Once every two years the staff of the European Economic and Social Committee vote to appoint their representatives on the staff committee. The committee’s status and role is set out in the EU’s staff regulations. The committee plays an important role, in partnership with the administration, in ensuring that the staff work in the best possible conditions. Those elections took place today and early this morning I went off to the ballot station to cast my vote. The legitimacy and representativeness of the staff committee is enhanced by high turnout and I am happy to report that turnout is always in the seventies in the Committee. I very much look forward to working closely and constructively with the new Staff Committee, once elected.