PEU: Council of the European Union

The Council is considered a ____ institution

Intergovernmental

What are other names for the Council of the European Union

• council of ministers

• The council

Main functions of the Council

“The Council shall, jointly with the European Union, exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall carry out policy-making and coordinating functions as laid down in the Treaties”

What does the Council of the EU do?

• negotiates and adopts EU law (with EP)

• Coordinates member states policies (economic and fiscal policies; education, culture, youth and sport, employment policy)

• Developed EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (executive)

• Concludes international agreements (provides the mandate, decides on the signature and adopts the final decision to adopt the agreement)

• Adopts the EU budget

Hierarchy within the Council

• Ambassadors - Coreper 2

• Deputy ambassadors - coreper 1

• Each department has someone from each member states that represents and attends meetings for that topic

10 Configurations of the Council

1. General affairs

2. Foreign affairs

3. Economic and Financial affairs

4. Justice and Home affairs

5. Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer affairs

6. Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space)

7. Transport, Telecommunications and Energy

8. Agriculture and Fisheries

9. Environment

10. Education, Youth, Culture and Sport

Who attends council meetings?

Ministers —> usually the one that fits the configuration (aka the agricultural meeting is attended by agriculture minister)

Is there 10 councils?

• Legally there is ONE council with 10 formations

  • It could happen that an agriculture minister signs off on something involving finance bc they are in the same council

General Affairs Council (GAC)

• Prepares and follows-up the European Council meetings

  • GAC needs to find solutions to as many problems as possible before hand so that meetings go smoothly and can move at a quicker pace

• General coordination of policies

• Institutional and administrative questions

• Horizontal dossiers affecting more than one Union policy (eg MFF)

• Any dossier sent by the European Council

• Ensures the consistency in the work of all Council configuration in cooperation with the European Commissions

Who attends GAC meetings?

• Foreign affairs ministers or European affairs ministers (if they have them)

• If the ministers are busy/unable to attend, the permanent representative can take their place

• Representatives of the European Commission —> always present at every council meeting (do not have a vote)

Foreign Affairs Council (FAC)

• Chaired by the high representative (HRVP) EXCEPT when discussion is on trade

  • Rotating presidency takes over then

• Deals with the EU’s external relations (+ ensures consistency)

  • CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy)

  • CSDP (Common Security and Defense Policy)

  • CCP (Common Commercial Policy) (aka trade)

  • Development and Humanitarian Aid

• Ministers should ensure that there is consistency in the EUs approach

What does ‘doorstep’ refer to

When they arrive and when they leave they speak to the press → can express opinions on what will be talked about, give information about who they are agreeing with, etc

Rotating Presidency

• switches every 6 months

• Meetings chaired by the President

• President duty is to uphold the everyday function of the council

• President is taken over by the whole government of the country in the chair

  • Each government will bring up things they find important

• Line every 3 presidencies —> triple presidency (trio)

  • Priority list for a year and a half (how they work de facto)

• Mix of representation from bigger and smaller countries in each of the trios

Exception to Presidency?

• common foreign and security policy: HRVP and the External Action Service (EEAS)

  • Here there is a high representative elected (minister level)

  • Created chaos when was rotating bc the priorities would change with each new president —> better to keep priorities stable

Role of President in Council

• Organizational role

• Broker role

• Leadership role

• External representation

Role of President in Council: organizational role

• supported by the Council Secretariat General

• Convenes Council meetings

• Announces the dates seven months in advance

Role of President in Council: broker role

• facilitates consensus during the meetings

• not push your own agenda

  • Presidency should be rather independent

Role of President in Council: leadership role

• six-month working program

• Trio-Presidency multi-annual program

Role of President in Council: external representation

• represents the Council towards the EP, Commission and the “outside world” (in its competences)

  • Involved in external policies as well

Committees and the Working Groups

• Political and Security Committee (PSC): key to security and defence

• Trade Policy Committee (TPC)

• Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA)

• Economic and Financial Committee

Qualified majority

at least 55% of the members of the council, must comprise of at least 15 member states and must represent at least 65% of the population of the EU

Blocking minority

included at least 4 member states

How does the council vote?

By qualified majority except where the Treaties provide otherwise

Moving of dossiers

The Council: summary

• The Council is the representation of the member states

• Thought of as an intergovernmental institution

• Negotiates and adopts EU law (with EP), coordinates member states policies, developed CFSp, concludes international agreements and adopts EU budget

• 10 formations/configurations of the Council

• Presidency is rotations (every 6 months)

  • Except for common foreign and security policy