The Council of Ministers of the EU

The Council of Ministers is a governing body that forms, along with the European Parliament, the legislative arm of the European Union (EU).

The Council of the European Union contains ministers of the governments of each of the European Union member states. It is sometimes referred to in official European Union documents simply as the Council or the Council of Ministers.

The Council is based in Brussels, housed in the Justus Lipsius building and its Working languages are English, French and German. The Council of Ministers meets in Brussels and Luxembourg.

The Council has a President and a Secretary-General. The President of the Council is a Minister of the state currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union; while the Secretary-General is the head of the Council Secretariat, chosen by the member states by unanimity. The Secretary-General also serves as the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The Council is assisted by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER), which consists of the ambassadors or their deputies from the diplomatic representations of the Member States to the European Communities. COREPER generally prepares the Council agenda, and negotiates minor and non-controversial matters, leaving controversial issues for discussion, and other issues for formal Treaty, by the Council. Below COREPER, civil servants from the member states negotiate in Council working groups, often reaching de facto Treaty which is formalised through COREPER and the Council of Ministers. The Council and its preparatory bodies are supported by European career civil servants (approximately three thousand as of July 2005) providing general advice, qualified legal advice, translation services and impartial negotiation assistance.

The Council of the European Union should be distinguished from the European Council, which meets four times a year in what is informally known as the 'European Summit' (EU summit), and is a closely related but separate body, made up with the heads of state and government of the member states, whose mission is to provide guidance and high level policy to the Council. It is also to be distinguished from the Council of Europe which is a completely separate international organisation (at present 46 states), not a European Union institution.

Role

The Council of the European Union is the main legislative institution of the EU. According to Article 202 of the Maastricht Treaty: to ensure that the objectives set out in this Treaty are attained the Council shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty:.

· ensure coordination of the general economic policies of the Member States,

· have power to take decisions,

· confer on the Commission, in the acts which the Council adopts, powers for the implementation of the rules which the Council lays down. The Council may impose certain requirements in respect of the exercise of these powers. The Council may also reserve the right, in specific cases, to exercise directly implementing powers itself. The procedures referred to above must be consonant with principles and rules to be laid down in advance by the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after obtaining the opinion of the European Parliament.

In effect, the Council performs the following functions:

· Legislation - the Council passes EU law on the recommendations of the European Commission together with the European Parliament using the Co-Decision Procedure.

· Approval of the EU budget - the Council and the Parliament must agree on the budget.

· Foreign and defence policy - while each member state is free to develop its own foreign and defence policy, the Council seeks to achieve a common foreign and defence policy for the member states.

· Economic policy - the Council also seeks to achieve a common economic policy for the member states.

· Justice - the Council seeks to co-ordinate the justice system of the member states, especially in areas such as terrorism.