The Council of the EU &
The European Council
What is the Council of the EU?
Presidency of the Council
Activities of the Council
Voting in the Council
The European Council
What is the Council of the EU?
The Council of the EU (also referred to as the Council of Ministers) represents the Member
States in negotiations and has a central role in the EU legislative process. It should be
distinguished from the European Council, which brings together Heads of State or
Government from each EU Member State, the President of the Council and the President of
the Commission (see below). The Council of the EU meets in ten different ‘formations’
depending on the subject to be discussed and is attended by appropriate national Ministers
and responsible European Commissioners. Each formation meets several times a year in
formal and informal meetings. The Council’s deliberations are public. Council formations
with particular relevance to the environment are:
Agriculture and Fisheries Council
Environment Council
Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (TTE)
Presidency
The Presidency, or chair, of the Council rotates every six months between Member States.
New Presidencies start in January and July each year. A list of past and future Presidencies
can be seen below. Member States responsible for three successive Presidencies are
organised into groups and adopt an 18-month work programme setting priorities and
objectives across the three Presidencies. The Presidency is responsible for chairing the
meetings under the different Council formations (apart from those of foreign ministers
which are chaired by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) and can
to some extent influence the agenda of the Council. Member States tend to use their
Presidency as an opportunity to promote particular priorities and interests, often using
informal Council meetings as an opportunity to focus upon these. To some extent, as Chair
of the Council’s meetings, the country officials from the Presidency can dictate the speed
and nature of discussions and take a leading role in negotiating compromises where there
are disagreements between Council members.
Member States holding the Presidency of the Council 2010-2020
Year
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
1st Half
Spain
Hungary
Denmark
Ireland
Greece
Latvia
Netherlands
Malta
Estonia
Austria
Finland
2nd Half
Belgium
Poland
Cyprus
Lithuania
Italy
Luxembourg
Slovakia
UK
Bulgaria
Romania
-
Activities of the Council
Before decisions are taken in the Council formations, a dossier is prepared by the
Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER), supported by some 250 technical
working groups comprised of experts from the Member States. COREPER meets in two
different formations: COREPER II is made up of the Member States' Permanent
Representatives (Ambassadors) to the EU and considers external and financial affairs.
COREPER I consists of their Deputies, and covers sectorial policies such as agriculture,
fisheries and the environment.
Voting in the Council
The Council takes decisions by unanimity, simple majority or qualified majority vote (QMV),
depending on the legal basis of the proposal. Under QMV, Member States’ votes are
weighted roughly according to the size of their populations. This system seeks to protect the
interests of smaller Member States by giving them a stronger voting position than they
would be entitled to purely on the basis of their population – see table below.
Distribution of votes for each Member State
Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom
29
Spain, Poland
27
Romania
14
Netherlands
13
Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Portugal
12
Austria, Bulgaria, Sweden
10
Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Finland
7
Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovenia
4
Malta
3
A qualified majority is currently 260 votes out of the total 352 (73.9%) cast by a simple
majority of Member States. A Member State may ask for confirmation that the votes in
favour represent at least 62% of the total population of the EU. If this is not the case, the
proposal cannot be adopted. From November 2014, a system known as ‘double majority
voting’ will be introduced which requires the assent of a majority of Member States (i.e. 15
Member States in a Union of 28) and a majority of the EU population (representing at least
65 per cent of the EU population). A blocking minority must include at least four Member
States. There will be a transition period from 2014 to 2017 to the double majority voting
system during which a Member State can ask for the old QMV system to be used. A special
clause also makes it easier to build a blocking minority during the transition period. QMV
has become the standard procedure for environmental measures, with the requirement for
unanimity retained only for provisions primarily of a fiscal nature; town and country
planning; land-use (with the exception of waste management); the quantitative
management of water resources; and measures significantly affecting a Member State’s
choice between different energy sources and the structure of its energy supply.
The European Council
Not to be confused with the Council of the EU, the European Council brings together the
Heads of State or Government from each Member State, as well as the President of the
Council and the President of the Commission to provide strategic guidance to the EU
institutions and contribute to the general political direction of the EU as a whole. There are
two meetings of the European Council during each Presidency term, held in Brussels. The
President of the Council may also convene special meetings of the European Council when
necessary. The Lisbon Treaty provided for the election of the first permanent President of
the European Council. The President is elected by the European Council by qualified
majority vote for a two and a half year term (renewable once). The responsibilities of the
President as set out in the Treaty are to chair and drive forward the work of the European
Council, ensure preparation and continuity of the work of the European Council, facilitate
consensus within the European Council and report to the European Parliament after each
meeting of the European Council. In 2009, Herman Van Rompuy (Belgium) was appointed as
the first, permanent President of the European Council. His first term was from 1 December
2009 to 31 May, 2012. On 1 March 2012, he was appointed for a second term starting on 1
June 2012 and ending on 30 November 2014.