The European Council

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The European Council
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The institutional triangle and European Council
European Council
Council of Ministers
European Commission
EP
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European Council history

• regular summit meetings of Heads of Government in
  1960s and early 1970s
• Paris summit 1974 establishment of the European
  Council
• London European Council 1977 first step towards
  institutionalization and formalization of the
  summits
• Stuttgart European Council 1983 Solemn
  Declaration on European Union - attempt to
  integrate European Council into Community
  structure

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European Council history

• Single European Act 1986 legal recognition for
  the first time
• Treaty of Maastricht 1992 role of European
  Council for the first time described in an
  article of the Treaty
• Amsterdam Treaty 1999 European Councils role as
  chief source of impetus of European integration
• 2001 (Nice Treaty) Future European Council
  End-of-presidency meetings are to be held in
  Brussels

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Features

• Intergovernmental meeting of heads of state and
  government (min. twice a year)
• Attended by Commission president
• Often accompanied by foreign and finance
  ministers
• Rules of Council of Ministers do not apply
• rules not under ECJ jurisdiction
• no legislative function - decisions taken
  essentially political

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Legal provisions

• technically not an institution of the EU (Art.
  7 TEC)
• has formal treaty recognition (Art. 4 TEU) but
  separated from other institutions
• ? Art. 3 TEU the Union shall be served by a
  single institutional framework

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The European Council and Maastricht

• Three sets of references
• General provisions
• EMU
• CFSP

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General Provisions

• The European Council shall provide the Union with
  the necessary impetus for its development and
  shall define the general political guidelines
  thereof.
• The European Council shall bring together the
  Heads of State or of Government of the Member
  States and the President of the Commission. They
  shall be assisted by the Ministers for Foreign
  Affairs of the Member States and by a Member of
  the Commission. The European Council shall meet
  at least twice a year, under the chairmanship of
  the Head of State or of Government of the Member
  State which holds the Presidency of the Council.
• The European Council shall submit to the European
  Parliament a report after each of its meetings
  and a yearly written report on the progress
  achieved by the Union.

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EMU

• The European Council shall, acting on the basis
  of the report from the Council, discuss a
  conclusion on the broad guidelines of the
  economic policies of the Member States and of the
  Community.
• The ECB shall address an annual report on the
  activities of the ESCB and on the monetary policy
  of both the previous and current year to the
  European Parliament, the Council and the
  Commission, and also to the European Council.

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CFSP

• The Council shall decide, on the basis of general
  guidelines from the European Council, that a
  matter should be the subject of joint action.
• The European Council shall define the principles
  of and general guidelines for the common foreign
  and security policy.
• The Council shall take the decisions necessary
  for defining and implementing the common foreign
  and security policy on the basis of the general
  guidelines adopted by the European Council. It
  shall ensure the unity, consistency and
  effectiveness of action by the Union.

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Tasks

• Providing impetus
• To define and issue general political guidelines
  (institutional relations, economics)
• Deliberating in a way that aids consistency (long
  term goals)
• Initiating new areas of co-operation (EPC)
• Expressing common positions (EFSP strategies) on
  areas of external relations (crisis,
  co-operation)

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From fireside chats to decision-making organ

• original purpose forum for informal fireside
  chats among Europes political leaders
• Institutionalized because
• 1. EC system did not seem to work properly
• 2. General Council had difficulties operating
• today one of most important institutions of
  European Union at heart of decision-making
  process

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From fireside chats to decision-making organ

• European Council as top layer of European
  Community pillar and European Political
  Co-operation pillar of TEU
• history-making (super-systemic) decisions, mainly
  unanimously
• integration into the institutional system EU
  reinforced intergovernmental tendencies

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Working method
Com Pres.
Press
ANTICI GROUP
National delegations
Briefing
Red Zone
Blue Zone
Limited access
Officials
High Representative
Council Pres. Foreign Min.
assistants to the Permanent Representatives a
Commission representative, a member of the
Secretary-General's Private Office and a member
of the Council Legal Service
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Intergovernmental Conferences and the European
Council

• IGC Negotiations between the Member States
  governments with a view to amending the Treaties
• Triggered by European Council meetings
• Preparatory work by national delegations
  representative of commission
• Limited involvement of EP General Affairs
  Council
• Final decisions by European Council

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Case study Treaty of Nice - summit

• Seen as the last chance to prepare the EU for
  Eastern Enlargement (Amsterdam basically failed)
• Germany demanded higher vote weighting in the
  Council
• Opposed by France who insisted that the symbolic
  parity between France and Germany be maintained.

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The Treaty of Nice - summit

• France also opposed a double majority of both
  member states and population, to replace the
  current (QMV) system.
• The compromise was a double majority of Member
  States and votes cast, and in which a Member
  State could optionally request verification that
  the countries voting in favour represented a
  sufficient proportion of the Union's population
  (triple majority).

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The Treaty of Nice - summit

• Treaty of Nice failed to simplify institutional
  reform, and hence the establishment of the
  European Convention, leading to a new IGC in 2004

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The European Convention
Dec.01 2002

2003 2004
Listening phase
Reflection phase
Proposal phase
EP Elections
The Laeken Declaration
CONVENTION
Draft Constitution WORKING BASE FOR THE IGC
IGC
FORUM
New Commission
National Debates
1 MAY EUR 25
1 MAI EUR 25
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The Constitutional Treaty

• Provisions
• Simplification A single legal document
  clarification of competences
• Democratization more influence for national
  parliaments public Council meetings
• Effectiveness extension of QMV
• Charter of Fundamental Rights
• A legal personality of the EU
• President of the European Council for 2½ years
• Signed 29 Oct 2004
• Referenda in France and Netherlands negative

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European Council Problems

• Overload
• Over-optimism
• Over-cautiousness
• Over expectation

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Class questions

• In what sense can the European Council be seen as
  a force for European integration?
• Is the European Council nowadays more important
  and/or efficient than in the 1970s and 1980s?
• Does the European Council increase or decrease
  the Unions Democratic Deficit?