A joint committee is used in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

to facilitate continued cooperation among states and the implementation of

treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...

by establishing a formal

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...

structure. The designation of such governing institutions in international treaties can vary, including names such as mixed commissions, partnership councils or also specialized working groups (e.g., the "Working Group on Motor Vehicles and Parts" supervised by the

EU–UK Partnership Council The Partnership Council is a Joint Committee established upon provisional application of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.TCA Article 7 (Draft TCA, Article Inst.1), It has several governing tasks within the TCA and supplementing ag ...

). These governing institutions can be collectively called "joint bodies", which are defined as "

international organizations An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states an ...

set up through formal written agreement between at least two parties pursuing specified objectives through periodic intergovernmental interactions in a, at least weakly, institutionalized framework." Importantly, joint bodies are typically not supported by independent secretariats, which distinguishes them from

intergovernmental organizations An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states an ...

. The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, for example, heavily uses joint bodies (such as joint committees) as governance tools in its treaties. Overall, around 300 such joint bodies have been set up by the European Union since 1992 alone, often granting considerable institutional powers to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

. Prominent examples of joint bodies in EU treaties include: * The

EEA Joint Committee The EEA Joint Committee is an institution of the European Economic Area (EEA). It is composed of representatives of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and the European Union. Its main function is to approve the application of European Union directiv ...

* The EU-UK Joint Committee governing the

Brexit withdrawal agreement The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...

with United-Kingdom and the

governing the

EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement The EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is a free trade agreement signed on 30 December 2020, between the European Union (EU), the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the United Kingdom (UK). It provisionally applied from ...

* The Joint Committee governing the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement * The CETA Joint Committee governing the

Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is a free-trade agreement between Canada and the European Union and its member states. It has been provisionally applied, thus removing 98% of the preexisting tariffs between the two parts. ...

with Canada.

References

Multilateral relations Diplomacy {{Diplomacy-stub