Office of the Chairman Comments to EU Ombudsman on the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)

The Office of the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States submitted these comments in response to the EU Ombudsman's call for contributions from the public in connection with an own-initiative inquiry into the composition of Commission expert groups. The comments discuss the history and purposes of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which governs the establishment, composition, and operation of expert committees and similar groups that advise federal agencies in the U.S.  The hope is that the U.S. experience may be instructive as the EU Ombudsman considers ways that the expert group process in the EU might be improved.