Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

On 18 April 1951 Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Paris, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community. From that day forward a supranational body, the High Authority, would decide on the production and price levels of coal and steel. As a counterweight to the supranational High Authority, the Treaty of Paris also created another body: the Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community, which would be composed of representatives of the Member States.

The European Coal and Steel Community was a success. The signatories of the Treaty of Paris wanted to extend their cooperation into other sectors, and on 25 March 1957 they signed the Treaties of Rome, bringing the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) into being. Two new Councils were set up on the model of the Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community: the Council of the European Economic Community and the Council of the European Atomic Energy Community. The Merger Treaty of 1965 merged these three Councils into a single body in 1967: the Council of the European Communities.

Role

The Council performs the following essential duties:

• adopts European legislative proposals
  Together with the European Parliament, the Council adopts legislative proposals. Since the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force, the ordinary legislative procedure, under which the two Institutions decide jointly, applies to the vast majority of domains. Under the ordinary legislative procedure, both Institutions have to give their approval if a legislative proposal is to be adopted.
• coordinates the economic and employment policy of the Member States
  The Member States coordinate their economic policy in the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin). In order to achieve this aim, the Council, on the recommendation of the Commission, and in the light of conclusions in this regard from the European Council, lays down framework guidelines for the economic policy of the Member States. In addition, the Council monitors economic developments in each Member State and in the Union as a whole. The members also coordinate their employment policy measures in the Council, while it also issues guidelines in this area.
• concludes international agreements
  The Council has the authority to conclude international agreements between the European Union and third countries or international organisations.
• budgetary competency
  Together with the European Parliament, the Council determines the annual budget of the European Union. The budget becomes binding on receipt of the signature of the President of the European Parliament. The European Parliament also assesses every year whether the Commission has properly implemented the budget from the previous year. Where this is the case, it grants discharge. In this connection, the Council gives a recommendation to the European Parliament, on the basis of which Parliament can grant discharge.
• common foreign and security policy
  The Council draws up the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) on the basis of the European Council’s general guidelines and strategic policy outlines. The Council thus takes the decisions necessary to determine and implement the CFSP. Alongside the High Representative, the Council monitors the effectiveness, unity and coherence of the CFSP. The European Union is playing an ever increasing role in conflict prevention, combating terrorism and peacekeeping.

Composition

The Council meets in various different configurations. Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, there have been ten configurations of the Council. Each of the specialist Councils deals with a number of fixed subject areas. So, there are the following Councils: the General Affairs Council (general coordination of policy, institutional and administrative issues, horizontal dossiers, enlargement, etc.), the Foreign Affairs Council (all external affairs, including the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), common trade policy, cooperation on development and humanitarian assistance), the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (including the budget), the Justice and Home Affairs Council (including civil protection), the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, the Competitiveness Council (including the Internal Market, Industry and Research, plus Tourism), the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council, the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, the Environment Council and the Education, Youth Culture and Sport (including the audiovisual sector).

Each configuration of the Council is composed of the competent national ministers. Thus, the idea is that the Environment Council is composed of the 27 ministers (or secretaries of state) from the Member States responsible for the environment.

Each minister in the Council is authorised to undertake obligations on behalf of his or her government. In addition, each minister in the Council is responsible to his or her national parliament and to the citizens that that parliament represents.

Not all configurations of the Council meet as frequently as each other. The General Affairs Council, the Foreign Affairs Council, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council and the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meet virtually every month. The other configurations meet four to six times a year.

Operation

The Council’s working groups, Coreper and the General Secretariat support the work of the Council:

• working groups
  Technical discussions about the content of legislative proposals take place in the Council’s working groups. These Council working groups meet in Brussels and consist predominantly of civil servants from the different Member States. They represent their Member State or a ministry within their Member State. The Council’s working groups try to smooth the way, as far as possible, for a compromise. If a Council working group reaches an agreement, it is approved by Coreper without debate. It is the chair of a working group who decides when a given dossier is ready enough to be discussed by Coreper. The Member State that is occupying the Presidency of the Council chairs the majority of these working groups.
• Coreper
  Coreper (from the French Comité des représentants permanents, or Permanent Representatives’ Committee) consists of ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union. The committee is chaired by the Member State that is currently presiding over the Council. Coreper makes preparations for the activities of the Council of the European Union. It also lays down the agenda for the Council. There is thus a long and intensive preparatory process ahead of each meeting of the Council.
• general secretariat
  The General Secretariat ensures the smooth operation of the activities of the Council. This guarantees the continuity of the Council’s activities.

Term of office

All of the configurations of the Council are chaired by the rotating Presidency, with the exception of the Foreign Affairs Council, which is chaired by the High Representative. This means that every Member State gets a turn at the Presidency of the Council for a six-month period – either January to June or July to December. It is the European Council that decides over the chairing of the different configurations of the Council, by means of qualified majority voting. In order to ensure greater continuity in the activities of the Council, what are known as Trio Presidencies have been introduced, whereby three consecutive Presidencies coordinate their activities on the basis of a joint trio programme (lasting 18 months). At the moment, it is Belgium, Hungary and Spain who are joining forces. A Member State may rely on the support of the Secretariat General of the Council in performing the duties associated with the Presidency.

Seat

The Council usually meets in the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels. In April, June and October, meetings take place in Luxembourg.

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