1. The European Council and The Council of the European Union
Christina Schwarzenbacher

2. ≠ ≠ Definition European Council
(Political institution) ≠
Council of the European Union = Council of Ministers = The Council
(legislative institution) ≠
Council of Europe

3. The European Council

4. The European Council - History
Created early 1970s (“Library Group”)
Informally institutionalized 1974
First acknowledged by the Single European Act 1986
Officially an institution since the Lisbon Treaty

5. The European Council - Members
Heads of State and Government
President of the European Council
Hermann Van Rompuy
President of the Commission
José Manuel Barroso
Attending:
High Representative for Foreign Affairs*
Catherine Ashton

6. The European Council – The President
Hermann Van Rompuy
Elected for 2 ½ years (qualified majority)
Functions:
Chair meetings of the European Council (at least twice every 6 months) and the Euro summits
Maintain continuity of work
Represent the European Council in inter- institutional discussions
Draw up conclusions from the meetings and issue a report to the European Parliament

7. The European Council – Functions & Dysfunctions
General political guidance
Oversight of Treaty reform and enlargement
Foreign Policy making
Decision maker of last resort (HR-decisions*)
Policy monitoring
Dysfunctions:
Overload
Over-optimism
Over-cautiousness
Over-expectation

8. The European Council – The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy*
1st High Representative:
Catherine Ashton
Appointed by the European Council
Qualified majority
5 year-term
Functions:
Chairing the Foreign Policy Council
Attending European Council meetings
Serving as a Vice-President of the Commission
Representing the EU externally and conducting high-level diplomacy

9. youtube Herman Van Rompuy explains: What is the European Council?

10. The Council of the European Union

11. The Council of the European Union
Consists of national representatives
Legally: 1 Council
Reality: Variety of councils depending on the topic
Location:
Brussels, except for April, June and October -> Luxembourg
Hierarchy:
- the ministers Council
- Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper)
- Working groups
- General Secretariat

12. The Council of the European Union – Formations
General Affairs
Foreign Affairs (Common Foreign and Security Policy) chaired by the High Representative*
Economic and Financial Affairs
Agriculture and Fisheries
Justice and Home Affairs
Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs
Competitiveness
Transport, Telecommunications and Energy
Environment
Education, Youth and Culture
Except for the Foreign Affairs council, all meetings are chaired by the relevant minister of the country (October 2013: Lithuania) holding the rotating EU presidency.

13. The Council of the European Union – Voting Systems
Until October 2014:
Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) as the rule: Majority of the 28 member countries vote in favour + at least 260 of the possible 352 votes are cast
Unanimity necessary for key areas: tax, social security, foreign policy, common defense, operational police co-operation, language rules, location of EU institutions
From November 2014 on:
new QMV (double majority voting):
Majority (55%) of countries (at least 15)
+ majority of the total EU population (the countries in favour must represent at least 65% of the EU population) (four member states can form a blocking minority
(actual voting is rare because of the culture of consensus)

14. The Council of the European Union – COREPER
COREPER as a preparatory body for the Council of the European Union.
COREPER I
made up of deputy permanent representatives
responsible for “technical” councils
COREPER II
made up of the ambassadors
Responsible for GAC, the Foreign Affairs Council, ECOFIN
Weekly meetings
De facto decision-making body
Intergovernmental body vs supranational body

15. The Council of the European Union- working groups
~170 expert groups + sub-committees
Network of national officials who specialize in
specific areas
Agenda: pre-solve as much technical detail as possible; almost no political consideration
Agreements are reached on the basis of convincing arguments, not political weight or bargaining skills.

16. The Council of the European Union- Current Challenges
Enlargement:
Impairs quality of negotiations/makes it harder to negotiate
Increased workload on Coreper and the Working Groups
It gets harder for new members to get accustomed to EU’s normative environment.
Enhanced cooperation
Can lead to an advanced integration but also to a Europe of two paces.
Challenges the principal of equality.
Transparency
Needed to gain the trust of the citizens
Can lead to bargaining breakdowns, because domestic audiences have to be satisfied

17. Overview How do the institutions work together?

18. Overview – How do the institutions work together
Overview – How do the institutions work together? The Ordinary Legislative Procedure

19. Overview – How do the institutions work together
Overview – How do the institutions work together? National Authorities and Implementation
Legally binding legislative instruments:
Decisions: The European Court of Justices interprets EU law, its decisions are final and binding to the parties.
Directives: The member states have to decide how to incorporate the directives into national law.
Regulations are directly applicable in all member states. No incorporation required.

20. youtube The EU institutions explained by their Presidents:
01:02 The European Council
01:39 The Commission
02:25 The Council of the European Union
03:08 The European Parliament
04:10 What is your role as a President?
06:05 What is special about your institution?
07:58 What is your vision for Europe?

21. Thank you for the Attention!