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Parliament also monitors the work of the
Council: MEPs regularly ask the Council
questions, and the President of the Council
attends the EP’s plenary sessions and takes
part in important debates.
Parliament can exercise further democratic
control by examining petitions from citizens
and setting up committees of inquiry.
Finally, Parliament provides input to every EU
summit (the European Council meetings). At
the opening of each summit, the President of
Parliament is invited to express Parliament’s
views and concerns about topical issues and
the items on the European Council’s agenda.
3. The power of the purse
The EU’s annual budget is decided jointly by
Parliament and the Council. Parliament de-
bates it in two successive readings, and the
budget does not come into force until it has
been signed by the President of Parliament.
Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control
monitors how the budget is spent. In addition,
the Parliament each year decides whether to
approve the Commission’s handling of the
budget. This approval process is technically
known as ‘granting a discharge’.
How is the Parliament’s work
organised?
Parliament’s work is divided into two main
stages.
Æ
Preparing for the plenary session.
MEPs debate the Commission’s proposals
in committees that specialise in particular
areas of EU activity and on the basis of a
report prepared by one of the committee
members, the so-called ‘rapporteur’.
The report gives the background and
the pros and cons of the proposal.
The issues for debate are also discussed
by the political groups.
Æ
The plenary session.
Each year, 12 four-
day plenary sessions are held in Strasbourg
and six two-day sessions are held in
Brussels. At these sessions, Parliament
examines proposed legislation and votes
on amendments before deciding on the
text as a whole.
Other agenda items may include Commission
‘communications’ setting out its intentions
in a particular sphere, or questions to the
Commission or Council about what is going
on in the EU or the wider world.
A poster calling on Luxembourgers to vote in the first
direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979.
© European Communities
European NA
vig
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, www
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The Council of the
European Union:
voice of the
member states
The Council is the EU’s main decision-making
body. Like the European Parliament, the Coun-
cil was set up by the founding Treaties in the
1950s. It represents the member states, and
its meetings are attended by one minister from
each of the EU’s national governments.
Which ministers attend which meeting de-
pends on what subjects are on the agenda. If,
for example, the Council is to discuss environ-
mental issues, the meeting will be attended
by the environment minister from each EU
country and it will be known as the ‘Environ-
ment Council’.
The EU’s relations with the rest of the world
are dealt with by the ‘General Affairs and
External Relations Council’. But this Council
confi guration also has wider responsibility
for general policy issues, so its meetings
are attended by whichever minister or state
secretary each government chooses.
Altogether there are nine different Council
confi gurations:
Æ
General Affairs and External Relations,
Æ
Economic and Financial Affairs (Ecofi n),
Æ
Justice and Home Affairs,
Æ
Employment, Social Policy, Health and
Consumer Affairs,
Æ
Competitiveness,
Æ
Transport, Telecommunications and Ener-
gy,
Æ
Agriculture and Fisheries,
Æ
Environment,
Æ
Education, Youth and Culture.
Each minister in the Council is empowered
to commit his or her government. In other
words, the minister’s signature is the signa-
ture of the whole government. Moreover,
each minister in the Council is answerable
to his or her national parliament and to the
15
ROLE //
Legislative (in some fi elds executive) arm of the EU; represents
the member states.
MEMBERS //
One minister from each EU country
PRESIDENCY //
Rotates every six months
MEETINGS //
In Brussels (Belgium), except in April, June and October
(Luxembourg).
ADDRESS //
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175, B-1048 Brussels
TEL. //
(32-2) 285 61 11
INTERNET //
consilium.europa.eu
KEY FACTS
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citizens that parliament represents. Together
with the European Parliament’s involvement
in decision-making, this ensures the demo-
cratic legitimacy of the Council’s decisions.
Up to four times a year the presidents and/or
prime ministers of the EU countries, together
with the President of the European Commis-
sion, meet as the European Council. These
‘summit’ meetings set overall EU policy and
resolve issues that could not be settled at a
lower level (i.e. by the ministers at normal
Council meetings). Given the importance of
European Council discussions, they often go
on late into the night and attract a lot of media
attention.
What does the Council do?
The Council has six key responsibilities:
1. to pass EU laws – jointly with the European
Parliament in many policy areas.
2. to coordinate the broad economic and
social policies of the member states.
3. to conclude international agreements
between the EU and other countries or
international organisations.
4. to approve the EU’s budget, jointly with the
European Parliament.
5. to defi ne and implement the EU’s common
foreign and security policy (CFSP) based on
guidelines set by the European Council.
6. to coordinate cooperation between the na-
tional courts and police forces in criminal
matters.
Most of these responsibilities relate to the
Community domain — i.e. areas of action
where the member states have decided to pool
their sovereignty and delegate decision-making
powers to the EU institutions. This domain is
the ‘fi rst pillar’ of the European Union.
However, the last two responsibilities relate
largely to areas in which the EU countries have
not delegated their powers but are simply
working together. This is called intergovern-
mental cooperation and it covers the second
and third pillars of the European Union.
The Council’s work is described in greater
detail below.
1. Legislation
The bulk of the Council’s work is in passing
legislation in areas where the EU has pooled
its sovereignty. The most common procedure
for this is ‘codecision’, where EU legislation is
adopted jointly by the Council and Parliament on
the basis of a proposal from the Commission. In
some areas, the Council has the fi nal word but
only on the basis of a Commission proposal and
only after having taken into account the views
of the Commission and the Parliament (see
above: ‘How the EU takes decisions’).
2. Coordinating the policies of
member states
The EU countries have decided that they want
an overall economic policy based on close
coordination between their national economic
policies. This coordination is carried out by
the economics and fi nance ministers, who
collectively form the Economic and Financial
Affairs (Ecofi n) Council.
They also want to create more jobs and to
improve their education, health and social
protection systems. Although each EU country
is responsible for its own policy in these areas,
they can agree on common goals and learn from
each other’s experience of what works best.
This process is called the ‘open method of coor-
dination’, and it takes place within the Council.
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3. Concluding international
agreements
Each year, the Council ‘concludes’ (i.e. offi -
cially signs) a number of agreements between
the European Union and non-EU countries,
as well as with international organisations.
These agreements may cover broad areas
such as trade, cooperation and development
or they may deal with specifi c subjects such
as textiles, fi sheries, science and technology,
transport, etc.
In addition, the Council may conclude conven-
tions between the EU member states in fi elds
such as taxation, company law or consular
protection. Conventions can also deal with
cooperation on issues of freedom, security
and justice (see below).
4. Approving the EU budget
The EU’s annual budget is decided jointly by
the Council and the European Parliament.
5. Common foreign and security policy
The EU countries are working to develop a com-
mon foreign and security policy (CFSP). But
foreign policy, security and defence are matters
over which the individual national governments
retain independent control. However, the EU
countries have recognised the advantages
of working together on these issues, and the
Council is the main forum in which this ‘inter-
governmental cooperation’ takes place.
This cooperation not only covers defence is-
sues but crisis management tasks, such as
humanitarian and rescue operations, peace-
keeping and peacemaking in trouble spots.
The EU countries try to mobilise and coord-
inate military and police forces, so that they
can be used in coordination with diplomatic
and economic action. Through these mecha-
nisms, the EU has helped to maintain peace,
build democracy and spur economic progress
in places as far apart as Indonesia, the Demo-
cratic Republic of the Congo and the countries
of south-eastern Europe.
Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, learns first hand about refugee realities.
© EC
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6. Freedom, security and justice
EU citizens are free to live and work in which-
ever EU country they choose, so they should
have equal access to civil justice everywhere
in the European Union. National courts there-
fore need to work together to ensure, for ex-
ample, that a court judgment delivered in one
EU country in a divorce or child custody case
is recognised in all other EU countries.
Freedom of movement within the EU is of
great benefi t to law-abiding citizens, but it
is also exploited by international criminals
and terrorists. To tackle cross-border crime
requires cross-border cooperation between
the national courts, police forces, customs
offi cers and immigration services of all EU
countries.
They have to ensure, for example:
•
that the EU’s external borders are effectively
policed;
•
that customs offi cers and police exchange
information on the movements of suspected
drugs traffi ckers or people smugglers;
•
that asylum seekers are assessed and treat-
ed in the same way throughout the EU, so
as to prevent ‘asylum shopping’.
Issues such as these are dealt with by the
Justice and Home Affairs Council — i.e. the
ministers for justice and of the interior. The
aim is to create a single ‘area of freedom, se-
curity and justice’ within the EU’s borders.
How is the Council’s work
organised?
The Council presidency
The presidency of the Council rotates every
six months. In other words, each EU country
in turn takes charge of the Council agenda
and chairs all the meetings for a six-month
period, promoting legislative and political de-
cisions and brokering compromises between
the member states.
Free movement of people and goods within the EU have made customs checks like these
a thing of the past when travelling in Europe.
© R
euter
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