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Council of the European Union
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Established 1958
Presiding Country Czech Republic
Members 27
Political parties No official division by political parties
Meeting place Justus Lipsius, Brussels,
Belgium, European Union
Web site http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
The Council of the European Union is the principal decision making institution in the European Union (EU). It is often informally called the Council of Ministers or just the Council, the name used in the treaties; it is also called Consilium as a Latin-language compromise. Within the competencies of the Community pillar, it is the more powerful of the two legislative chambers, the other being the European Parliament. This Council should not be confused with the European Council (an assembly of EU heads of state or government) nor confused with the Council of Europe (a non-EU organisation of 47 states).
The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers (one per state). However the exact membership depends upon the topic being discussed, for example; when discussing the agricultural policy the twenty-seven national agriculture ministers form the Council. The Union's law is limited to specific policy areas, however it does override national law. As the Union operates on supranational and intergovernmental platforms, in some areas the Council is superior to the Parliament, having only to consult to get assent from the body. In many areas, however, the Union uses the legislative process of codecision procedure, in which the two bodies are equal in power.[1]
The Council does not have a single president in the traditional sense, but the role is rotated between each member state every 6 months (known as the "Presidency"), with the minister from that state then able to set the agenda. Another powerful position is the Secretary General who is also the representative of the Union's foreign policy.[1]
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Further information: History of the European Union
The Council first appeared in the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) as the "Special Council of Ministers", set up to counterbalance the High Authority (the supranational executive, now the Commission). The original Council had limited powers as issues relating only to coal and steel were in the Authority's domain, whereas the Council only had to give its consent to decisions outside coal and steel. As a whole, it only scrutinised the High Authority (the executive). In 1957, the Treaties of Rome established two new communities, and with them two new Councils: the Council of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) and the Council of the European Economic Community (EEC). However due to objections over the supranational power of the Authority, their Councils had more executive powers with the new executive bodies being known as "Commissions".[2]
In 1965 the Council was hit by the "empty chair crisis". Due to disagreements between French President Charles de Gaulle and the Commission's agriculture proposals, among other things, France boycotted all meetings of the Council bringing work to a halt until it was resolved the following year by the Luxembourg compromise. Although initiated by a gamble of then-President Walter Hallstein, who lost the Presidency after the crisis, it exposed flaws in the Council's workings.[3]
With the Merger Treaty of 1967, the ECSC's Special Council of Ministers and the Council of the EAEC (together with their other independent institutions) were merged into the Council of the EEC which would act as a single Council of the European Communities. In 1993 the body became the Council of the European Union with the Maastricht Treaty, reflecting the wider change in name. That treaty strengthened the Council with the addition of more intergovernmental elements in the three pillars system. However, at the same time the Parliament and Commission had been strengthened inside the Community pillar curbing the ability of the Council to act independently.[2]
The development of the Council has been characterised by the rise in power of the Parliament as, while the Council has not lost power, the Parliament has provided a greater and greater opposition to the Council's wishes. This has in some cases led to clashes between the two bodies with the Council's system of intergovernmentalism contradicting the developing parliamentary system and supranational principles.[4]
Powers and functions
The primary purpose of the Council is to act as one of the two chambers of the Union's legislative branch, the other chamber being the European Parliament. However the Council only has legislative initiative in the latter two of the three pillars of the EU. It also holds, jointly with the Parliament, the budgetary power of the Union and has greater control than the Parliament over the intergovernmental areas of the EU. Finally, it formally holds the executive power of the EU which it confers upon the European Commission.[5][6]
Legislative procedure
The Union's legislative authority is divided between the Council and Parliament, as the relationships and powers of these institutions have developed, various legislative procedures have been created for adopting laws.[6] The most common is the codecision procedure, which is used in forty–three policy areas and works on the principle that consent from both the Council and Parliament are required before a law may be adopted.[7]
Under this procedure, the Commission presents a proposal to Parliament and the Council. Following its first reading the Parliament may propose amendments. If the council accepts these amendments then the legislation is approved. If it does not then it adopts a "common position" and submits that new version to the Parliament. At its second reading, if the Parliament approves the text or does not act, the text is adopted, otherwise the Parliament may propose further amendments to the Council's proposal. It may be rejected out right by an absolute majority of MEPs. If the Council still does not approve the Parliament's position, then the text is taken to a "Conciliation Committee" composed of the Council members plus an equal number of MEPs. If a Committee manages to adopt a joint text, it has to still be approved by both the Council and Parliament or the proposal is abandoned.[8]
However there are some older procedures still in use which give the Parliament less say than the Council over legislative bills. These are the consultation and assent procedures. The former means the Parliament is consulted by the Council, and it can ask for amendments, on legislation but it is unable to block it. The latter means the Council has to obtain the approval of the Parliament on legislation before it can become law, but the Parliament cannot make amendments.[9] The procedure used also depends upon which type of institutional act is being used. The strongest act is a regulation, an act or law which is directly applicable in its entirety. Then there are directives which bind members to certain goals which they must achieve. They do this through their own laws and hence have room to manoeuvre in deciding upon them. A decision is an instrument which is focused at a particular person/group and is directly applicable. Institutions may also issue recommendations and opinions which are merely non-binding, declarations.[10]