Q&A - The Role of the Member States

02.02.2024

What is the difference between the European Council, the Council of the EU and the Council of Europe?

The European Council is the supreme body of the EU. It defines the general political direction and priorities of the EU. Although it has no direct legislative powers, it is regarded as the EU's formative body. The Council provides impetus for the EU and defines the Union's general political ideas and objectives. It also determines its strategic interests. The European Council comprises the heads of state and government of the Member States, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission, although the latter does not have the right to vote. The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also attends the meetings in an advisory capacity. In addition, another member of the Commission and the Secretary General of the Council are usually present at the summit meetings, which take place twice a year. The results of the meetings are incorporated into the so-called Political Conclusions. The European Council also has decision-making, appointment, election and dismissal powers. (1)

The Council of the EU, on the other hand, is significantly involved in the drafting of legislation in its role as co-legislator. In the Council of the EU, representatives of the individual EU Member States are organised at ministerial level, grouped according to policy areas. Together with the European Parliament, the Council of the EU is also responsible for adopting the budget and coordinating the policies of the Member States in certain areas, such as economic and tax policy. By appointing politicians from the Member States, the Council also fulfils an important feedback function as an intergovernmental institution: it mediates between the EU and the national executives and thus enables national and European decision-making to be interlinked. (2)

While the European Council and the Council of the EU are both institutions of the European Union, the Council of Europe is an international organisation based in Strasbourg (France) that works to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

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What is the role and task of the President of the European Council?

The role of the President of the European Council is to chair Council meetings and drive the work of the Council forward. In doing so, he acts as a neutral person who helps the members of the European Council to reach a consensus. The President is elected by the EU Heads of State and Government for a term of office of two and a half years. This term of office can be extended once. The election is based on the principle of qualified majority voting (i.e. a majority of countries representing at least 65% of the European population), making it difficult for a small group of Member States to veto a candidate.

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What is the role of the Council Presidency?

The Council of the EU does not have a permanent president. Instead, the presidency changes every six months according to the principle of equal rotation. The Council presidency initially means organisational tasks for the respective Member State: the responsible Member State must schedule and formally convene the Council meetings, propose the agenda and ensure that everything runs smoothly at the meeting venue. This applies to all levels, from the 100 or so official and informal ministerial meetings to the weekly meetings of the Permanent Representatives Committee and the 1,500 or so meetings of many Council working groups. All Council meetings are chaired by the representative of the country holding the Presidency. It also represents the Council of the European Union in external affairs. The Presidency also has the task of proposing solutions if negotiations reach an impasse. In addition to these more administrative activities, the future Council Presidency also presents a programme for its term of office, setting out the priorities for the six months. The priorities of the current presidency significantly influences the EU's agenda and focus during its term. The Presidency sets the tone for discussions, shapes policy and works to drive forward key initiatives. These priorities are often aligned with the EU's overall goals and challenges and cover areas such as economic policy, foreign policy, security and other relevant issues. The effective management of these priorities by the Presidency is crucial for progress and co-operation between EU Member States.

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What role do the Trio Presidencies play?

The so-called Trio Presidencies have been in place since 2007. The three countries holding the presidency in succession coordinate their programmes and jointly define topics and priorities. The so-called "trio programme" ensures a smooth handover of the presidency from one EU Member State to another through an 18-month plan and defines the topics to be addressed by the three presidencies. The current trio presidency for the period from June 2023 to the end of 2024 consists of the Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian presidencies. This approach is intended to ensure that long-term projects and reforms can be implemented coherently.

What is the division of roles between the President of the European Council and the President of the Commission?

The President of the Council has a coordinating role. According to the EU treaties, the European Council only has the right to issue political guidelines. The right of initiative for new legislative projects remains with the EU Commission. There have been repeated disagreements between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel in the past: From the Commission President's point of view, Michel had been too offensive and political in his role.

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How is the Council of the EU structured? What are the tasks of the individual committees?

Legally speaking, the Council of the EU is a single body, but it meets in ten different Council formations. The relevant technical representatives of the 27 Member States at ministerial or state secretary level take part in the meetings of these Council formations in Brussels or Luxembourg. They are authorized to act in a binding manner for the government of their country and to exercise the right to vote. Depending on the subject area, the Council decides with a simple majority, with a qualified majority or unanimously. Each of the ten Council formations can adopt a legislative act that falls within the competence of another formation. It can only vote if the majority of its members are present. The meetings are chaired by the minister of the Member State who holds the rotating six-month presidency of the Council. This does not apply to meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council, which are usually chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Every legislative proposal is first examined at the technical level by the Council Working Groups. A Council working group brings together officials from the national administrations of the Member States. Council working groups are established as standing committees by the EU treaties, intergovernmental decisions, or legal acts of the Council of the European Union. The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States (COREPER) can also set up committees and working groups for very specific topics. Ad hoc groups are founded for special purposes and are dissolved once their task has been completed. The agenda items are already being discussed and provisionally clarified at the meetings of the Council working groups. The final clarification and coordination is then carried out by the ministers in the responsible Council formation.

The Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) is the higher-level (working) body of the Council in which the permanent representatives (ambassadors) to the EU and their deputies meet. COREPER plays a central role in the EU decision-making system. His main tasks include the coordination and preparation of all Council meetings. The aim is to first reach an agreement at COREPER level and then submit it to the Council for adoption. COREPER also monitors the coherence of Union policies and actions, ensures an appropriate presentation of dossiers in the Council and, where appropriate, presents guidelines, options or proposed solutions.

COREPER's agenda is divided into two parts. Part I contains points which can generally be decided without debate. Part II, however, requires a discussion. Agreements on agreed points, including those from Part II, are then presented to the respective Council formation as A points.

COREPERis composed of two bodies: COREPER I, which prepares the work of six Council formations, including employment, social policy, health and consumer protection; competitiveness (internal market, industry, research and space); transport, telecommunications and energy; agriculture and fishing; Environment; Education, youth, culture and sport. COREPER II prepares the work of the remaining four Council formations: General Affairs; Foreign Affairs; economics and finance; Justice and Home Affairs.

COREPER usually meets once a week, but increasingly twice a week. The deliberations are prepared the day before by the closest members of COREPER. For this purpose, the informal “Mertens Group” for COREPER I and the equally informal “Antici Group” for COREPER II meet. These two groups review the agenda and determine technical and organizational details. In this preparation phase, an initial overview of the positions of the delegations at the COREPER meeting will also be obtained.

What role do the Council of the European Union and the European Council have in the EU legislative process?

The Council of the European Union, also known as the Council of Ministers, is one of the EU's key legislative bodies. Its primary task is to legislate in cooperation with the European Parliament. The Council represents the Member States of the EU and is composed of ministers from various departments (such as energy or finance ministers) who are sent by the Member States. The composition of the Council varies depending on the topic. Within the legislative process, the Council assumes various functions, including the legislative function, where it is responsible for adopting legislation such as regulations, directives and decisions in cooperation with the European Parliament. The Council also coordinates and implements the policies of the Member States in various areas, including common foreign and security policy, economic and financial policy and other policy areas.

The European Council is composed of the heads of state and government of the EU Member States and the President of the European Commission. In contrast to the Council of the European Union, the European Council is not a legislative body, but acts as a strategic body. The role of the European Council includes setting the political agenda, setting strategic objectives for the EU. Furthermore, the European Council plays an essential role in crisis management and addressing problems at EU level by addressing policy issues that require a common and coordinated response. In addition, the European Council has the power to propose and appoint the President of the European Commission after the consent of the European Parliament. He can also appoint the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. In addition to setting guidelines, other important tasks of the European Council are its function as an electoral and decision-making body, as an international actor (especially in the person of the respective Council President) and as the “constitutional architect” of the Union. Decisions in the European Council are made by consensus, with the typical process of putting together “negotiating packages”. (3)

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What is the respective decision-making mode?

The Council of the European Union (Council of Ministers) consists of ministers from the Member States and is responsible for specific policy areas. In some cases, the Council of the European Union takes decisions by qualified majority. This means that a certain number of Member States must agree and that this consent must represent a certain percentage of the population. However, the level of support depends on the policy area in question.

The European Council takes decisions at political level and sets the EU's general political guidelines and priorities. The decision-making mode in the European Council is based on consensus and unanimity. This means that decisions are usually only made if all Member States agree. This approach aims to ensure that the interests of all Member States are adequately taken into account and that decisions are supported by a broad majority.

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Why is 09.02.2024 the deadline for the ongoing legislative procedures?

After 09.02.2024, it is no longer guaranteed that legal texts can be finalised. The prerequisite for completion is translation and final editing in all languages of the Member States. Without this check by linguistic lawyers, the Council and Parliament cannot adopt the texts. After the deadline, outstanding legislative proposals can be adopted in an emergency procedure. This is the so-called corrigendum procedure. Only the English-language version of the text will be used for political agreement. This then forms the basis for the vote in Parliament. The final editing and translation into all official languages will then take place later. After 09.02.2024, the Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC) will take stock and decide which legislative procedures will then have priority. In order to proceed with the corrigendum process, a political agreement must be reached by the week of the meeting from 11. to 14.03.2024 at the latest. At this point, the final trilogue negotiations of this legislative period must be completed. The conference of committee chairs will meet on 12.03.2024 to take stock and clarify the following questions: Which dossiers can still be presented to the plenary session in the last week of the meeting in April 2024? Which legislative procedures will be handed over to the next European Parliament?

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1 Joos, Klemens. 2023. Politische Stakeholder überzeugen. 2. Aufl. Weinheim: Wiley, S. 291.

2 Ibid., S. 292

3 Joos, Klemens. 2023. Politische Stakeholder überzeugen. 2. Aufl. Weinheim: Wiley, S. 292.

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