European Council Totally Explained

Everything about European Council totally explained

The European Council (referred to as a European Summit) is the highest political body of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the Union's member states along with the President of the European Commission. Its meeting is chaired by the member from the member state currently holding Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
While the Council has no formal executive or legislative powers, it's an institution that deals with major issues and any decisions made are "a major impetus in defining the general political guidelines of the European Union". The Council meets at least twice a year; usually in the Justus Lipsius building, the quarters of the Council of the European Union (Consilium) of Brussels. This body should be distinguished from the separate bodies of the Council of the European Union, which is the ministerial level meeting of national governments, and the Council of Europe, which is a non-EU organisation of 47 states dealing with human rights.

History

The first Councils were held in February and July 1961 (in Paris and Bonn respectively). They were informal summits of the leaders of the European Community and were started due to then-French President Charles de Gaulle's resentment at the domination of supranational institutions (for example the European Commission) over the integration process. The first influential summit was held in 1969 after a series of irregular summits. The Hague summit of 1969 reached an agreement on the admittance of the United Kingdom into the Community and initiated foreign policy cooperation (the European Political Cooperation) taking integration beyond economics.

1999, Tampere: Institutional reform

2000, Lisbon: Lisbon Strategy

2002, Copenhagen: Agreement for May 2004 enlargement.

2007, Lisbon: Agreement on the Lisbon Treaty.

Powers and functions

The European Council isn't an official institution of the EU, although it's mentioned in the treaties as a body which "shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development". Essentially it defines the EU's policy agenda and has thus been considered to be the motor of European integration. It does this without any formal powers, only the influence it has being composed of national leaders.

Composition

Officially the members of the Council consist of the heads of state or government of the Union, plus the Commission President (non-voting). When meetings take place, the national foreign minister usually attends with the leaders. The Commission President likewise is also accompanied by another member of the Commission. These are the members seen in the "family photo" taken at each Council. | | |

- bgcolor=#DDEEFF | Commission | |President |EPP
National: PSD | | |} Source for positions

Seat and meetings

Meetings of the council usually take place four times a year (two per Presidency) in Brussels and last for two days, although this can sometimes be longer if contentious issues are on the agenda.
So between 2002 and 2004 half the councils were held in Brussels, and from the 2004 enlargement, all were. The European Council uses the same building as the Council of the European Union (the Justus Lipsius building). However some extraordinary councils still take place outside of the city in the member holding the Presidency; (Rome, 2003 or Hampton Court Palace in 2005). The European Council is due to move with the Council of the European Union to a new building, Résidence Palace, next to the existing building.
The choice of a single seat was due to a number of factors, such as the experience of the Belgian police in dealing with protesters (a protester in Gothenburg was shot by police) as well as Brussels having fixed facilities for the Council and journalists at every meeting. By having a permanent seat (that's the same as the Council), particularly since enlargement, it was expected the Council would integrate further into the Community framework, rather than continuing under heavy national influence, developing as a governmental body (some have argued it's already the de facto EU government).

Future of the European Council

There would be a number of changes to the European Council under the proposed Treaty of Lisbon, which largely retains the reforms outlined in the rejected Constitutional Treaty.
   The treaty would make the European Council a formal institution, separate from the Council of the European Union (now the Council of Ministers). While the Council of Ministers would continue with the rotating presidency, the European Council would have a single, fixed, President of the European Council with a renewable two-and-a-half year mandate. The position would stay a non-executive, administrative role. It would have an important role in organising work and meetings, providing external representation (including working with the CFSP) and being able to call extraordinary meetings beyond the four that are now formally required to take place.
   The role of the council is clearly separate from the Council, and primarily follows previous definitions. In separating from the Council of Ministers, the European Council gains no legislative power. It does however gain a greater say over police and justice planning, foreign policy and constitutional matters, including: the composition of the Parliament and Commission; matters relating to the rotating presidency; the suspension of membership rights; changing the voting systems in the treaties bridging clauses; and nominating the President of the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The High Representative, along with the new post of President, are the only formal changes in composition. Further more, under the "emergency break" procedure, a state may refer contenious legislation from the Council of Ministers to the European Council if it's outvoted in the Council, although it may still be outvoted in the European Council.
   Although there may be some informal changes; currently the President of Finland informally takes part in the European Council as s/he is responsible for the Finland's foreign policy outside the EU. This is alongside the Prime Minister who deals with policy within the EU. Under the new treaty the Council becomes a formal EU institution and deals with foreign policy (making it EU policy). Hence, some see the President's attendance would no longer be justified.
   There has been speculation on who would be the first (full time) President of the European Council, being dubbed as the President of the European Union. Currently the most common name is former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. This was backed up further when, in June 2007, French president Nicolas Sarkozy was the first leader to propose that Blair be the first president. However in August of 2007, there has been specuation that Bertie Ahern, the former Irish Taoiseach, could also be a contender. Lastly Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was proposed to this function by the Bulgarian governance .

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