretariat of the JCC. The last meeting of the JCC was held in Zagreb, in June 2013. After Croatia’s accession to the EU, Croatian representatives will become full-fledged members of the EESC.