The Council of the European Union

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The Council of the European Union
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The Basics

• The Council is the EUs main decision making
  body.
• This body consists of Ministers from the 25
  member states.
• The Council was set up by the founding treaties
  in the 1950s.
• The languages of the Council are German, French
  and English.

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General Information

• The European Council brings together the heads of
  state or government of the European Union and the
  president of the Commission. It defines the
  general political guidelines of the European
  Union.
• There are three pillars The first pillar When
  member countries hand over decision making power
  to the EU. Pillars 2 and three When the
  governments work with the EU to make important
  decisions

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• Meetings are attended by one Minister from each
  member state

• Which Minister attends which meeting depends on
  what subjects are on the agenda.

• The seat of the Council is in Brussels, but in
  April, June and October meetings take place in
  Luxembourg.

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Composition

• The Council has a President and a
  Secretary-General.
• The Presidency of the Council operates on a rota.
  Each EU country takes charge of the Council
  agenda and chairs all the meetings for a
  sixth-month period.

• The General Secretariat assists the Presidency,
  and prepares and ensures the smooth functioning
  of the Councils work at all levels.

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• In Brussels, each EU member state has a permanent
  team that represents it and defends its national
  interest at EU level.
• The head of each representation is, in effect,
  his or her countrys ambassador to the EU.

• These Permanent Representatives meet weekly
  within the Permanent Representatives Committee
  (COREPER).
• The role of this committee is to prepare the work
  of the council.

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Council Configurations

• Legally speaking, the Council is a single entity,
  but in practice it is divided into several
  different councils.
• Each Council deals with a different functional
  area and is attended by a different type of
  minister.
• Not all policy areas require frequent meetings.

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• There are currently nine different Council
  configurations

• General Affairs and External Relations
• Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN)
• Agriculture and Fisheries
• Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA)
• Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer
  Affairs Council (EPSCO)
• Competitiveness
• Transport, Telecommunications and Energy
• Environment
• Education, Youth and Culture (EYC)

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Main functions of the Council

• To pass European laws, usually together with the
  European Parliament.
• Coordinating the varied economic policies of the
  member states.
• To define and carry out the EUs common foreign
  and security policy.

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• 4. The Council concludes agreements between the
  EU and one or more states or international
  organisations.
• 5. It co-ordinates the actions of police of
  member states and ensures co-operation in
  criminal matters. (Freedom, security and justice)
• 6. The Council has to approve the budget of the
  European Union, along with the parliament.

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Decision Making

• The council has three ways to make decisions
• consultation the council confers with
  Parliament, the European Economic and Social
  Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions
  (CoR). Each body suggests amendments and they
  reach a decision after each institution has given
  their input.
• assent before making important decisions, the
  council must first have the agreement of the
  Parliament
• co decision both Parliament and council have
  equal legislative power. If a decision cannot be
  reached, it is sent to a conciliation committee.

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Voting

• Decisions in the Council are taken by vote.
• The number of votes each member state can cast is
  set by the Treaties.
• The number of votes a country has is based
  indirectly on the size of the countrys
  population, as the numbers are weighted.
• To ensure success and continuous motion, most
  decisions will have to be taken by qualified
  majority voting rather than requiring every
  single country to agree. This prevents paralysis.

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ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
ISSUES AND EVENTS
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EU constitution Where member states stand