council guide - eurosfaire · chapter i –general 11 1. sources 11 2. there is one presidency 13...
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Council GuideI. The Presidency Handbook
February 2006
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Table of contents
Chapter I –General 11
1. Sources 11
2. There is one Presidency 13
3. The Presidency is neutral 14
4. The Presidency deploys national resources 14
5. The Presidency is always in the hands of the Council 15
6. The General Secretariat of the Council 15
(a) The Secretary-General/High Representative for the common
foreign and security policy 15
(b) The Deputy Secretary-General 16
(c) The General Secretariat 16
Chapter II – Getting ready for the Presidency 19
1. Planning of work – Timetable of meetings 19
2. Changes to the timetable 19
3. Planning of work – preparing indicative agendas 20
4. The machinery of the Presidency 21
5. Travel expenses incurred by delegates of Council members 23
6. Interpreting 24
Chapter III – How the decision-making process works 26
1. Working parties 26
2. The General Secretariat 28
3. Coreper 29
(a) The provisional agenda 30
(b) Preparation for Coreper 31
(c) Conduct of meetings 32
(d) The outcome 33
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4. The Council 34
(a) The agenda 35
(b) Preparations 36
(c) Access to the Council chamber 37
(d) The Council proceedings 37
(e) Voting 39
(f) Written procedure 41
(g) Publication of votes 42
(h) The outcome of Council meetings 43
5. Informal meetings of ministers 44
(a) Characteristics of informal meetings 44
(b) Logistics 45
6. The European Council 45
(a) Preparation 45
(b) Role of the Secretariat 46
(c) Presidency conclusions 46
Chapter IV – The Presidency's relations with the other institutions 47
1. The European Parliament 47
(a) Presentation of the programme – general debates – visits by
Heads of State 47
(b) Plenary sittings 47
(c) Involvement in committees 48
(d) Information procedure on international agreements 49
(e) Meetings of the trialogue 49
(f) Co-decision procedure 49
(g) Other contacts 50
(h) Delegations and joint parliamentary committees in the context of
agreements with non-member States 50
2. The European Commission 50
3. The Court of Justice 50
4. The Court of Auditors 50
5. The Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee 50
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Chapter V – The Union's external relations 52
1. The role of the Council and the Presidency 52
2. Enlargement 53
3. Agreements with third countries and international organisations;
Trade and Development 54
(a) The administration of international agreements concluded by the
Community 54
(b) Community participation in international organisations and conference 56
4. The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including the
Common Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) 59
(a) The Presidency and the Troika 59
(b) Working Parties 60
(c) The Political and Security Committee (PSC) 61
(d) The European Union Military Committee (EUMC) and the European
Union Military Staff (EUMS) 62
(e) The General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC 64
(f) Relations with the European Parliament (EP) (Article 21 TEU) 64
(g) Political Dialogue 65
(h) Cooperation between diplomatic and consular missions
(Article 20 TEU) 66
(i) International organisations and conferences 67
Chapter VI – Specific arrangements for JHA 69
1. Working parties 69
2. The Article 36 Committee 69
3. The Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA) 70
4. The Committee on Civil Law Matters 70
5. The JHA Council 71
6. Relations with the European Parliament 72
7. Relations with non-member States 73
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Chapter VII – Protocol and logistics 75
1. Accreditation of Ambassadors from non-member States to the EU 75
(a) Order of protocol for Member States and acceding States 76
(b) Member States and acceding States: shortened names 77
(c) Rules for placing flags 78
(d) Order of protocol for cortèges 79
(e) Order of interinstitutional precedence and order of precedence
among dignitaries of the Institutions and Bodies 80
(f) Specific rules concerning the High Representative for the CFSP 81
2. Meals and receptions (organised by the General Secretariat and charged
to the Council budget) 81
(a) Meals at Council meetings 81
(b) Larger functions 82
(c) Other meals 83
3. Travel by the President 84
4. Meetings away from customary places of work 84
Chapter VIII – Financial responsibility 86
1. Preparations on behalf of the Presidency 87
2. Travel expenses of delegates of Council members 87
3. Interpreting 87
4. Production and translation of documents 88
5. Publication of documents in the Official Journal 89
ANNEXES
ANNEX 1 90
ANNEX 2 93
ANNEX 3 97
ANNEX 4 105
ANNEX 5 108
ANNEX 6 114
ANNEX 7 116
ANNEX 8 124
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FOREWORD
The tasks of the Council are neither simple nor static. Hence the need to facilitate the work of the Presidency
and delegations with an up-to-date handbook that is both comprehensive and comprehensible.
This third edition of the Council Guide presented by the General Secretariat was compiled under its sole
responsibility; it has no legal force and is an internal document intended solely as an aid for the Presidency
and Member State delegations.
The guide covers the whole range of Council activities. It consists of four sections each published separately.
The first section – the Presidency Handbook – continues the operation begun with the Presidency vade-
mecum and sets out in a practical context the arrangements concerning the preparation and running of a
Presidency. The second section consists of Comments on the Council's Rules of Procedure, reflecting the
current interpretation of that text in practice. The third section – the Delegates' Handbook – contains practical
information on the planning and running of meetings, the internal organisation of the General Secretariat and
the services provided for delegates. The fourth section – the Co-decision Guide – explains the co-decision
procedure.
My wish, in making this version of the Council Guide available to those involved in the work of our
Institution, has been to satisfy the request voiced by the Council and to contribute towards efforts to ensure
information and transparency. Any suggestions concerning the content of this guide will be welcome.
Secretary-General/High Representative
Javier Solana
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Part I
Presidency Handbook
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Chapter I – General
1. Sources
The Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaties establishing the two European Communities contain
a number of provisions dealing with the role of the Council Presidency and the conditions in which it is
exercised.
– Article 203 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC)1 stipulates that the office of
President shall be held in turn by each Member State for a term of six months in the order decided
unanimously by the Council. The order was determined by a Council decision of 1 January 19952.
The European Council agreed in October 2002 that this rotation order would continue until the end
of 2006 – i.e. until the Finnish presidency – and that the Council would decide on the question of the
order of Presidencies for 2007 and onwards as soon as possible and at the latest by May 2005. In
December 2005, the Council formaly adopted the new list of Presidencies, reproduced in Annex 1
(doc. 15256/05). The sequence of Presidencies is decided by the Council acting unanimously. Article
204 TEC states that the Council shall meet when convened by its President on his own initiative or at
the request of one of its members or of the Commission. Other Articles specify the role of the
Presidency by field or sector. The Presidency's overall role, inherent in the office, is not described by
the Treaty.
– In the field of economic policy, the second subparagraph of Article 99(4) TEC assigns certain tasks
to the President of the Council (reporting to the European Parliament on the results of multilateral
surveillance, explaining the Council's recommendations on the broad guidelines of the economic
policies of the Member States and of the Community to European Parliament committees).
1 See also Article 116 of the Euratom Treaty. 2 OJ L 1, 1.1.1995, p. 220, amended by a Decision of 28 January 2002 which switched the order of the Finnish and German
presidencies (Finland in the second semester of 2006 and Germany in the first semester of 2007) (OJ L 39, 9.2.1992, p. 17).
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– For the common foreign and security policy (CFSP), Article 18 TEU lays down the responsibilities
of the Presidency (representing the Union in matters coming within the CFSP, implementing
decisions taken, expressing positions of the Union in international organisations and international
conferences). Article 21 TEU provides that the Presidency is to consult the European Parliament on
the main aspects and the basic choices of the CFSP and is to keep it regularly informed of the
development of the CFSP3.
– Article 24 TEU provides that the Presidency is to negotiate agreements, if so authorised by the
Council.
– On cooperation on justice and home affairs (JHA), Article 39(2) TEU defines the role of the
Presidency (regularly informing the European Parliament on matters under Title VI TEU)4.
– The second subparagraph of Article 48 TEU gives the President the task of convening a conference
of representatives of the governments of the Member States to adopt amendments to the Treaties on
which the European Union is based, after a favourable opinion of the Council following consultation
with the European Parliament and the Commission.
The Council's Rules of Procedure, hereinafter CRP5, supplement and further define this general framework
by highlighting the tasks of the President throughout the Council's decision-making process and within its
preparatory bodies. In particular, Article 20 thereof confers a number of specific tasks on the Presidency.
Finally, practice has played a large part in defining the role of the Presidency. Discounting the (more or less)
marked aspects of national character which can set their stamp on the role for six months, experience over
the years has fleshed out the broad lines of the Presidency's role, the main features of which are described
below.
3 See Chapters IV, Section 1, and V, Section 5. 4 See Chapter V. 5 Council Decision of 22 March 2004 adopting the Council's Rules of Procedure (OJ L 106, 15.4.2004, p. 22), amended by Council
Decision of 11 October 2004 (OJ L 319, 20.10.2004, p. 15), amended by Council Decision of 23 January 2006 (OJ L 22, 26.1.2006, p.32).
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2. There is one Presidency The counterpart of the single institutional framework – an essential element of the structure of the Treaty on
European Union – is the single Presidency, which is held by the same Member State in every sphere of
activity of the Union (Community matters, CFSP and JHA) and at all levels (from working parties to the
European Council).
There are, nevertheless, certain gradations or exceptions to the principle of a single Presidency stemming
from the need for the greatest possible efficiency and cohesion, while ensuring continuity of action by the
Union. These are essentially as follows:
(a) The Presidency no longer makes six-monthly programmes but has to submit jointly with the other
Presidency of the same year an annual operational programme of Council activities. This annual programme
is drafted in the light of the multiannual strategic programme adopted by the European Council for 3 years
on a recommendation from the General Affairs and External Relations Council, based on a joint proposal by
the six Presidencies concerned (Article 2(4) and (5) CRP).
(b) Instances of overlapping, or temporary rules, are stipulated within the CRP 6, which specifically
provide that the place of the Presidency-in-Office may be taken by the following Presidency on committees
and in working parties – but not in Coreper – where it is certain that the corresponding Council meeting will
be held under the following Presidency. In the specific case of the examination of the EC budget, meetings
of preparatory bodies dealing with the preparation of budget items are chaired by the Presidency of the
second six-month period.
(c) When carrying out its tasks of representing the Union and implementing CFSP decisions (Article
18(1) and (2) TEU), the Presidency is assisted by the Secretary-General/High Representative for the CFSP
(Article 18(3) TEU), and if need be by the next Member State to hold the Presidency (see Article 18(4)
TEU) 7.
6 Such overlapping is mentioned in Article 19(5) and (6) CRP. 7 It should also be noted that the Secretary-General/High Representative for the CFSP assists the Council in matters coming within
the scope of the common foreign and security policy, in particular through contributing to the formulation, preparation and implementation of policy decisions, and, when appropriate and acting on behalf of the Council at the request of the Presidency, through conducting political dialogue with third parties (Article 26 TEU). See also Chapter V, Section 5.
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(d) At international conferences, provision can be made for twofold external representation by the
Presidency and Commission in order to meet the need for consistency.
(e) Certain committees which prepare Council proceedings are not chaired by the country holding the
Council Presidency 8.
3. The Presidency is neutral
The Presidency must, by definition, be neutral and impartial. It is the moderator for discussions and cannot
therefore favour either its own preferences or those of a particular Member State. This presupposes both
good coordination with its own State's spokesmen so that they can voice the national position without
impeding the work of the Presidency, as well as taking due account, on their own merits, of all positions
expressed.
The duty to be neutral exists alongside the political dimension which informs the conduct of Union business
and which is particularly apparent in the order of priority set in the choice and handling of items of business.
This order of priority is occasioned by considerations of topicality and of deadlines, as well as by the
political tone which the Presidency wishes to set for its six-month period. In its role as moderator, the
Presidency must also take action where it notes that a stalemate has occurred; this will take the form of
compromise suggestions to reconcile the different interests involved in a single issue or a set of
interconnected issues (package deal), which inevitably means that political choices have to be made.
4. The Presidency deploys national resources
Major deployment of the entire national administrative apparatus is required to get the Presidency up and
running. Each Member State uses its own working methods conditioned by its traditions and culture, as well
as more incidental considerations linked to its size or the nature of its interests. The size of this extra
workload for national administrations (both capitals and permanent representations), even for the larger
Member States, should not be underestimated. The success of a Presidency largely depends on how well it is
8 See Council Decision of 29 September 2000 on the composition and the statutes of the Economic Policy Committee (OJ L 257,
11.10.2000, p. 28). See also the Economic and Financial Committee (OJ L 358, 31.12.1998, p. 109 and OJ L 5, 1.1.1999, p. 71), the Code of Conduct Group (business taxation) – Council conclusions of 9 March 1998 (OJ C 99, 1.4.1998, p. 1), the Military Committee – Council Decision of 22 January 2001 (OJ L 27, 30.1.2001, p. 4) and the Security Committee – set up under the Council's security regulations of 19 March 2001 (Part II, Section I, paragraph 3 – see OJ L 101, 11.4.2001, p. 1). A number of other Working Parties are chaired by members of the General Secretariat of the Council (see Seville European Council conclusions of June 2002).
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prepared and how effectively it coordinates with its national administration. Nevertheless, the administration
of the Member State taking on the Presidency is not working in isolation since it has the support of the
General Secretariat of the Council.
5. The Presidency is always in the hands of the Council
Any procedural decision by the Presidency may be challenged by the Council by a simple majority. Any
statement by or letter from the Presidency expressing the Council position, particularly in its relations with
the other institutions, must meet with the Council's or Coreper's agreement.
Article 19(7) CRP gives Coreper the power to adopt a number of procedural decisions.
6. The General Secretariat of the Council
The Treaty provides that the Council is to be assisted by a General Secretariat, under the responsibility of a
Secretary-General/High Representative for the CFSP, who is to be assisted by a Deputy Secretary-General
responsible for the running of the General Secretariat. The rules of procedure stipulate that the Secretary-
General, assisted by the Deputy Secretary-General, has full responsibility for administering the
appropriations entered in the Council budget. In practice, both undertake a wide variety of tasks in assisting
the Council at various levels and in ensuring the smooth running of the General Secretariat.
(a) The Secretary-General/High Representative for the common foreign and security policy
The Secretary-General/High Representative for the CFSP is head of the General Secretariat and holds overall
political responsibility for its activities. He has ultimate responsibility for the organisation and execution of
the services provided by the General Secretariat to the Council as a whole, and to the Presidency in
particular, for meetings of the European Council, the Council and its preparatory bodies. He takes part in
meetings of the European Council, of the General Affairs and External Relations Council and, where
appropriate, of certain other Council configurations. He maintains close links with the Permanent
Representatives Committee (Part 2) and with the Political and Security Committee.
Under the Treaty, the Presidency represents the Union in matters coming within the common foreign and
security policy. The Presidency is responsible for the implementation of decisions in this area and is assisted
by the Secretary-General/High Representative for the CFSP. The Secretary-General/High Representative for
the CFSP assists the Council in matters coming within the scope of the common foreign and security policy,
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in particular through contributing to the formulation, preparation and implementation of policy decisions
and, when appropriate and acting on behalf of the Council at the request of the Presidency, through
conducting political dialogue with third parties.
The common foreign and security policy includes all questions relating to the security of the Union,
including the progressive framing of a common defence policy, which might lead to a common defence,
should the European Council so decide.
Accordingly, the Secretary-General/High Representative plays a very specific role in helping the Presidency
and the Council to perform their duties in these areas.
(b) The Deputy Secretary-General
The Deputy Secretary-General, under the authority of the Secretary-General/High Representative, has full
responsibility for managing the Secretariat's human and financial resources. In addition, the Deputy
Secretary General is at the disposal of the Council for the provision of advice in advance of and during
meetings of the European Council, the Council, and its preparatory bodies. He briefs the chair of the
Permanent Representatives Committee ahead of each meeting of Coreper (Part 2).
(c) The General Secretariat
The task of assistance, which the General Secretariat performs alongside the Presidency,
involves several types of function.
(i) Besides the logistical support as described in Chapter VII, the General Secretariat supports the
Presidency in its responsibilities for organising work (drawing up the timetable, setting the dates of meetings,
convening meetings, briefings before meetings, etc.).
(ii) During meetings, the General Secretariat informs the Presidency about the procedures applicable, is
responsible for drawing up minutes of meetings, as well as all the documents reporting on progress or
summarising the outcome, at every stage of the decision-making process (working parties, committees,
Coreper and Council), and makes sure that those reports are circulated 9).
9 See below Chapter I, Section 6(c)(ix) (Press Office)
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(iii) It acts as the registrar and memory of the Council's discussions and decisions.
(iv) Besides its notarial-type work, the General Secretariat has progressively built up an advisory role
with the Presidency which manifests itself in different ways; in particular it is involved – to varying degrees
– in working out the terms of Presidency compromises, in respect of both drafting and content.
(v) The Legal Service of the Council has a specific role to play which should be emphasised. It is the
legal adviser to the Council 10. Indeed, since the Community is – according to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities – "a Community based on the rule of law, inasmuch as neither its Member States nor
its institutions can avoid a review of the question whether the measures adopted by them are in conformity
with the basic constitutional charter, the Treaty", it is vital that the Council should have access to
independent legal opinions. While the Legal Service is an integral part of the General Secretariat, it is
independent in the opinions it gives. Representatives of the Legal Service attend most working party and
committee meetings and all Coreper, Council and European Council meetings and are called upon to answer
any institutional or legal questions raised during discussions, or to raise such questions themselves and put
forward solutions. Oral contributions by the Legal Service, which are in some cases set down in written
form, play an important part in helping the Presidency to conduct its proceedings. The Legal Service, and in
particular its team of linguistic experts, is responsible under Article 22 CRP for ensuring the drafting quality
of legislative acts, pursuant to the interinstitutional agreement of 22 December 1998 11. Finally, it represents
the Council before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance.
(vi) As part of the policy of transparency, the General Secretariat has responsibility for implementing, on
behalf of the Council, Regulation 1049/2001 12 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents. It is also responsible for making Council deliberations public in accordance with
Article 9 CRP (statements entered in the minutes, items in the minutes, the results of votes and explanations
of votes made public) as well as for implementing Annex II to the CRP on access to Council documents,
such as maintaining a public register of documents and for making a number of documents automatically
accessible to the public in accordance with Article 11 of that Annex. Such documents may be accessed via
the Council's web site (http://ue.eu.int and http://register.consilium.eu.int).
10 The Director-General of the Legal Service is also the legal adviser to the intergovernmental conferences (IGCs) which amend the
Treaties. 11 Guidelines for the quality of drafting of Community legislation (OJ C 73, 17.3.1999, p. 1). 12 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).
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(vii) The Secretary-General, with the Presidency's agreement, or the Deputy Secretary-General or a
Director-General, acting on their behalf, gives notice of Council acts (Article 18 CRP).
(viii) The Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General or one of the senior Council officials may,
acting on the Presidency's instructions, represent the Council before European Parliament committees
(Article 26 CRP).
(ix) The Press Office provides information on the Council to the outside world by drafting:
– press releases circulated prior to Council meetings; these basically give the agenda;
– background notes on certain items under discussion which are available for the briefing which the
Presidency gives to the press in the week before the Council meeting;
– press releases circulated after the Council meetings containing the outcome of proceedings and the
text of any statements, resolutions or agreements decided on by the Council and including the results of votes
made public 13 together with any explanations of votes made public.
The Press Office also publishes any Council statements on CFSP matters adopted outside Council meetings
(written procedure) and, finally, arranges contacts with journalists, particularly briefings prior to Council and
Coreper meetings. In performing these tasks, the Press Office plays a crucial role in promoting transparency.
Information for the press is made available to the public via the Internet (http://ue.eu.int/newsroom).
(x) The General Secretariat takes charge of publishing official documents of the Council in the Official
Journal of the European Union (http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex) 14.
The General Secretariat of the Council, including its Legal Service, performs the same role in all areas of the
Council's activity, including the CFSP-ESDP 15 and JHA.
13 See Chapter III, Section 4(g). 14 Art. 17 of the Council's Rules of Procedures (OJ L 106, p. 31) 15 European security and defence policy.
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Chapter II – Getting ready for the Presidency
1. Planning of work – Timetable of meetings 16
A multiannual strategic programme covering a period of three years is drawn up by the Presidencies
concerned in consultation with the Commission and submitted for adoption to the European Council (see
Article 2(4) CRP). The first such programme was adopted by the European Council in December 2003 and
covers the period 2004-2007. The multiannual programme is intended to provide a strong framework and
timelines for implementing agreed priorities and specific objectives, but at the same time to be able to
respond to evolving circumstances both inside and outside the Union. Accordingly, it is possible for the
European Council to agree adjustments to the programme should they be required.
In the light of the three-year strategic programme, an annual operating programme of Council activities is
drawn up by the two Presidencies due to hold office during the course of each calendar year. It is presented
to the "General Affairs" part of the "General Affairs and External Relations Council" in December of the
previous year, and subsequently finalised by the two Presidencies in the light of the Council's debate.
Every Presidency draws up a timetable of Council meetings which has to be available seven months before
the start of the six months of the Presidency (Article 1(2) CRP ).
Generally speaking, the Presidency must try and spread work in as balanced a way as possible throughout the
six months to prevent an excessive concentration at the end of its term of office; it must also try to avoid
overlapping meetings so that members of Coreper (Part 1 or Part 2) can participate in Council configurations
on matters for which they are competent. It is especially important to avoid scheduling more than two
Council meetings on the same day. As a general rule and except in justified cases, this timetable is drawn up
to take account, as far as possible, of public holidays applicable to the staff of the General Secretariat.
2. Changes to the timetable
If it considers it advisable, the Presidency can always change the timetable by proposing to cancel or add a
meeting. In any case the Presidency should convene Council meetings only when there is a substantive
agenda (e.g. when policy decisions are to be taken or political orientations given), and not when there are
merely points of information or progress reports to be given.
16 See also the "Delegates' Handbook", Part III of this Council Guide, Chapter I, Sections 1 and 2.
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For practical reasons, mainly concerning the availability of ministers, limited use should be made of the
option of adding extra Council meetings. It is also generally accepted that a month's notice is needed before
the date of the Council meeting. If it does change the timetable, the Presidency must be sure to consult the
members of Coreper. Any requests from the Commission or delegations for changes to the timetable must
also be made in Coreper.
The Presidency examines the other delegations' requests and comments carefully but it is accepted that, since
it is in charge of organising work, it is the Presidency which determines the timetable (even if, formally, such
a procedural decision is a matter for a simple majority).
With regard to venues for meetings, it should be noted that the Council has its seat in Brussels, in the
Council building (Articles 1(3) and 28 CRP) in accordance with the protocol annexed to the TEU and the
two Community Treaties. During the months of April, June and October, the Council holds its meetings in
Luxembourg. In exceptional circumstances and for duly substantiated reasons, the Council or Coreper, acting
unanimously, may decide that a Council meeting will be held elsewhere (Article 1(3), second subparagraph,
CRP).
The Presidency must respect the number of configurations 17 in which the Council is called upon to meet.
3. Planning of work – preparing indicative agendas
Each Presidency shall establish provisional agendas for each Council meeting scheduled for the next six
month period showing the legislative work and operational decisions envisaged. They shall be established at
the latest one week before the beginning of its term of office on the basis of the annual operating programme
and after consulting the Commission (Article 2(6) CRP).
The indicative agendas cannot be definitive since it is impossible to plan for every contingency; for planning
to remain entirely credible, however, the main point to remember is that changes should be confined solely to
instances of real necessity . This kind of planning must be carried out long enough in advance to ensure a
smooth transition between each Presidency.
The indicative agendas are drafted in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Council. They are
forwarded by the General Secretariat to the various delegations and the Commission for information.
17 The list of current Council configurations is set out in Annex I to the Council's Rules of Procedure.
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As part of the coordination mentioned previously between the various bodies of the European Union 18, and
in order to ensure a smooth transition between Presidencies, each Presidency should:
– update dossiers to be examined in the six-month period;
– cross-check the timetables for procedures to take place within each institution; in the case of the
European Parliament, it is vital to know the timetable for plenary sessions and committee meetings;
– assess the importance of each dossier and its political or technical nature, which may affect the
course of the procedure to be followed by the Council;
– allocate dossiers under the decision-making procedures arising from the Treaty, in order to comply
with the arrangements for legislative procedure (consultation, cooperation, co-decision, assent).
4. The machinery of the Presidency
The first task when setting up the Presidency is to appoint the chairpersons of the various working parties
and committees in good time. Depending on the nature of each working party or committee, the Presidency
may decide whether, besides the chair, it should appoint a delegate with the task of presenting the national
positions of the Member State holding the Presidency. Future chairpersons should be appointed in sufficient
time to allow them, where necessary, to acquaint themselves with the proceedings of the working parties and
committees. Given the need, amongst other things, to make working party and committee proceedings even
more efficient on account of limited resources and an increasing workload, it is recommended that training in
or a prior introduction to the role of chairperson be provided in conjunction with the General Secretariat.
The roles of chairperson and national delegate or spokesman are in principle separate. It is essential that the
appropriate contacts take place before meetings so that, among other things, the role played by each can be
clarified.
Article 19(5) CRP provides that "for the preparation of meetings of Council configurations meeting once
every six months, where held during the first half of this period, the meetings of committees other than
Coreper and those of working parties held during the preceding six months shall be chaired by a delegate of
18 See also Chapter IV.
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the Member State whose turn it is to chair the said Council meetings". In order to ensure a smooth transition
between presidencies, this provision should be implemented. This is the reason why the verb "may" was
replaced by "shall" in the amendment to the CRP made in July 2002 following the European Council in
Seville. This has became the rule with regard to the budgetary procedure. Under Article 19(6), second
subparagraph: "in the specific case of the examination of the Community budget for a given financial year,
meetings of Council preparatory bodies, other than Coreper, dealing with the preparation of Council agenda
items on the examination of the budget shall be chaired by a delegate of the Member State which will hold
the Council Presidency during the second six-month period of the year prior to the financial year in
question. The same shall apply, with the agreement of the order Presidency, to the chairing of Council
meetings at the time when the said budget items are discussed. The Presidencies concerned will consult on
the practical arrangement."
As and when required, particularly if the Presidency is unable to attend any Council meeting, the latter may
be chaired by the following Presidency (Article 20(2) CRP).
It is thus for the Presidency to:
– determine the chairperson and national spokesman for each working party and committee;
– appoint, before the start of the six months, the persons who will be chairing the meetings of Coreper
Part 1 and Part 2, the Political and Security Committee, the Article 36 Committee, the Special Committee on
Agriculture (SCA), and the Article 133 Committee;
– appoint, where appropriate, national spokesmen at each level in each sector.
In order to coordinate every aspect of the organisation of meetings, the Presidency must also designate
someone at the permanent representation as an official responsible for the practical organisation of meetings
who will remain in regular contact with the General Secretariat departments responsible for reserving rooms
and teams of interpreters 19 (see section 6 on Interpreting).
This person is empowered to notify the General Secretariat of the Presidency's priorities, particularly where
the number of meetings theoretically planned for a given day exceeds interpretation or meeting-room
capacity. Depending on new priorities, a meeting (even if planned for a long time) may also have to be called
off at the last minute.
19 See also the "Delegates' Handbook", Part III of this Council Guide.
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This person must be able to negotiate with working party chairpersons and, if need be, arbitrate. It is
essential for him or her to have a genuine understanding of how the decision-making system works, of the
procedures for organising meetings and of the respective roles of civil servants from the capitals, from the
permanent representations, from the General Secretariat of the Council and from the Joint Interpreting and
Conference Service. He or she is acting on behalf of the chairperson of Coreper, and on his or her authority.
As his or her role is essential for the smooth running of the Presidency, he or she should, as far as possible,
be relieved of other duties.
Should the need arise, this person can also play a role in determining priorities when the number of
documents requested for a given date exceeds the resources available in the Document Translation and
Production Departments. He or she may also be a useful contact person for the General Secretariat's Central
Coordination Department.
To enable the Council to operate effectively, the Presidency must endeavour to restrict the number of
meetings, particularly of working parties and committees, to what is absolutely necessary and at any rate
resist the temptation to provide meeting rooms and teams of interpreters as a matter of course, without first
ascertaining whether the meetings requested are strictly necessary.
To ensure that the number of meetings scheduled by the Presidency matches the Secretariat's available
resources, the Presidency draws up a cooperation plan with the relevant Directorate-General in the
Secretariat.
Full use should be made of the potential represented by new technologies. For instance, comments and
exchanges by electronic mail can sometimes help to reduce the amount of time spent in meetings (see the
recommendations of the Code of Conduct on working methods for an enlarged Council reproduced in
Annex 2).
5. Travel expenses incurred by delegates of Council members
Article 1 of the Decision of the Secretary-General/High Representative of 19 September 2003 concerning
reimbursement of travel expenses of delegates of Council members provides that travel expenses incurred by
delegates of Council members shall be charged to the general budget of the European Communities as long
as the travel actually took place to attend:
– a meeting of the Council or one of its preparatory bodies;
24
– another meeting in the framework of the activities of the Council as an institution;
– a meeting of an intergovernmental conference with a view to revising the Treaties or the accession of
a State to the European Union, or of one of its dependent bodies;
– any meeting held within the framework of the Treaties and which is considered to be inextricably
linked to the work of the Council and aimed at giving major political impetus to the development of the
Union.
The list of meetings for which travel expenses may be reimbursed or not under the above Decision is regularly
updated according to the Council's functions.
The principle of reimbursement of travel expenses is applied on the basis of a fixed budget allocated to each
Member State. The budget allocation enables each Council member to decide on the extent of its
representation at meetings held at the Council's headquarters or elsewhere.
The text of this Decision is set out in Annex 3 to this section.
DG A
6. Interpreting
In December 2003 Coreper defined a new approach to interpreting in order to face the challenges posed by
the enlargement of the Union and the near doubling in the number of its languages. Whilst reiterating that
full language interpreting will continue to be provided for meetings of the Council and the European Council
and will be entirely financed by the Council budget, in line with basic principles, it also sets out new
arrangements for meetings at the preparatory level in the Council attended by officials and civil servants.
Thus, it provides that a maximum of twenty preparatory bodies should meet with 20/20 interpreting financed
entirely from the Council budget, and that for the other preparatory bodies, interpretation will be made
available on request (see Annex 4). A decision of the Secretary-General/High Representative sets out in
more detail the modalities of this "on request" system (see Decision 56/04 of 7 April 2004, Annex 5, as
supplemented by Decision 85/05 of 23 June 2005, Annex 6, and amended by Decision 133/05 of 13 October
2005, Annex 7).
25
Particular attention should be paid to the fact that, for the system to work effectively and to allow maximum
transparency, Presidencies need to ensure rigorous planning and programming of meetings of working
parties ahead of particular Council meetings. Meetings will need to be planned in certain cases down to sub-
area level. Every effort therefore needs to be made to programme meetings, to the extent possible, in two-
month blocks at least two months in advance. Ideally, Presidencies should make a provisional planning for
the entire six months, in order to facilitate calculation of the estimates of the cost of the requests for
interpreting made by delegations at the beginning of each six-month period.
26
Chapter III – How the decision-making process works
The decision-making process comprises several stages from the examination of a proposal within the
Council until the final decision is taken. As regards co-decision, see the "Co-decision Guide", Part IV of this
Council Guide. A number of special features relating to Titles V (CFSP) and VI (JHA) TEU are dealt with in
Chapters V and VI. The purely procedural aspects 20 and any consultation of the other institutions and bodies
of the Union held within the framework of the activities of the Council are discussed in the "Comments on
the Council's Rules of Procedure", Part II of this Council Guide.
A list of Council working parties established by decision of Coreper is set out in Annex 8 to this part (annex
I of the SN doc 15180/05). The list is regularly updated and is published by the General Secretariat (Article
19(3) CRP).
1. Working parties
Once the General Secretariat of the Council has received a Commission proposal 21 in all its language
versions, the relevant working party is convened to examine it on the instructions of Coreper (or the SCA 22
for most agricultural questions) as follows:
– with the Presidency's agreement, the General Secretariat informs the members of the working party –
in principle, at least one week before the meeting – of the convening of the meeting (and advising them of
the agenda);
– the choice of meeting date must take into account the availability of meeting rooms and interpreting
facilities 23 as well as likely dates for discussion in Coreper or the SCA 24. In view of the time which must
elapse between the referral to Coreper and examination by the Council (see below: two or three weeks), it is
preferable for the last working party discussion to be held three to four weeks before the Council meeting at
which the issue is to be examined;
20 The reference here is essentially to the procedures laid down in Articles 251 and 252 TEC and those peculiar to the budget,
international agreements and Titles V (CFSP) and VI (JHA) TEU. 21 For Community matters, proposals come mostly from the Commission although under certain provisions of the Treaty the ECB
and the Court of Justice may submit draft legislation for adoption by the Council. For Titles V and VI TEU, the initiative may come from the Member States or the Commission.
22 The SCA (Special Committee on Agriculture) was set up in 1960. 23 As regards meeting rooms and interpreting facilities, see also the "Delegates' Handbook", Part III of this Council Guide. 24 Article 21 CRP states that the Presidency shall organise the meetings of the various committees and working parties so that their
reports are available before the Coreper meetings at which they are to be examined, and unless considerations of urgency require otherwise, the Presidency shall postpone to a subsequent Coreper meeting any legislative items on which the committee or working party has not completed its discussions at least five working days prior to Coreper's meeting.
27
– the documents (Commission proposal or outcome of working party proceedings) must reach
delegations at least one week before the date of the meeting 25.
The Presidency, with the assistance of the General Secretariat of the Council, prepares the agendas for
working party meetings. It is helpful, when organising proceedings, to set up an advance meeting between
the Presidency and the relevant Secretariat officials (briefing) which the Commission representative may be
invited to attend where the subject so warrants.
Relations between the chairperson and the national spokesman need to be clarified before the meeting. This
is in order to avoid both blatant collusion and contradictory situations which would compromise the clarity
of discussions. In some instances, if no spokesman is appointed, the chairperson may have no alternative but
to assume both roles. Should he/she find him/herself in such a situation – which should be avoided wherever
possible – the chairperson should make it clear, when speaking, which hat he/she is wearing.
The working party follows similar rules of procedure to the Council and Coreper. It is intended to provide an
opportunity for national delegates to compare and contrast their respective positions in order to iron out the
difficulties occasioned by the proposal under discussion in so far as those difficulties are not substantive,
horizontal or institutional in nature and thus warrant discussion by Coreper.
The working party generally carries out a thorough examination of the proposal, article by article, and
reports to Coreper only when it considers that the dossier has been scrutinised sufficiently and all the
questions which could have been resolved at its level have been.
As far as the results are concerned, while it is possible to compare delegations' positions at working party
level, no final decision is possible since no formal vote can be taken. To get an indication, however, the
chairperson can hold an informal poll of delegations' positions. At the end of the meeting, he will then draw
conclusions summarising the content of the discussions and listing the points on which agreement seems
possible, those raising political or horizontal questions to be referred to Coreper, and perhaps also those
requiring further examination. Depending on the conclusions, the chairperson can either refer matters to
Coreper, or else decide to hold a further meeting of the working party to iron out those issues which, by their
nature, need to be resolved before referral to Coreper. He/she shall ensure in any case that a file is only
submitted to Coreper when there is a reasonable prospect of progress or clarification of positions being
achieved at that level. Conversely, files should only be referred downwards again when necessary, and in any
event only with the remit to tackle precise, well-defined problems (see points 1 to 5 of Annex IV to the CRP
on working methods).
25 See the "Delegates' Handbook", Part III of this Council Guide, Chapter I, Section 4.
28
To increase efficiency and minimise the number of meetings, it is necessary to use time between meetings.
Thus, the chairman, with the aid of the Secretariat, can endeavour to clarify any outstanding issues and draw
up a solution through bilateral and multilateral exchanges with delegations and the Commission. He can also
conduct written consultations by requesting delegations to react in written form to a proposal before the next
meeting of the working party (see the abovementioned Annex IV to the CRP on working methods).
2. The General Secretariat 26
The General Secretariat of the Council drafts, on its own responsibility and as quickly as possible, a report
on a dossier in a working party as a basis for the next stage of work. The form of such reports is adapted to
the needs of the relevant working party.
A minimum of two weeks is required to make a document of about 10 pages available in all languages. That
amount of time may not always reflect the urgency of the matter and can, in exceptional circumstances, be
shortened provided that the time allowed remains compatible with proper preparation of the dossiers and
with the General Secretariat's logistical capacity, given the constantly rising number of documents for
translation. It is customary to send out notice of meetings and documents simultaneously (eight days in
advance) 27. The minimum period of two weeks required for translation means that the last reading by the
working party must allow the Secretariat enough time to prepare the report before the beginning of the period
needed for translation. Should this period need to be shortened, the absolute minimum requirement is that the
working party's last reading should take place five working days before Coreper meets, thus enabling the
Secretariat to prepare both the report and the note to the chairman of Coreper in good time before the end of
the week preceding Coreper's meeting.
Once a working party chairperson thinks that a matter should be included on the agenda for Coreper, he must
notify the Presidency coordinator, as well as the Presidency representatives on the Antici/Mertens Groups
who will make the necessary contacts with the Directorate for General Policy Questions of the General
Secretariat in order to have the item placed on the preliminary draft agenda for the appropriate Coreper
meeting.
26 See also the "Delegates' Handbook", Part III of this Council Guide, Chapter II. 27 The Presidency may, if it thinks it necessary, convene the working party at shorter notice, particularly in order to inform it about
practical arrangements for further work.
29
3. Coreper
Article 207 TEC stipulates that "a committee consisting of the permanent representatives of the Member
States shall be responsible for preparing the work of the Council and for carrying out the tasks assigned to it
by the Council". This horizontal task applies to the Council in all its configurations (except for the
Agriculture and Fisheries Council, for which preparations are traditionally carried out by the SCA for most
matters relating to agriculture 28) and for all areas falling within the sphere of competence of the Union
including the CFSP and JHA. Article 19(1) CRP lists more precisely what are the horizontal tasks of Coreper
which are to "ensure consistency of the Union's policies and actions and see to it that the following
principles and rules are observed:
(a) the principles of legality, subsidiarity, proportionality and providing reasons for acts;
(b) rules establishing the powers of Union institutions and bodies;
(c) budgetary provisions;
(d) rules on procedure, transparency and the quality of drafting."
Article 19(2) CRP 29 states that all items on the agenda for a Council meeting shall be examined in advance
by Coreper, unless otherwise decided by Coreper (by simple majority) or by the Council (voting
unanimously).
Coreper is divided into two parts:
– Coreper Part 1 (Coreper I), composed of the deputy permanent representatives, which meets on
Wednesdays as a rule, but often also on Fridays;
– Coreper Part 2 (Coreper II), composed of the permanent representatives, which usually meets on
Wednesdays or Thursdays.
28 Veterinary and zootechnical harmonisation, as well as the harmonisation of plant health, animal feedingstuff and plant and seed
legislation traditionally go through Coreper. 29 Without prejudice to the role of the Economic and Financial Committee as determined in Article 114(2) TEC and the existing
decisions of the Council which concern it.
30
The allocation of tasks decided by Coreper itself is as follows:
– Coreper II: institutional matters, preparation of Council meetings in the following configurations:
General Affairs and External Relations – Economic and Financial Affairs – and Justice and Home Affairs;
– Coreper I: preparation of Council meetings in the following configurations: Employment, Social
Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs – Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry and Research) –
Transport, Telecommunications and Energy – Agriculture and Fisheries – Environment – Education, Youth
and Culture.
(a) The provisional agenda
The provisional agenda is finalised by each Coreper chairperson the week before the meeting 30.
The Coreper agenda is divided into two parts:
– Part I contains items on which agreement has been reached within the working party and which may
therefore be approved by Coreper without discussion, unless a delegation is opposed, in which case the item
is withdrawn from the agenda or entered in Part II;
– Part II contains items requiring substantive examination by Coreper, and "Other business" items
entered at the request of the Presidency, a delegation or the Commission. "Other business" items will give
rise to a communication from those requesting them, but cannot culminate in a decision. Since it became
possible for Coreper to adopt procedural decisions (Article 207(1) TEC and Article 19(7) CRP), such items
have been marked on Coreper agendas with an asterisk in order to notify delegations that a procedural
decision is to be taken.
An item can be included on the agenda with the indication "Possibly" so that the Presidency can withdraw or
retain the item at very short notice. It is, however, advisable to make only limited use of this procedure,
which makes planning and the work of delegations more difficult.
Article 21 CRP specifies how much time to allow for the submission and inclusion of items on Coreper
agendas . To ensure the smooth conduct of proceedings and sound management of the General Secretariat, it
is essential that these provisions are respected.
30 Preferably before noon on Friday to avoid creating overtime for services of the General Secretariat (translators, Secretarial
Departments, reproduction services, etc.).
31
Too many derogations lead to the creation of overtime which, with a little discipline, could easily be
avoided. This applies to agendas for Coreper which are often circulated too late. Given the whole host of
services involved in the production of such documents (Directorate for General Policy Questions,
Coordination, Translation Divisions, Secretarial Departments, Reproduction and Circulation Departments)
and the fact that each of these services is dependent upon the previous link in the chain, the total cost of
overtime standbys, which may at first glance appear trivial, is not insignificant.
The General Secretariat (Directorate for General Policy Questions) has accordingly been instructed, apart
from exceptional circumstances, to accept items for inclusion on Coreper agendas only up until noon on the
Friday preceding the meeting.
Lastly, if one or more delegations so request, and Coreper agrees unanimously, a new item may be added
when the final agenda is adopted at the start of the meeting. Use should be made of this possibility only
where absolutely justified by exceptional circumstances.
(b) Preparation for Coreper
Working from the provisional agenda, the General Secretariat drafts for the delegates short notes on the
items in Part I or reports summarising the progress of discussions (possibly with an annotated text) for items
in Part II. For each item on the agenda, it also drafts a briefing note addressed only to the Presidency (Brief
for the Chair of Coreper) informing him or her of the procedure to follow and of any supplementary
information which might help discussions to progress. Briefs for the Chair are exclusively reserved for the
Presidency and are never circulated to the other delegations or outside.
The dossier should be available to the Presidency the day before the meeting at the latest.
Where it is appropriate, the Presidency can even take the line of making a specific contribution itself,
generally in the form of a compromise, to get work moving. Such contributions are drafted by the
Presidency, assisted by the General Secretariat of the Council, usually in conjunction with the Commission.
A preparatory meeting (briefing) is held before the Coreper meeting, attended by the Coreper chairperson,
together with the coordinator, officials of the General Secretariat of the Council dealing with the matters on
the agenda, and a representative of the Legal Service. Coreper (Part 2) briefings are usually attended by the
Deputy Secretary-General, and by the Legal Counsel to the Council (Director-General of the Legal Service).
32
The Antici Group, set up in 1975, prepares the work of Coreper (Part 2). It is composed of the immediate
assistants to the permanent representatives and a Commission representative, under the
chairmanship of the Presidency's Antici representative. Meetings of the group are also attended by the
representative of the GSC (Directorate for General Policy Questions) and the assistant to the Director-
General of the Legal Service. The group is responsible for examining Coreper agendas and deciding on the
organisation of the proceedings, particularly the order in which agenda items will be discussed. More
generally, it aims to lighten as much as possible the work load of Coreper (see Annex IV to CRP on working
methods for an enlarged Council, points (4) and (5)).The meeting is also the time when delegations inform
one another of their respective positions and state what items they want entered under "Other business". The
group reviews the minutes of meetings held by those Council configurations set up by Coreper (Part 2),
before items are submitted as I/A items to Coreper and then the Council. The Antici Group may also be
instructed by Coreper to deal with certain horizontal or particularly sensitive dossiers on an ad hoc basis.
The Mertens Group, which was set up in 1993, performs more or less the same function for Coreper (Part 1).
It also deals with the authorisations to hold Council or working party meetings outside the Council's seat.
It may also be noted that Coreper created in 2003 the Nicolaidis Group, which assists with the organisation
of PSC meetings, e.g. by going through the provisional agendas in advance, fixing the order in which the
items for discussion would be taken and dealing if necessary with practical arrangements for the meeting.
(c) Conduct of meetings
Coreper first adopts its definitive agenda. This is when requests are made for items to be taken under "Other
business" or for new items to be placed on the agenda (see above) and the chairperson states in what
sequence items will finally be discussed.
The chairperson then calls upon Coreper to approve the items entered in Part I of its agenda. Such approval
may occasion reservations and statements, but no discussion of substance can take place.
The Presidency takes any decisions on the conduct of the meeting (see "Comments on the Council's Rules of
Procedure", Part II of this Council Guide).
Coreper's discussions follow a similar pattern to those in the Council (see below) except that in principle they
cannot culminate in any final decision (except in the case of procedural decisions assigned to Coreper by
Article 19(7) CRP).
33
As a rule, Coreper avoids long drafting exercises. Where it appears that improved wording is required for
further work to proceed, the Presidency, aided by the General Secretariat and the Legal Service, may be
asked to redraft the text, or Coreper may request a working party to meet as a matter of urgency in parallel
with Coreper proceedings.
(d) The outcome
At the close of discussions, the chairperson of Coreper may:
– note Coreper's agreement on the item under discussion and therefore suggest that it be entered as an
"A" item for a forthcoming Council meeting;
– or note agreement on a number of points, as well as substantive differences of views remaining on
other aspects that need discussion at Council level to be resolved. In such circumstances, he suggests that
they be entered as Council "B" items;
– or note that some matters need further study by Coreper before being forwarded to the Council, and
thus re-enter the item on the agenda for a future meeting;
– or, finally, ask the relevant working party to sort out the technical difficulties which have emerged at
the Coreper meeting.
Following the Coreper proceedings, the General Secretariat of the Council issues a note summarising
progress to assist further discussion at Council level, as well as a note to the Presidency. If full agreement is
reached at Coreper level, the General Secretariat issues an "A" item note listing the references of the texts for
adoption by the Council, together with any statements there may be.
The General Secretariat draws up minutes of Coreper meetings which are called "summary record of the
proceedings" (or "compte-rendu sommaire" in French, known as "CRS").
Deadlines for sending documents to the Council: Article 3(4) CRP stipulates that "only items in respect of
which the documents have been sent to the members of the Council and to the Commission at the latest by
the date on which the provisional agenda is sent may be placed on that agenda", i.e., at least 14 days before
the beginning of the meeting, and, preferably, 21 days in the case of JHA meetings31.
34
4. The Council
In line with the timetable presented seven months before the beginning of the six months of the Presidency
(see above, Chapter II), the Council meets "when convened by its President on his own initiative or at the
request of one of its members or of the Commission" (Article 1(1) CRP).
The Council consists of "a representative of each Member State at ministerial level, authorised to commit
the government of that Member State" (Article 203 TEC) 32.
The Commission is invited to take part in meetings, although the Council may decide by simple majority to
deliberate with the Commission not present (called "en cadre interne" in French, this is seldom the case, but
can occur, for instance, if the Council – or one of its bodies – is discussing an
appointment or a legal case between it and the Commission – see Article 5(2) CRP). The President and
members of the Commission as well as of the Council may be accompanied by officials who assist them
(Article 5(3) CRP).
Each Council configuration meeting is chaired by the appropriate minister of the Member State holding the
Presidency.
Should it prove impossible for the Member State holding the Presidency to provide a President for the
Council, that place is filled temporarily by the Member State next in line to hold the Presidency.
The Council meets in different configurations depending on the subjects for discussion. Annex II to this part
sets out the list of these configurations as shown in Annex I to the CRP.
The General Affairs and External Relations Council has a horizontal responsibility for overseeing general
policy coordination. It is also responsible for the preparatory work for European Council meetings which
includes drawing up an annotated draft agenda at least four weeks in advance and holding a final preparatory
meeting on the eve of the European Council meeting (Article 2(2) and (3) CRP).
The frequency of Council meetings varies with the configuration. The General Affairs and External
Relations, Ecofin and Agriculture and Fisheries Councils meet every month.
31 See Article 3(1) CRP and statement (a) concerning this provision in footnote 1 to this Article. 32 Certain clauses of the Treaty provide for the Council meeting at the level of Heads of State or Government.
35
(a) The agenda
The President draws up the provisional agenda for each meeting on the basis of the material available at least
14 days before each meeting. For the Justice and Home Affairs Council, the time limit is in principle 21
days.
To allow national parliaments to express their views on questions that might have particular interest for
them, the protocol on the role of national parliaments in the European Union, annexed to the Treaties by the
Treaty of Amsterdam, established a mechanism preventing the Council from adopting a legislative act before
national parliaments have had time to examine the text. Point 3 of the protocol provides that the Council may
place a legislative proposal or initiative on its provisional agenda for decision (on the final adoption of a
legislative act, or on a common position under the co-decision procedure) only when six weeks have elapsed
between the submission of the proposal or initiative and the Council's decision to adopt it. That rule also
appears in Article 3(3) of the CRP. The Council, acting unanimously, may derogate from the six-week period
for reasons of urgency.
It is mandatory to enter an item on the provisional agenda if a delegation or the Commission so requests at
least 16 days before the Council meeting and if the documents are available. On the other hand, once that
deadline has passed, unanimous agreement is required for the inclusion of any further item.
The provisional agenda is distributed to Coreper by the Presidency (usually three weeks before the Council
meeting). Items on which a vote may be taken are asterisked. It is important that, as far as possible, the
agenda also makes a distinction between items down for negotiation and those for decision.
The General Secretariat of the Council drafts a briefing note to the President of the Council supplementing
the report(s) for all delegations. In the same way as the brief to the Chair of Coreper (see above), this note
sets out the latest information which the General Secretariat has on the state of the dossier, and outlines the
main substantive, legal, procedural and tactical points which will assist the Presidency in conducting
discussions. Briefing notes to the President of the Council are exclusively reserved for the Presidency and are
never circulated to the other delegations or outside.
Like the agenda for Coreper, the Council's agenda is divided into two parts:
– "A" items, which the Council may adopt without any discussion.
36
However, a member of the Council may always request the withdrawal of one of these items on the actual
day of the Council meeting (the item then being held over until a forthcoming Council, or kept on the agenda
– as a "B" item – by a simple majority if the item had been entered within the set 14 or 16 days deadlines
provided for by Article 3 CRP ).
Delegations may, additionally, enter statements in the Council minutes when "A" items are adopted 33;
– "B" items, these are the items which the Council will discuss.
The agenda may also include "Other business" items which may be placed on the provisional agenda at the
request of a delegation without any advance notice but may occasion neither a discussion nor a decision by
the Council. However, any request for the inclusion of an "Other business" item must in principle be
accompanied by an explanatory document by the delegation submitting the request (Article 3(9) CRP).
The CRP lay down specific rules on how much time to allow for the submission and inclusion of items on
Council agendas (Article 3). To ensure the smooth conduct of proceedings and sound management of the
General Secretariat, systematic application of those rules is required.
Too many derogations lead to the creation of overtime which, with a little discipline, could easily be
avoided. This applies to "A" items for the Council which are often released too late. Given the whole host of
services involved in the production of such documents (Directorate for General Policy Questions,
Coordination, Translation Divisions, Secretarial Departments, Reproduction and Circulation Departments,)
and the fact that each of these services is dependent upon the previous link in the chain, the total cost of
overtime standbys, which may at first glance appear trivial, is not insignificant.
The Directorate for General Policy Questions has accordingly been instructed, apart from in exceptional
circumstances, to accept "A" items for inclusion on Council agendas only up until noon on the day preceding
the meeting. Any request for inclusion received by the Meetings Department after that deadline will
automatically be deferred until the Council's next meeting.
(b) Preparations
A preparatory meeting (briefing) is chaired by the President before each Council meeting. It is typically held
the day before the Council, but may immediately precede it. Depending on the Council configuration, the
briefing is attended by the permanent representative or his deputy, and by the Secretary-General/High
33 See also Chapter III, Section 4(g), "Publication of votes".
37
Representative, the Deputy Secretary-General or the Director-General of the department of the General
Secretariat concerned, as well as by the legal adviser or a representative of the Legal Service.
(c) Access to the Council meeting room
Access to the Council meeting room is open34 to a maximum of five people per delegation, including the
minister and permanent representative or his deputy. Other members of delegations can follow the Council's
discussions in a listening room, unless decided otherwise.
The Presidency is at liberty to adjust the composition of delegations around the table depending on the
degree of technicality or of political sensitivity of the matter discussed (meetings in restricted session,
ministers plus one person, ministers only, etc.). Whatever the case, the General Secretariat of the Council and
the Legal Service are always present.
(d) The Council proceedings
In the interests of concision and lower costs for the Council, the Presidency must endeavour to avoid
proceedings continuing beyond 21:00.
As regards conduct of business, the Presidency proceeds in turn to:
– take note of "Other business" items and any requests for changes to the agenda;
– adopt the agenda;
– adopt the "A" items, taking account of any statements35 or reservations. These "A" items are
normally adopted "en bloc". If an item is the subject of a statement by one or more members of the Council
which is likely to give rise to a discussion or a request for withdrawal, it can either be withdrawn from the
agenda or left on the agenda on the basis of a simple majority vote (see above);
– discuss the "B" items.
34 Access to Council meetings is subject to production of a pass (see Article 5(3) and (4) CRP). See the "Delegates' Handbook",
Part III of this Council Guide, Chapter II. 35 Council members who make a statement may request that it appear in the Council minutes. See Chapter III, Section 4(g),
"Publication of votes".
38
Discussions may be of several types:
– Discussions with a view to a decision, when negotiations may be initiated to overcome the final
obstacles to an agreement (agreement on a legislative text, a resolution, a statement, negotiating directives,
etc.). By and large, agreement is recorded on the substance of a legislative act (political agreement), but it is
not adopted, since this is done subsequently when it becomes an "A" item (after the requisite alignment of
the texts in all the official EU languages by the Council's legal/linguistic experts).
– Policy debates, which give members of Council a chance to express their general positions on an
issue without really embarking on the negotiation of a text; in such discussions, it is customary for each
delegation to take the floor only once on the substance of the issue and to limit the amount of speaking time
(to three or four minutes); moreover, the time-consuming practice of tours de table shall be proscribed in
principle. As far as the conduct of the proceedings is concerned, the Presidency may ask members of the
Council to advise it beforehand in writing of any reservations, suggestions and, where applicable, drafting
changes they would like made to the text.
As was agreed in the working methods for an enlarged Council (Annex I to CRP), no items are to be placed
on the Council agenda simply for presentation by the Commission or Council members, except where a
debate is foreseen on new major initiatives.
The Presidency may, where it deems fit, particularly in the event of a long-standing stalemate, draw up a
compromise on a specific aspect or on a whole text. It may happen that such a compromise is also presented
as part of a package deal covering several texts under discussion. Such compromises may also be tabled in
Coreper or in the working party.
In addition to the 25 Council members, the members of the Commission, the Secretary-General/High
Representative, and the representative of the Council Legal Service may take the floor in the Council. Other
persons, such as EU Special Representatives or the Chairs of special committees, may be invited by the
President to address the Council.
After the discussion, the President draws the conclusions which may be reduced to three main cases:
agreement, referral back or a vote:
– in the event of agreement (either unanimous or by the majority required under the Treaty), the text is
deemed to be approved ("political agreement"), although it may still have to appear as an "A" item at a
subsequent Council meeting for adoption after legal/linguistic alignment;
39
– in the event of a referral, it is customary for the President to give some indications as to the
procedure for subsequent proceedings, outlining the main points under discussion and stressing the potential
solutions to which delegations are asked to give further consideration;
– in the event of a vote, the following rules apply.
(e) Voting
As mentioned earlier, voting on a legislative act may not take place, except on grounds of urgency, unless six
weeks have elapsed between the presentation of the proposal or draft act and its inclusion on a Council agenda
for a decision. The purpose of the six-week period is to enable national parliaments to examine the text (Article
3(3) of the CRP. See also under section 4(a) "The agenda" above).
The rules for voting in the Council are set out in Article 205 TEC and explained in Articles 11 and 12 CRP. The
comments on the CRP, Part II of this Council Guide, explain the voting rules in the light of various procedures.
The different kinds of vote are:
– simple majority voting: although this is presented as the norm in Article 205(1) TEC, in fact it
applies only in limited instances 36, e.g. for procedural decisions (under Articles 23(3) and 34(4) TEU) and
where no alternative voting arrangements are provided for in the applicable legal basis. Under the simple
majority voting rule, the Council adopts decisions by a majority of its members, i.e. if thirteen members cast
votes in favour;
– Qualified majority voting is governed by Article 205(2) and (4) TEC. For an act to be adopted by a
qualified majority the following conditions must be met:
(a) 232 votes must37 be cast in favour of the Council act based on the following weightings:
Germany, France, Italy and United Kingdom: ...................................................................................... 29 votes
Spain and Poland: .................................................................................................................................. 27 votes
Netherlands: ........................................................................................................................................... 13 votes
Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Portugal and Czech Republic: .................................................................. 12 votes
Austria and Sweden: .............................................................................................................................. 10 votes
36 For example, Article 207 TEC on adoption of the Rules of Procedure; Article 284 TEC on the Commission's right to collect
information. 37 Out of a total of 321 votes. 90 votes are therefore required for a blocking minority.
40
Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania and Slovak Republic: .................................................................. 7 votes
Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia: .............................................................................. 4 votes
Malta: ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 votes
(b) the 232 votes must be:
– votes in favour cast by a majority (i.e. thirteen) of the members of the Council in the case of acts
adopted on a proposal from the Commission;
– votes in favour cast by at least two-thirds (i.e. seventeen) of the members of the Council in other
cases (i.e. when the Council does not act on a Commission proposal).
(c) A member of the Council may request verification that the Member States constituting the qualified
majority represent at least 62% of the total population of the Union. The Council Decision of 11 October
2004 amending the Council's Rules of Procedure (OJ L 319, 20.10.2004, p. 15) lays down the rules for
calculating the population figures for the Member States of the Union.
Under the qualified majority voting system, an abstention therefore counts as a vote against.
Unanimous voting is required under the TEC for fields which the Treaty drafters have considered sensitive.
Generally speaking, unanimity is necessary for the Council to be able to depart from a Commission proposal38. It
is also the rule in the case of joint actions or common positions adopted by the Council under the CFSP, except
for the implementation of a common strategy adopted by the European Council, a decision implementing a joint
action or common position or a decision to appoint special representative (Article 23(2) TEU). Unanimity is also
required for the adoption of common positions, framework decisions, decisions and conventions under JHA,
except for decisions implementing or applying JHA decisions and conventions (Article 34(2)(c) and (d) TEU)39.
Under unanimous voting, an abstention does not prevent a decision from being taken (Article 205(3) TEC).
As regards voting procedure, Article 11 CRP provides that:
38 But not from a "recommendation" (see various Articles on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and Article 300(1) TEC). 39 See also Chapter VI, Section 3.
41
– the Council votes on the initiative of its President. The President is also required to open a voting
procedure on the initiative of a member of the Council or of the Commission, provided that a majority of the
Council's members agrees (simple majority);
– members of the Council vote (in principle) in the order of the Member States laid down pursuant to
Article 203 TEC, beginning with the member who follows the member holding the office of President;
– any member of the Council may also act on behalf of not more than one other member (Article 206
TEC);
– the presence of the majority of the members of the Council entitled to vote is required to enable the
Council to vote (quorum, i.e. the presence of a minimum of 13 Council members or fewer if one or more
members of the Council may not legally participate in the vote – case of "opting out", see Article 11(4),
Article 16 and Annex III CRP);40
– when the vote is taken, the President, assisted by the General Secretariat, checks that there is a quorum.
(f) Written procedure
Under Article 12 CRP, acts of the Council on an urgent matter may be adopted by a written vote where the
Council or Coreper decides unanimously to use that procedure. In special circumstances the President may also
propose the use of that procedure subject to the agreement of all members of the Council. The Commission must
also give its agreement where the written vote is on a matter which the Commission has brought before the
Council.
In the CFSP context, the Council may, on the initiative of the Presidency, act by means of the simplified written
procedure (COREU). In that case the proposal is deemed to be adopted at the end of that procedure, within the
period laid down by the Presidency depending on the urgency of the matter, except where a member of the
Council objects (Article 12(4) CRP).
The General Secretariat establishes that written procedures have been completed.
40 See definition of member of the Council, Article 203 TEC.
42
(g) Publication of votes
Pursuant to Article 207(3) TEC, the results and explanations of votes, as well as statements entered in the
minutes, are made public in accordance with the terms of Article 9 CRP. A distinction can be drawn between
automatic publication and publication requiring a vote.
i) Automatic publication (Article 9(1) CRP)
The following are made public automatically (http://ue.eu.int, Documents, Access to Council documents,
Summary of Council acts):
– the results and explanations of votes by members of the Council, as well as statements in the Council
minutes and items in those minutes relating to the adoption of legislative acts, where the Council acts in its
legislative capacity within the meaning of Article 7 CRP;
– the results and explanations of votes, as well as statements in the minutes and items in those minutes
relating to the adoption of a common position, in application of the Articles on the co-decision and
cooperation procedures;
– the results of votes and explanations of votes by members of the Council or their representatives on
the Conciliation Committee (co-decision), as well as statements in the Council minutes and items in those
minutes relating to the Conciliation Committee meeting;
– the public votes on codesision acts are made availiable on the web site of the Council (http://ue.eu.int,
Documents, Access to Council documents, Summary of Council acts);
– the results of votes and explanations of votes, as well as statements in the minutes and items in those
minutes relating to the establishment by the Council of a convention on the basis of Title VI (JHA) TEU.
ii) Publication decided on by the Council or Coreper (Article 9(2) CRP)
– results of votes are made public by a unanimous Council or Coreper decision taken at the request of
one of their members when the Council acts pursuant to Title V (CFSP) TEU or adopts a common position
as defined by Title VI (JHA) TEU. In other cases, a Council or Coreper decision taken by a simple majority at
the request of one of their members is required;
– When results of votes are made public, explanations of votes are also made public at the request of
the Council members concerned. Explanations of votes may only be published with due regard for the CRP,
legal certainty and the interests of the Council. The Council's interests are a matter for the Legal Service;
43
– statements entered in the Council minutes and items in those minutes relating to the adoption of the
acts referred to in the first and second indents are also made public by Council or Coreper decision taken by
simple majority at the request of one of their members.
Votes are not made public in the case of discussions leading to indicative votes or the adoption of preparatory
acts.
(h) The outcome of Council meetings
Formal adoption of a text
This follows on from finalisation of the text in all the official languages of the Union by the legal/linguistic
experts.
The texts of acts adopted jointly by the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with the co-decision
procedure are signed by the President of the Parliament and the President of the Council. The signature takes
place at a joint European Parliament and Council press conference called to announce the adoption of such a
text, or in the margins of a plenary session of the European Parliament.
Article 15 CRP provides that such acts and acts adopted by the Council are also to be signed by the
Secretary-General or by the Deputy Secretary-General, both of whom may delegate their signature to
Directors-General of the General Secretariat.
Publication in the Official Journal
Acts adopted by the Parliament and the Council or by the Council are published in the Official Journal in all the
official languages of the Union (for details, see Article 17 CRP) (http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex).
The minutes
The outcome of Council meetings is recorded in the minutes drawn up by the General Secretariat within 15 days
of each meeting. Article 13 CRP specifies the content of minutes (indication of documents submitted to the
Council, decisions taken or conclusions reached by the Council, statements made by the Council or by a member
of the Council or the Commission whose entry in the minutes has been requested).
44
Draft minutes are approved by the Council or by Coreper after each member of the Council and the Commission
has had the opportunity to check their content. When approved, the minutes are signed by the Secretary-General
or by the Deputy Secretary-General, both of whom may delegate their signature to Directors-General of the
General Secretariat.
The press release
The outcome of the Council meeting is the subject of a press release drafted by the Council Press Office, which
contains the main conclusions of the meeting. The press release commits only the General Secretariat and not the
Council. It is published on the Internet (http://ue.eu.int/pressdata).
5. Informal meetings of ministers
The main purpose of informal meetings is to permit joint consideration and an as-free-as-possible exchange
of views on topics of general scope; they are not formal Council meetings because they have not been
convened as such under the Council's Rules of Procedure. It follows that such meetings cannot replace the
Council's normal activities.
(a) Characteristics of informal meetings
In order to preserve the informal nature of the meetings in question, the following guidelines approved by the
Helsinki European Council (December 1999) must be followed:
– the number of informal ministerial meetings is restricted to five per Presidency;
– there is no official agenda;
– the presence of assistants is limited to two per minister;
– any production of Council documents, whether before or after the meeting, is excluded;
– these meetings cannot arrive at formal conclusions or decisions; any press communication must
make this point explicitly clear.
45
(b) Logistics
At logistical level (see Chapter VII), the Council General Secretariat is not involved at all. The Presidency
has to take direct responsibility for organisation.
There is one exception to that rule, however: where an informal meeting of agriculture ministers is held
immediately before or after a meeting of the SCA, the General Secretariat provides ministers with technical
assistance in all matters relating to meeting-room facilities, including interpreting.
6. The European Council
Article 4 TEU provides that the European Council "shall meet at least twice a year". In Seville, the European
Council stated that it should meet in principle four times a year. This corresponds to what has in fact become
the practice for some time. Usually these meetings are held in March, June, October and December.
However, it is still possible to convene extraordinary meetings of the European Council. Rules for organising
the proceedings of the European Council were agreed by the Seville European Council in June 2002.41
(a) Preparation
Preparations for meetings of the European Council are made by the General Affairs and External Relations
Council which coordinates all the preparatory work (see Article 2(3) CRP). In particular, the General Affairs
and External Relations Council draws up an annotated draft agenda on a proposal by the Presidency at least
four weeks before the meeting of the European Council, holds a final preparatory meeting on the eve of the
European Council meeting and approves the agenda. Contributions to the proceedings of the European
Council by other Council configurations must be forwarded to the General Affairs and External Relations
Council at the latest two weeks before the meeting of the European Council. Except for urgent and
unforeseeable reasons linked, for example, to current international events, no other configuration of the
Council or Council preparatory committee may meet between the final preparatory meeting of the General
Affairs and External Relations Council and the European Council meeting.
In addition, shortly before the meeting of the European Council the President traditionally writes a letter on
how he intends to organise the discussions.
41 See Annex I to the Presidency Conclusions of the European Council of 21 and 22 June 2002.
46
(b) Role of the Secretariat
The Secretariat for the European Council is provided by the Secretary-General/High Representative and the
Deputy Secretary-General, aided by a number of assistants.
The General Secretariat provides the normal logistic support, as well as acting in an advisory capacity to the
Presidency. It prepares a steering note if required. The Secretary-General normally takes part in the briefing
for the President of the European Council on the day before the meeting.
At the European Council itself, the Secretary-General/High Representative and the Deputy Secretary-
General aided by the Legal Counsel to the Council (Director-General of the Legal Service) and two or three
assistants and three note-takers provide secretarial services for the meeting.
(c) Presidency conclusions
An outline of the European Council conclusions is distributed on the day of the European Council meeting in
good time for the start of proceedings.
At the close of the European Council, the Council General Secretariat takes responsibility for preparing and
circulating the final version of the Presidency conclusions in the light of the discussions in the European
Council on the basis of the draft. It also checks, as soon as possible, that all linguistic versions correspond.
47
Chapter IV – The Presidency's relations with the other institutions
During its six-month term, the Presidency has to carry out a number of specific tasks aimed at facilitating
relations between the Council and the other institutions.
1. The European Parliament
(a) Presentation of the programme – general debates – visits by Heads of State
The Presidency presents its programme to the European Parliament at the beginning of its term of office. At
the end of the term, it reports to the Parliament on progress achieved. Each of these interventions is followed
by a debate.
Article 21 TEU (CFSP)42 and Article 39 TEU (JHA)43 provide that the Presidency is to keep the European
Parliament regularly informed of proceedings in these fields.
The President of the European Council submits an oral report to the European Parliament following the
meeting of the European Council.
Article 4 TEU also provides for the European Council to submit to the European Parliament a yearly written
report on progress achieved by the Union.
At formal sittings of the European Parliament on the occasion of visits by Heads of State or Government, the
Presidency may be represented. The President of the Council does not make a statement on these occasions
but is invited to the meal which generally accompanies such visits. There may also be private meetings
between the President of the Council and Heads of State or Government visiting the Parliament.
(b) Plenary sittings
The Presidency's commitments consist chiefly in the President of the Council (General Affairs) – who may
be the Minister for Foreign Affairs or the Minister/State Secretary for European Affairs – being present at
each plenary part-session of the European Parliament on a specific day (currently Wednesday) and
frequently for part of a second day (usually Tuesday afternoon), and:
42 See also Chapter V, Section 4(f). 43 See also Chapter VI, Section 4.
48
(i) answering questions – and additional questions – put at Council Question Time (currently
Wednesday afternoon during part-sessions in Strasbourg);
(ii) answering any oral questions on the agenda for the part-session;
(iii) occasionally taking part in certain debates of particular importance or making a statement on a
specific subject, either at the Council's initiative or in response to a request from the European Parliament's
"Conference of Presidents".
At the "Conference of Presidents" (during which the preliminary draft and then the final draft agenda for the
following month's part-session of the European Parliament are drawn up), the Council is represented by the
member of the Council Legal Service responsible for relations with the European Parliament (either the
Director-General or the Director)44.
(c) Involvement in committees
An important aspect of relations between the two institutions is the exchange of views between the President
of each Council configuration and the relevant European Parliament committees.
The Presidency (normally the minister responsible for the matter) is invited to most European Parliament
committees. The minister makes a brief statement and answers questions on matters within his jurisdiction.
The General Secretariat of the Council assists the minister in preparing his statement.
The practice is one exchange of views per parliamentary committee but increasingly some committees are
asking for two exchanges of views or hearings, one at the beginning and the second at the end of the
Presidency's term.
In this context, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy
always has on its agenda an item entitled "exchange of views with Council and Commission representatives",
the aim of which is to cover topical events in the sphere of foreign affairs and security (Article 17 TEU). The
President of the Council or, in his absence, his representative or the Director-General for External Relations
at the Council General Secretariat regularly takes part in the exchange of views. Such an exchange regularly
takes place following a meeting of the GAERC.
44 See Article 26 CRP and the Council decision of 6 August 1971 concerning the Assembly's working methods (doc 1621/71 ASS
1147).
49
In the field of JHA, Article 39 TEU stipulates that the President of the Council has certain obligations as
regards information and consultation45.
The Council may also be represented before the committees, with the agreement of the Presidency, by its
Secretary-General/High Representative, or, acting on instructions from the Presidency, by the Deputy
Secretary-General or senior officials of the General Secretariat. The Council may also present its views to the
European Parliament by means of a written statement46.
(d) Information procedure on international agreements
In accordance with Article 300 TEU and long-standing procedures, the European Parliament is informed,
usually in writing but sometimes orally by the President, in relation to negotiations of international
agreements and their substance.
(e) Meetings of the trialogue
Meetings of the trialogue, which are usually informal and linked to specific issues, involve the
President of the Council, the Commissioner responsible and usually the President or one of the
vice-presidents of the European Parliament and/or the chairperson of the relevant European Parliament
committee as well as some officials. This procedure is most frequently applied to budgetary matters,
horizontal issues and the management of procedures.
Such meetings are the rule under the co-decision procedure (Article 251 TEC), for the negotiation of
compromise texts and for reaching agreement on proposals for legislative acts. The Council is generally
represented by the Chairman of Coreper at these trialogues.
The Presidents of the three institutions also meet periodically in Strasbourg in an informal political trialogue
to raise general policy questions and the question of the operation of interinstitutional relations.
(f) Co-decision procedure
See the "Co-decision Guide", Part IV of this Council Guide.
45 See Chapter VI, Section 4. 46 See the second paragraph of Article 26 CRP.
50
(g) Other contacts
Before Council meetings, it may happen that the President-in-Office (and exceptionally all the members of
the Council in the context of the budgetary procedure) meet(s) the President of the Parliament or rapporteurs
or parliamentary delegations.
(h) Delegations and joint parliamentary committees in the context of agreements with
third States
The President of the Council is generally asked to attend the opening sessions of meetings of joint
parliamentary committees and to give a speech. When it is not possible for a minister to be present, the
Presidency is represented by an ambassador or senior official.
2. The European Commission
Apart from the relations established with the Commission in the context of the normal operation of the
institutions, the Presidency has no specific incumbent obligations. However, it has become practice, when
planning the six-monthly programme, for the Presidency, represented by the relevant minister, to meet the
Commission (President and relevant members) for the purposes of drawing up the work programme.
3. The Court of Justice
Apart from courtesy visits, the Presidency has no specific obligations. There are, however, continuous
contacts between the Council Legal Service and the Court of Justice in the context of legal actions.
4. The Court of Auditors
The Presidency invites the President of the Court of Auditors to present his annual report to the Council, in
its Ecofin configuration. The Council examines this report in the context of the discharge procedure.
5. The Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee
Provision has to be made for Presidency ministers to be heard by both committees in presenting the
Presidency's work programme. Occasionally, ministers have been heard at plenary sessions for certain
discussions on specific subjects.
51
The General Secretariat of the Council represents the Council at meetings of the Bureau of both committees.
The President of the Council is often asked to participate at conferences on matters relating in varying
degrees to European integration. In the past, the President took part in conferences such as the Conference of
the Regions of the Community organised by the European Parliament and in meetings of the Conference of
Bodies concerned with Community Affairs in the Parliaments of the European Community (COSAC), which
are also attended by a European Parliament delegation.
52
Chapter V – The Union's external relations
1. The role of the Council and the Presidency
Preparation for all activities connected with the Union's external relations is in principle carried out in the
General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC). Where the conclusion or implementation of
international agreements relates to sectoral Community activities and policies, work takes place in the
Council's specialised configurations (for example, Environment Council, Agriculture and Fisheries Council).
The Council, and therefore its Presidency, and the Commission must ensure the necessary consistency in all
external relations activities, in particular their institutional aspects (division of powers between the
Community and the Member States, procedures applicable to CFSP and Community decision-making and
representation at international level). In practice the Working Party of Foreign Relations Counsellors
("RELEX" counsellors) is often called upon to play a role in the preparatory work in order to ensure this
"horizontal" consistency.
The role of the institutions in defining and conducting the Union's external relations differs according to
whether the subject is a matter for the powers exercised under Titles V (CFSP)47 and VI (JHA)48 (TEU), for
the Community, or for the powers of the Member States acting within the Council.
Where the Council is acting in the Community context, a distinction must be made between, on the one hand,
the adoption of internal legal acts and, on the other hand, administering international agreements concluded
by the Community, which implies defining in advance the line the Community will take in international
forums. In the first case, the role of the Council and the Presidency is the same in the external relations
sphere as in the other spheres of Community activity (taking into account the special features of the
procedure for concluding international agreements: Article 300 TEC). The second case – where the
definition of the Community position and its representation must be properly ensured – is treated in Sections
3 and 4 below.
Where the Council is acting in the CFSP context, the role and powers of the Presidency are different from its
powers in areas covered by Community competence (section 4).
47 See also Chapter V, Section 4. 48 See also Chapter VI, Section 5.
53
The external powers of the Community and the Member States may also be exercised jointly when
concluding and implementing certain international agreements ("mixed" agreements). In that case,
preparatory work in the Council most often covers both subjects falling within Community competence and
those falling within the powers of the Member States.
2. Enlargement
Accession negotiations are carried out in the framework of individual bilateral Intergovernmental
Conferences composed of, on the one side, the candidate country concerned, and, on the other side, all the
Member States. The Council determines the common positions of the European Union (EU) on all questions
raised during accession negotiations. Nonetheless, if agreement can be reached, Coreper can define the
common position of the EU at its level in conjunction with the Commission representative. The substance of
the negotiations, i.e. the entire acquis communautaire, is divided into negotiating chapters.
In order to define the common positions of the EU, the Commission makes proposals in the areas covered by
the EC Treaties (draft EU common positions on each negotiating chapter). Although with regard to CFSP
and police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, proposals can be made by the Presidency, in practice
the Commission is entrusted with making proposals also in all these areas as well.
The Presidency chairs all negotiating meetings between the EU and candidate countries. The common
positions of the EU are set out and upheld in the negotiations either by the President of the Council or, where
the Council so decides, by the Commission, particularly if existing Community policies are concerned.
The Conference secretariat is provided, under the authority of the Secretary-General/High Representative
(SG/HR) or his representative, by officials of the General Secretariat of the Council (GSC), which prepares
and ensures the follow-up of all the meetings of Accession Conferences at Ministerial and Deputy level and
of the Enlargement Working Party. This includes preparing the summaries of conclusions of the meetings of
the Accession Conferences, which, together with the EU common positions, constitute the basis for the
drafting of the Accession Treaty.
The European Parliament (EP) follows the enlargement process actively, in particular through the work in
Joint Parliamentary Committees with candidate countries. The involvement of the EP throughout the
negotiation process is essential as it is called upon to give its assent to the application for membership
(Article 48 TEU).
54
3. Agreements with third countries and international organisations;
Trade and Development
(a) The administration of international agreements concluded by the Community
A distinction should be made between those agreements concluded by the Community (alone or jointly with
the Member States) with one or more third States and participation by the Community (alone or jointly with
the Member States) in international organisations (section 3 below). The list of the EU's external
commitments under the three pillars is regularly updated in a Council document (6717/03).
– Composition of mixed bodies
The roles of the Council and the Presidency differ according to whether the agreements are exclusively
Community ones or are "mixed" agreements, i.e. concluded jointly by the Community and the
Member States.
Exclusively Community agreements may entail the creation of a joint committee responsible for monitoring
the implementation of the agreement; the Community is normally represented in them by the Commission,
assisted by representatives of the members of the Council49.
Mixed agreements may entail the creation of bodies responsible for administering them (a "council" at
ministerial level ("association council" or another name) and a "joint committee" at senior official level)50.
The Council adopted conclusions on 29 June 2000 aimed at rationalising the scheduling, organisation and
number of such meetings, as well as the level of the participants51.
– Spokesman
In exclusively Community agreements, the role of Community spokesman is normally assigned to the
Commission.
49 This rule is departed from, as in the case of the International Science and Technology Centre (ISTC) and the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC). 50 The secretariat of these bodies is usually provided jointly by the General Secretariat and a secretary from the associated State. 51 See 9660/00 of 21 June 2000 (Council conclusions on the management of external commitments at Ministerial level).
55
In mixed agreements, the role of single spokesman for the Community and the Member States is normally
assigned to the Presidency or the Commission.
– Defining the Community position
When bodies set up by an international agreement adopt decisions with legal effects, the position expressed
by the Community spokesman is defined in advance by the Council itself (prepared by Coreper and the
working party). If the decision to be taken by a body set up by international agreement falls not only within
the Community's sphere of competence, but also within that of the Member States, a common position must
be established. Member States' positions may be the subject of a decision by the representatives of the
Member States meeting within the Council; this method guarantees the consistency of the Union's
international action (Community and Member States), which the Presidency has to ensure.
When the work of these bodies does not result in the adoption of decisions with legal effects, the position to
be expressed on behalf of the Community is established in the relevant working party. It is then confirmed by
Coreper and, if it is a major policy position, by the Council.
– The holding of meetings
In the case of exclusively Community agreements, the Commission is in principle responsible for holding
and convening meetings of the joint committee set up by the agreement. In the case of mixed agreements, the
President of the Council is co-President or takes his turn as President of the Association Council (as the
Commission does in the case of the joint committee); in this capacity, he is responsible for the holding of
meetings.
It is also the responsibility of the Council and the Presidency to organise the meetings, in particular at
ministerial level, which are held with third States outside or alongside the legal framework set up by an
agreement (for example, the conferences with the Rio Group or the countries of Central America, the
EU-ASEAN Conference or the Euro-Mediterranean Conference in Barcelona).
As far as possible, meetings at ministerial level are held alongside meetings of the GAERC Council (in
particular during a working meal enabling discussion in an informal context). A practice has been established
whereby meetings of two Association Councils with third States belonging to the same geographical area and
sharing the same type of concerns are scheduled for the same day.
56
On 29 June 2000 the Council agreed a series of measures aimed at streamlining the agendas of these
meetings and ensuring that discussions focus on substantive issues.52
(b) Community participation in international organisations and conferences Community participation in international organisations depends above all on the rules specific to each
organisation. The diversity of these explains the diversity of the ways in which the Community participates.
Some examples are given below.
If the Community is a full member of the international organisation, it is normally represented by the
Commission. If the matters covered by the organisation are also within the jurisdiction of the Member States
and the latter are also full members, representation is also ensured by the Presidency, which plays a crucial
role in ensuring consistency in the international action of the Union (Community and Member States).
Whichever way the Community participates in an international organisation, the Council plays a decisive
role in defining the Community position within the organisation. The Presidency must ensure that the
Council's role in this context is always respected.
The action of the Member States as such within an international organisation may also be coordinated within
the Council. The Presidency is often instructed to express the Member States' common position (UN General
Assembly, for example). This possibility becomes an absolute necessity when the proceedings of the
international organisation fall within the Community's exclusive sphere of competence but the Community is
not admitted as such to the proceedings.
– The World Trade Organisation (WTO)
The Community participates in the WTO jointly with the Member States. A code of conduct agreed between
the Council, the Member States and the Commission lays down practical arrangements for negotiations on
trade in services. The Council must adopt prior decisions enabling the Commission to express the
Community's agreement before the WTO bodies adopt decisions with legal effects (see section 3(a) above).
The Council has authorised the Commission to negotiate the WTO's Doha Development Agenda. The
Commission negotiates on behalf of the Community and the Member States in consultation with the 133
Committees and within the negotiating directives issued by the Council.
52 See the abovementioned conclusions (doc 9660/00 of 21 June 2000).
57
– The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and commodities
organisations and conferences
Participation by the Community and Member States in organisations and conferences relating to
commodities is governed by the "PROBA 20" arrangement.
That arrangement provides for a joint delegation of the Community and the Member States which is to
defend a common position previously established by the Council. The Commission normally acts as
spokesman, but this role may sometimes be assumed by the Presidency, depending on the circumstances.
In UNCTAD, the Community is represented either by the Commission (trade aspects) or by the Presidency
(development aspects). Proceedings relating to the generalised system of preferences (GSP) within the
UNCTAD Special Committee on Preferences, which meets in Geneva for one week a year, are prepared at
coordinating meetings in Brussels within the GSP Working Party. On-the-spot coordinating meetings are
reserved for defining Community positions on unforeseen points.
– The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
The Community participates as a full member in the FAO jointly with its Member States. It does so on the
basis of a declaration of competences dividing responsibilities for attendance at proceedings and the exercise
of voting rights between the Community and its Member States.
Internal discussions are prepared on the basis of an ad hoc arrangement between the Council and the
Commission (agreed in December 1991). The arrangement provides for consultation and for procedures to
establish who has the right to make statements and to vote. If there is disagreement in the Council working
party on how to apply the arrangement, the matter is referred to Coreper.
– The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
The Community has a standing invitation to participate with observer status in the sessions and work of the
UN General Assembly. The Community is represented in the UN by the Presidency (permanent
representative of the Member State holding the Presidency) and by the head of the European Commission's
delegation to the UN. Save in exceptional cases when the Commission takes the floor, it is the Presidency
which in principle expresses the Member States' common position at the General Assembly and ECOSOC.
To this end, internal coordinating meetings, attended by the Commission, are held on the spot in order to
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establish the European Union's position. In some, increasingly rare, cases, the EU Member States make
supplementary national declarations.
– The Council of Europe (CoE)
The Community's status within the CoE enables it to be represented by the Commission in negotiations
concerning conventions coming within the Community's exclusive competence. Regular meetings are
scheduled within the JHA sphere.
– The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
By decision dated 23 March 1998, the Community concluded both the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
of 10 December 1982 and the agreement of 28 July 1994 relating to the implementation of Part XI of that
Convention. Those agreements, being of the "mixed" type, also come within Member States' competence53.
The Community is thus a member of the International Sea-Bed Authority (and, hence, of the Assembly, i.e.
the organ of the Authority consisting of all the members of the latter). The Community, represented by the
Commission, takes part in the meetings of the Authority's Assembly.
– The International Labour Organisation (ILO)
The Community enjoys observer status, enabling it to participate, without voting rights, in the General
Conference of Representatives of ILO Members. Moreover, prior to ILO conferences and throughout
negotiations in Geneva, the Member States hold coordinating meetings at which both the Commission and
the GSC play an active role. Provided that the Member States agree on a common approach, the Presidency
will present the Member States' position to the conference.
– Fisheries
In the area of fisheries, the Community has concluded bilateral agreements with a large number of countries.
Given their nature, those agreements can be implemented without the Council's participation.
The Community is also affiliated to various international fisheries organisations. It is represented in them by
the Commission, assisted by a committee composed of representatives of Member States' governments.
53 OJ L 179, 23.6.1998, p. 1.
59
– Conventions on environmental matters
In environmental matters, competence is mixed. Member States and the Community must therefore
coordinate in order to establish the position to be taken in the context of the negotiation of new agreements
as well as in that of the application of existing ones (e.g. climate, biodiversity, Montreal Protocol,
Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD)). Coordination – on substantive and procedural matters –
takes place at coordinating meetings in Brussels or on the spot in accordance with the Council's internal
rules.
In carrying out the aforementioned tasks, a practice has come about which is reminiscent of the Troika
provided for in Article 18 TEU. In order to enlist the support of the Member States as regards matters
coming within their sphere of competence, the Presidency is assisted by the Member State which will hold
the next Presidency. With regard to matters falling under Community competence, it is the Commission
which represents the Community, in accordance with Article 300(1) TEC. Finally, the SG/HR, or his
representative, assists the Presidency further to his obligation to assist the Council. In principle, the GSC
accompanies the Presidency where the resources intended for international activities permit, and in any event
at international negotiations of major importance.
The GSC assists the Presidency in all proceedings relating to organisation and production of the relevant
documents (e.g. draft statements, documents setting out the position to be taken and those presenting
reactions to the projects of international organisations, etc.).
4. The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including the European Security
and Defence Policy (ESDP)
(a) The Presidency and the Troika
Article 18 TEU specifies the role of the Presidency, which represents the Union in matters relating to the
CFSP. It is responsible for the implementation of joint actions and expresses the position of the Union in
international organisations and at international conferences. In these tasks, in which the Commission is fully
associated, the Presidency is assisted by the SG/HR. This constitutes the regular Troika composition.
However, if necessary the incoming Presidency can also be called to assist the current Presidency with these
tasks. Article 24 TEU gives the Presidency, upon authorisation by the Council, the task of negotiating
international agreements to be concluded by the EU in the areas covered by Titles V (and VI TEU).
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(b) Working Parties
Working Parties contribute to the preparation of Council decisions and/or positions by regularly gathering
experts from the Member States' relevant Ministries ("capital formation") and/or Permanent Representations
("Brussels formation"). They carry out either the regional or thematic work, frequently, but not exclusively
on instructions/taskings by the Political and Security Committee (PSC) (in the field of CFSP) and/or
COREPER. The different working parties meet with different frequencies, depending on the nature of their
work and the urgency of the items on their agendas. A list of working parties is regularly updated in a
Council document issued to this effect (see Annex 8).
In the field of external relations, working parties were originally "merged" when the CFSP came into
existence with entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty (1 November 1993). Merging meant that the former
European Political Cooperation (EPC) Groups (capital-based) and the equivalent European Community
Working Parties (Brussels-based) were joined in a single entity54. A subsequent wave of mergers was carried
out at the initiative of the Finnish Presidency in the second half of 1999.
Some working parties deal only with items which fall within the CFSP sector55.
Experience shows that the possibility to meet in the Brussels formation allows rapid reaction as well as
continuity of the Union's external action.
Working parties endeavour to reach agreement in particular on:
– common analyses of the situation in third States or on a multilateral question and the common
position which might be adopted by the EU;
– proposals which might be approved by the PSC under the heading of practical measures for
implementing the CFSP: demarches, requests to be addressed to representations in third States and other
preparatory measures, and declarations by the Presidency on behalf of the EU;
– substantive recommendations for future Council initiatives in the CFSP sphere which the PSC may
submit as opinions to the Council, as well as the political follow-up to such initiatives.
54 Latin America, Transatlantic Relations, Asia-Oceania, ad hoc Working Party on the Middle East Peace Process,
Mashreq/Maghreb, Middle East/Gulf, OSCE, Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Western Balkan Region, South-East Europe.
55 Africa, Consular Affairs, Terrorism, CFSP Administrative Affairs and Protocol, Global Disarmament and Arms Control, United Nations, Public International Law, Non-Proliferation (Nuclear, Chemical and Biological), Conventional Arms Exports, Human Rights.
61
The Presidency is assisted by GSC officials for all activities necessary to the smooth functioning of working
parties, i.e. agenda setting, calling of meetings, contacts with the Commission and delegations, reporting and
advice. Before the beginning of each Presidency the future Presidency circulates the Working Party
Timetable with the planned dates for meetings during the six-month period.
Notices of meetings are sent by COREU to the capitals, the Commission and the Permanent Representations,
preferably at least a week before the meeting. They must indicate the items on the agenda and the practical
details of the meeting. The distribution of an "annotated agenda" has become common practice for most
working parties.
Notices of meetings are also circulated by means of Council communications (former telexes) to ensure that
the relevant departments of the GSC (security, logistics, etc.) are informed.
The GSC reports on the meetings of the working parties. This ensures continuity of working methods from
one Presidency to another. As a general rule, reports are available 24 hours after the working party meeting
and, in the area of CFSP, are in principle sent by COREU. Member States are bound only by the operational
conclusions which, after having been checked with the Presidency, are approved by a "silent" procedure,
which expires according to the time-line indicated in the COREU.
(c) Working Party of Foreign Relations Counsellors ("RELEX Counsellors")
The Working Party of Foreign Relations Counsellors ("RELEX Counsellors") prepares all legal acts in the
CFSP area and is, in particular, responsible for examining their legal, financial and institutional implications
as well as ensuring that CFSP and Community matters are properly coordinated. Its mandate includes the
elaboration of draft common positions on sanctions.
It finalises CFSP legal instruments (often prepared by regional or thematic working parties) and prepares
decisions regarding the CFSP budget. It reports both to the PSC and Coreper. The legal instruments that it
finalises are always submitted to Coreper with a view to Council adoption.
In practice, the core tasks of RELEX Counsellors concern:
– examining the legal instruments (Joint Actions Article 14 TEU) for EU military and civilian crisis
management operations, including their financing;
62
– examining the legal instruments (Common Positions Article 15 TEU) for EU restrictive measures
(sanctions) – travel restrictions, arms embargoes, freezing of assets – imposed either following obligations
under the UN Security Council Resolutions, or imposed as EU autonomous sanctions;
– examining the legal instruments (Joint Actions Article 14 TEU) for the mandates and extension of
the mandates of the EU Special Representatives (EUSR), including their financing;
– examining the draft international agreements to be concluded by the Council in accordance with
Article 24 TEU.
(d) The Political and Security Committee (PSC)
Article 25 TEU established a Political and Security Committee (PSC) which monitors the international
situation in the areas covered by the CFSP and contributes to the definition of policies by delivering opinions
to the Council at the request of the Council or on its own initiative. It also monitors the implementation of
agreed policies, without prejudice to the responsibility of the Presidency and the Commission. The PSC's
terms of reference were set by the Council in a decision56.
With the entry into force of the Treaty of Nice, the PSC succeeded the Political Committee (POCO) which
was composed by the Political Directors, i.e. the heads of political departments of the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Member States. The PSC is now composed of Member States'
Brussels-based representatives at ambassador level (standing formation) but can also meet in political
directors' format. This usually happens in the margins of the European Councils. Presidencies usually
organise an informal meeting of political directors at the beginning of each Presidency to give overall
guidance on particularly important CFSP/ESDP issues.
The PSC is specifically responsible for dealing with crisis situations and examining all the possible options
for the Union's response. Within the scope of Title V of the TEU, the PSC exercises, under the responsibility
of the Council, political control and strategic direction of crisis management operations, military and/or
civilian. The Council may authorise the PSC to take the relevant decisions during a crisis management
operation, without prejudice to Article 47 TEU. This possible delegation of authority from the Council to the
PSC constitutes a major innovation introduced by the Treaty of Nice to the EU decision-making system.
56 See Council Decision of 22 January 2001 setting up the Political and Security Committee (OJ L 27, 30.1.2001, p. 1). See also
Annex III to Annex VI of the Presidency conclusions of the Nice European Council (December 2000).
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In the performance of its functions, the PSC provides guidance to the relevant working parties and regularly
takes note of their reports.
The PSC is supported by the Directorate-General for External and Politico-Military Affairs (DG E), the
Policy Planning and Early Warning Unit (PPEWU or PU), the Situation Centre (SITCEN) and the EU
Military Staff (EUMS).
The SG/HR regularly participates in the PSC to brief and/or debrief on specific initiatives. The SG/HR may
chair the PSC in crisis-management situations. Regular reporting to the PSC is undertaken by EUSRs
(currently for the following areas: FYROM, the Middle East Peace Process, the Southern Caucasus,
Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Stability Pact, the African Great Lakes, and Moldova), the
Personal Representatives of the SG/HR (currently for Non-Proliferation, Kosovo and Human Rights) and
Operation Commanders/Heads of Crisis-Management Operations/Missions (currently for the following
operations: ALTHEA, PROXIMA, EUPM, THEMIS, LEX and EUSEC DRC).
The PSC receives opinions (advice) from the EU Military Committee (EUMC) and forwards guidelines to it.
For advice on civilian-crisis management the PSC relies on the work and advice of the Committee for
Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management (CIVCOM) set up by a Council Decision of 22 May 200057.
The PSC is also assisted by the Politico-Military Working Party (PMG), and is prepared by the Nicolaidis
Group.
Within the framework of the EU's consultation, cooperation and transparency with NATO and the modalities
for EU access to NATO common assets and capabilities (EU-NATO framework arrangements referred to as
"Berlin plus"), the PSC holds regular consultation meetings with the North Atlantic Council (PSC-NAC
meetings) and receives reports, inter alia, from the EU-NATO capability group in the framework of a
capacity development mechanism.
PSC recommendations to the Council, including draft Council conclusions, are entered on the agenda for
Coreper to ensure that they are forwarded to the Council in good time. The PSC may meet alongside the
Council to take account, where appropriate, of the latest political developments.
The Presidency may organise an informal PSC meeting during its six-month period to discuss working
methods and/or review key policy questions in an informal setting. The PSC occasionally travels, for
instance to familiarise itself in situ with the working of an operation.
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(e) The European Union Military Committee (EUMC) and the European Union Military
Staff (EUMS)
The European Union Military Committee (EUMC) established by the Council is made up of the chiefs of
defence staff of the armed forces of the Member States (CHODS) represented by their military delegates in
Brussels (Mil Reps)58. Its task is to give military advice or recommendations to the PSC and to direct all
military activities within the framework of the EU. Its chairman (CEUMC) is a four-star flag officer,
appointed by the Council for a three-year period on the recommendation of the EUMC meeting at chiefs of
defence level. The CEUMC is the EUMC's spokesperson for the PSC and the Council, and is also the
military adviser to the SG/HR.
The EUMC is assisted by the European Union Military Staff59 (EUMS), composed of military experts from
the Member States seconded to the General Secretariat. The EUMS is directly attached to the SG/HR; it is
headed by a Director-General, a three-star flag officer, and works under the military direction of the EUMC.
(f) The General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC)
The GAERC is composed by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs (MFAs) and deals with the Union's overall
external relations, covering the CFSP, ESDP as well as trade, development and cooperation policies with
third countries (see Article 2(2) CRP).
The GAERC adopts legislative acts in the Community domain, CFSP acts (Common Positions, Joint
Actions, implementing decisions and other decisions), as well as conclusions (political statements containing
in principle operational follow-up) and EU declarations in the CFSP area.
In order to encourage substantive discussion on difficult issues, those may be discussed in restricted sessions.
This may also be done during the Ministers' lunches, although the format of a restricted session is to be
preferred in order to avoid endless lunches which, being a meeting of MFAs and not of the Council, cannot
adopt formally Council conclusions. This is the reason why any conclusions agreed during an MFAs' lunch
need to be adopted during the formal afternoon session.
57 Decision 2000/354/CFSP, OJ L 127, 27.5.2000, p. 1. 58 See Council Decision of 22 January 2001 setting up the European Union Military Committee (OJ L 27, 30.1.2001, p. 4). 59 See Council Decision of 22 January 2001 on the establishment of the Military Staff of the European Union (OJ L 27, 30.1.2001,
p. 7. Under revision as of April 2005 to take account of the new tasks deriving from the establishment of the Civ-Mil Cell.
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In the CFSP area, the Council acts by unanimity in accordance with Article 23(1) TEU. Abstentions do not
impede unanimity. In the cases referred to in Article 23(2) – when adopting CFSP acts on the basis of a
common strategy, when adopting decisions implementing joint actions or a common positions and when
appointing a EUSR in accordance with Article 18(5) – the Council acts by qualified majority voting (QMV).
QMV is not applied to decisions having military or defence implications. On procedural questions the
Council acts by simple majority (Article 23(3) TEU).
In the CFSP framework, the results of votes are made public only by unanimous decision of the Council or
of Coreper taken at the request of one of its members (Article 9(2)(a) CRP).
Since Coreper (Part II) is responsible for preparing the work of the GAERC (Article 207 TEC), every
document intended for Council approval is transmitted to it via Coreper and hence needs to be entered on
Coreper's agenda in good time in accordance with the CRP. Especially legal acts that need to be published in
the Official Journal have to be prepared well in advance with the routing in mind, notably to ensure that
translations can be prepared, that legal/linguistic experts have a possibility to review the document, and that
it can be sent in time to the Office for publications (EUR-OP) for publication in the OJ. Secretariat officials
take care of this on behalf of and in consultation with the Presidency.
In cases of urgency, the written procedure may be used in accordance with Article 12 CRP, including a silent
procedure through COREU for CFSP matters. However, the adoption of a legal act may only be done
through the ordinary written procedure, not via COREU.
(g) Relations with the European Parliament (EP) (Article 21 TEU)
The Presidency consults the European Parliament on the main aspects and basic choices of the CFSP and
ensures that its views are duly taken into consideration. The EP is kept regularly informed by the Presidency
and the Commission of the development of the CFSP. In particular:
– the Presidency maintains close contacts with the EP and in particular organises consultation of
Parliament on the main aspects and basic choices of the CFSP;
– the Presidency informs the Council of the reactions, communications, questions, recommendations
or resolutions of the EP relating to the CFSP;
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– the Presidency once a year consults the EP on a Council document setting out the main aspects and
basic choices of the CFSP, including the financial implications for the general budget of the EC (the "Article
H" report)60; moreover, at the request of the EP, the Presidency agreed to a series of meetings in 2004 to
inform the EP (representatives of the Budget and Foreign Affairs Committees) on developments and
implementation of CFSP actions and their expenditure61;
– the Council Secretariat, at senior official level, regularly meets with representatives of the EP.
(h) Political dialogue
In the framework of the CFSP, the EU conducts a political dialogue with a large number of States and groups
of States. Meetings take place regularly at all levels, from officials to Heads of State and Government.
Political dialogue commitments are listed and regularly updated on the Council website.
The Presidency, assisted by the SG/HR, represents the Union. Political dialogue can also be conducted by the
SG/HR, acting on behalf of the Council and at the request of the Presidency (Article 26 TEU). The
Commission is fully associated, as is the case with all areas of CFSP.
Meeting agendas are negotiated with the third country concerned and circulated in advance via COREU. A
record of the discussions relating to the dialogue is prepared by the Secretariat and also circulated via
COREU.
(i) Cooperation between diplomatic and consular missions (Article 20 TEU)
The Presidency ensures that diplomatic and consular missions of the Member States and Commission
delegations in third States and at international conferences, and their representations to international
organisations, cooperate in ensuring that the common positions and joint actions adopted by the Council are
complied with and implemented.
They are to step up their cooperation by exchanging information, carrying out joint assessments and
contributing to the implementation of the provisions laid down for implementing Article 20 TEC (protection
of citizens of the Union in the territory of third States).
60 In accordance with the provisions of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999, and in particular Chapter H. 61 Furthermore, the Council Secretariat transmits the financial statement of each action financed from the CFSP budget for
information to the European Parliament as soon as the act has been adopted.
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(j) International organisations and conferences
With the development of the CFSP, the EU is increasingly speaking with one voice in international
organisations and conferences. Consistent with obligations under the TEU (see Articles 11(2), 19 and 20),
the Member States and the Commission delegations have stepped up their cooperation to that effect.
Where the issues at stake in these forums are considered a matter of priority or particularly central to the
Union's concerns, common positions (Article 15 TEU) may be adopted to give greater
emphasis to the consistency of Member States' action. Every year, usually in July, the Council also adopts a
comprehensive document (priorities paper) setting out the EU priorities for each coming session of the UN
General Assembly (UNGA). In addition, the Council may adopt conclusions defining the precise initiatives
the EU intends to take in specific instances, such as the conclusions adopted prior to sessions of the UN
Commission on Human Rights and the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee) of
the UNGA.
The Presidency acts on behalf of the EU in international organisations and conferences in every capacity
required, i.e. ranging from making general policy statements to actually acting as negotiator in the widest
sense.
Detailed finalisation of EU positions in international organisations and conferences is normally carried out
through coordinating meetings in advance of and, if necessary, during the session concerned. The matters
discussed in such meetings include common voting and co-sponsorship positions, if relevant, as well as
written contributions, statements, explanations of vote or demarches to be delivered on behalf of the EU.
Following the adoption of the European Security Strategy, particular emphasis is placed on EU coordination
in the UN. There is now coordination on the activities of the UNGA and its subordinate bodies, in particular
its six main committees, as well as of ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies, in particular the functional
commissions, such as the Commission on Human Rights sitting once a year in Geneva. Moreover, on
occasion, concerted statements on behalf of the EU are delivered in open meetings of the Security Council.
The SG/HR may also address the Security Council, for instance on an issue relating to the ESDP. In addition,
particular attention is paid to the proceedings of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE), where statements are delivered on behalf of the European Union to the Permanent Council, the
Senior Council, the Ministerial Council and the Summit.
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The Presidency is responsible for submitting any written contributions from the EU and for carrying out,
where appropriate, with the Troika (SG/HR, Commission and if necessary the Member State which will hold
the next Presidency), the agreed procedures for implementing common positions or joint actions.
The role of the EU Presidency is accordingly particularly important in these international forums. It is
responsible for running day-to-day EU coordination, for representing the Union in discussions/negotiations
with third countries, regional groups or organisations, and for delivering the demarches, statements,
explanations of vote, etc. on behalf of the EU that are mentioned above. The Presidency's role is especially
vital in the UN, where the EU as such (as opposed to the European Community which has observer status)
has no formal status. The EU positions in the UN are expressed by the Permanent Representative of the
Member State holding the Presidency (special arrangements are made for representation of EU positions on
procedural matters when the Member State holding the Presidency is not a member of the UN body
concerned). When the EU meets with non-EU countries or regional groupings or undertakes demarches, it
often does so in the format of the Troika (Presidency, SG/HR, Commission and, if need be, incoming
Presidency).
Where there is an EU position on a matter under discussion in an international forum, supplementary
national statements tend only to be delivered in the event of high-level (usually ministerial or above)
attendance. Furthermore, the Presidency may mandate other Member States' representatives to represent the
Union's views and positions in informal discussions. In the absence of a formally agreed common position,
Member States may make national declarations should they see fit.
In preparing for and holding the EU coordinating meetings mentioned above, and in implementing their
conclusions, the Presidency is assisted by the General Secretariat (Article 18(3) TEU) in Brussels, Geneva
and New York on a permanent basis and at other conference venues as far as staffing considerations permit.
In the crisis-management area, the General Secretariat also has direct contacts with the United Nations
Secretariat, on which it reports on a regular basis to the Presidency and the Member States.
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Chapter VI – Specific arrangements for JHA
Before the beginning of each Presidency, the incoming Presidency draws up the timetable for the meetings of
working parties scheduled for the six-month period. The dates of the meetings of the Justice, Home Affairs
and Civil Protection (JHA) Council, the Article 36 Committee, the Strategic Committee on Immigration,
Frontiers and Asylum and the Committee on Civil Law Matters are notified at this point, as are the dates of
all working party meetings as far as possible. A timetable covering working party meetings for the coming
month is circulated at the end of the preceding month.
As a result of the integration of the Schengen acquis into the European Union, many of the meetings referred
to above (Council, Coreper, working parties) are also frequently held in "Mixed Committee" format,
although the Mixed Committee format cannot be a substitute for normal meetings. Norway, Iceland and
Switzerland are involved in cooperation at this level.
1. Working parties
Working parties, like all other groups, are set up by decision of Coreper (Article 19(3) CRP).
Meetings of working parties are convened by the General Secretariat, following the Presidency's agreement,
by communications addressed to members of the working parties and the Permanent Representations, in
principle at least one week before the meeting. Meetings of the Working Party of JHA Counsellors are
convened by the Presidency by e-mail addressed to the JHA Counsellors in the Permanent Representations.
The working parties report back to the Coordinating Committee, consisting of senior officials, provided for
in Article 36 TEU and hence known as the "Article 36 Committee", and to the Strategic Committee on
Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA) on matters falling within these Committees' respective spheres
of competence. The Committee on Civil Law Matters meets in different configurations depending on the
matters for discussion.
2. Article 36 Committee
The tasks of the Article 36 Committee are to:
– give opinions for the attention of the Council, either at the Council's request or on its own initiative;
70
– contribute, without prejudice to the role of Coreper, to the preparation of the Council's discussions in
the fields covered by Article 29 TEU.
As a general rule, the Article 36 Committee meets once a month.
All meetings of working parties and of the Article 36 Committee are in principle held at the Council
headquarters in Brussels.
3. Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA)
SCIFA was set up to prepare the Council's discussions on immigration, frontiers and asylum. The task of this
Committee, which consists of senior civil servants, is to issue strategic guidelines in matters relating to
immigration, frontiers and asylum and to deal with questions arising from Articles 62, 63 and 66 TEC with a
view to synthesising and, where necessary, solving them and to give substantive input to Coreper's
discussions.
As a general rule, SCIFA meets once a month in Brussels.
The Strategic Committee meets in two different configurations:
– SCIFA as such;
– SCIFA/Mixed Committee, with the participation of Iceland and Norway.
4. Committee on Civil Law Matters
This Committee meets in different configurations depending on the matters for discussion. It meets in its
"General Affairs" configuration when its task is to prepare a general approach or when it is required to deal
with questions relating to external aspects of judicial cooperation in civil matters. It is also responsible for
ensuring consistency of Community acts in the area of civil law. It may give opinions on questions of
judicial cooperation in civil matters arising under other parts of the Treaty, for instance questions of
jurisdiction and applicable law raised by Community instruments.
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The Committee also meets in specific configurations to examine proposals on the table. For example, when
examining the proposal for a Regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (the Rome II
draft instrument), the Committee meets as the "Committee on Civil Law Matters (Rome II)".
The Committee consists of officials from the Ministry of Justice, judges and, in certain cases, university
professors of international renown.
All the Committee's meetings are held at the Council's headquarters in Brussels.
5. The JHA Council
Each Presidency in principle organises three or four meetings of the JHA Council.
In addition, it will also convene an informal meeting of JHA Ministers; these informal meetings must comply
with the rules laid down for meetings of this type (see Chapter III, Section 5 – Informal meetings of
ministers).
In areas covered by Title VI of the TEU, the Council generally acts unanimously, except on procedural
matters and in cases where Article 34(3) TEU expressly provides for a different voting rule. Article 34(2)(c)
TEU lays down that the Council, acting by a qualified majority, is to adopt measures necessary to implement
decisions.
Measures implementing conventions are adopted within the Council by a majority of two-thirds of the High
Contracting Parties62. Most acts in the JHA areas covered by the TEC are adopted by the co-decision
procedure.63
Publication of instruments under Title VI in the Official Journal (OJ) takes place in accordance with the
following rules (laid down in Article 17 CRP):
– Any framework decisions and decisions referred to in Article 34(2) TEU are automatically published
in the OJ ("L" series), and any conventions established by the Council in accordance with Article 34(2) TEU
are automatically published in the OJ ("C" series); a notice of entry into force of such conventions is
published at a later date;
62 See also Chapter III, Section 4(e). 63 Council Decision 2004/927/EC of 22 December 2004 providing for certain areas covered by Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty
establishing the European Community to be governed by the procedure laid down in Article 251 of that Treaty (OJ L 396, 31.12.2004, p. 45).
72
– unless the Council or Coreper decides otherwise, initiatives presented to the Council by a Member
State pursuant to Article 34(2) TEU as well as the common positions referred to in Article 34(2) TEU are
published in the OJ;
– the Council or Coreper decides, on a case-by-case basis and taking account of any publication of the
basic act, whether any measures implementing the decisions referred to in Article 34(2) TEU and any
measures implementing conventions established by the Council in accordance with Article 34(2) TEU should
be published in the OJ.
Publication of Regulations in the Official Journal of the European Union is mandatory. Regulations are
published under the heading "Acts whose publication is a prerequisite for their applicability". Regulations
which are not published are not illegal but have no binding effect. Regulations enter into force on the date
specified in them or, if no date is mentioned, on the 20th day following that of their publication.
6. Relations with the European Parliament Relations with the European Parliament are governed by the legal basis of acts under preparation.
On most questions in the fields of asylum, immigration and judicial cooperation in civil matters, the
European Parliament colegislates with the Council by the co-decision procedure provided for in Article 251
TEC.
First and second reading procedures and a conciliation mechanism have been introduced in those areas of
"Community competence".
In the areas covered by Title VI TEU, Article 39 TEU requires the Council to consult the Parliament before
adopting any measure referred to in Article 34(2)(b), (c) and (d) TEU. The European Parliament delivers its
opinion within a time-limit which the Council may lay down but which may not be less than three months. If
no opinion is forthcoming within that time-limit, the Council may act. The Presidency (and the Commission)
regularly inform the European Parliament of discussions held. Information may be passed on by means of a
written document, participation in debates at plenary sessions of Parliament, or a report to one of the
Parliament committees responsible for matters covered by Title VI TEU (Committee on Civil Liberties,
Justice and Home Affairs and Committee on Legal Affairs).
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Under Article 39(3) TEU, the European Parliament may ask questions of the Council or make
recommendations to it. Each year Parliament holds a debate on progress with regard to the implementation of
the areas referred to in Title VI; the debate, which is normally held at the end of the year, is attended by the
President of the JHA Council.
Lastly, the written report on the progress achieved by the Union under Article 4 TEU, which is submitted
annually to the European Parliament, also contains information on the JHA sector.
7. Relations with non-member States
The European Commission is the European Community's spokesman on the international stage in all areas of
Community competence. The Commission is also entrusted with negotiating international agreements on
behalf of the European Community. Article 37 TEU requires Member States, within international
organisations and at international conferences in which they take part, to defend the common positions
adopted in the areas covered by Title VI TEU under the provisions of Title VI TEU. Articles 1864, 19 and 24
(conclusion of international agreements) TEU are applicable. The Presidency, assisted by the General
Secretariat of the Council and, where appropriate, the Commission, conducts negotiations for international
agreements entered into pursuant to Article 24 TEU. Relations with non-member States under structured
dialogues follow the general rules laid down by the Council.
The Presidency, assisted by the General Secretariat of the Council, reports to the Article 36 Committee and
to the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum on contacts with non-member States and
on exchange of information, in close cooperation with the Commission.
A report on the European Union's priorities and policy objectives for external relations in the JHA field was
approved by the European Council, meeting in Santa Maria da Feira in June 200065. An initial assessment
was carried out at the Laeken European Council. The report envisages regular evaluation by Coreper of
progress on the external aspects of the Union's activities in the field of JHA, if necessary based on
information provided by the Commission and the working parties or committees concerned.
Dialogue between the Union and its partners is conducted along the following lines. The Council Presidency
should endeavour to:
(i) make full use of the international frameworks set up by association agreements or cooperation
agreements;
64 See Chapter V, Section 3.
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(ii) envisage flexible arrangements, where an institutional framework is lacking for dialogue with some
partners (e.g. the Council of Europe);
(iii) establish a system, as provided for in Article 19(2) TEU, for keeping Member States informed, either
by the Presidency if it is a participant or, failing that, by another participant, in an international forum where
not all Member States participate.
External relations under Title VI TEU are conducted by the Presidency, assisted by the General Secretariat
and frequently in close collaboration with the Commission. Most JHA external relations are conducted under
the Troika format (i.e. the current Presidency, the next Presidency and the Commission).
65 See the Presidency conclusions of the European Council meeting in Santa Maria da Feira on 19 and 20 June 2000, Annex VII
(doc 7653/00).
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Chapter VII – Protocol and logistics
1. Accreditation of ambassadors from non-member States to the EU
The Commission receives the request for accreditation. After delivering a favourable opinion, it passes on
the request from the non-member State, together with that opinion, to the Council. After receiving the
communication from the Commission, the General Secretariat (DG F's Protocol Department) sends the
request for accreditation, together with the curriculum vitae of the Ambassador designate, to the capitals in
the form of a CM (Communication) document. If no observations from Member States have reached the
General Secretariat of the Council within 30 calendar days from the date of the CM document opening the
procedure, the agreement of all Member States is considered to have been given. (The written tacit
agreement procedure has been in use since 1 April 1992). At the end of the period, the General Secretariat of
the Council informs the President of the Commission and the Protocol Department, which notifies the
relevant Embassy of the Council's approval. The General Secretariat of the Council then sends a DIPL
document to the Permanent Representations to inform them of the end of the approval procedure.
The President of the General Affairs and External Relations Council is responsible for receiving
Ambassadors from non-member States, who present their credentials to him during a short ceremony on the
occasion of a Council meeting.
Credentials are presented at almost every meeting. In general, the President receives between two and eight
Ambassadors, having a brief interview with each of them. The date and time are fixed by mutual agreement
between the Embassies concerned, the Presidency and the Protocol Department of DG F. It is sometimes
difficult to arrive at a definitive timetable a few days in advance. It is important that every effort be made to
avoid last-minute changes, which are often misunderstood by the Ambassadors. The President of the Council
may delegate his duty to a State Secretary if this helps to set appointment times.
The ceremony – which is not in any way grand – is normally attended by the President of the Council (or
State Secretary) together with an assistant and the Head of Protocol for the Council.
A few days before the meeting the President of the Council receives a brief information note on relations
between the Ambassador's State and the Union, to which is attached the curriculum vitae of the new
Ambassador.
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(a) Order of protocol for Member States and acceding States
As a general rule, the protocol order for Member States is based on the alphabetical order of the names of the
Member States in their national language. Acceding States follow, also in alphabetical order:
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE ENGLISH FRENCH BELGIQUE / BELGIE BELGIUM BELGIQUE BE ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA CZECH REPUBLIC REPUBLIQUE TCHEQUE CZ DANMARK DENMARK DANEMARK DK DEUTSCHLAND GERMANY ALLEMAGNE DE EESTI ESTONIA ESTONIE EE ΕΛΛΑΣ GREECE GRECE EL ESPAÑA SPAIN ESPAGNE ES FRANCE FRANCE FRANCE FR IRELAND IRELAND IRLANDE IE ITALIA ITALY ITALIE IT ΚΥΠΡΟΣ CYPRUS CHYPRE CY LATVIJA LATVIA LETTONIE LV LIETUVA LITHUANIA LITUANIE LT LUXEMBOURG LUXEMBOURG LUXEMBOURG LU MAGYARORSZAG HUNGARY HONGRIE HU MALTA MALTA MALTE MT NEDERLAND THE NETHERLANDS PAYS BAS NL ÖSTERREICH AUSTRIA AUTRICHE AT POLSKA POLAND POLOGNE PL PORTUGAL PORTUGAL PORTUGAL PT SLOVENIJA SLOVENIA SLOVENIE SI SLOVENSKO SLOVAKIA SLOVAQUIE SK SUOMI FINLAND FINLANDE FI SVERIGE SWEDEN SUEDE SE UNITED KINGDOM UNITED KINGDOM ROYAUME UNI UK
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ACCEDING STATES БЪЛГАРИЯ BULGARIA BULGARIE BG ROMANIA ROMANIA ROUMANIE RO CANDIDATE COUNTRIES ( in order of application) TURKIYE TURKEY TURQUIE TR HRVATSKA CROATIA CROATIE HR
However, at meetings of the Council and Council bodies, alphabetical order is replaced by the order of
Council Presidencies.
The order of Council Presidencies is also followed at meetings of the European Council.
(b) Member States and acceding States: shortened names
The two-letter ISO code (ISO code 3166 alpha-2) is to be used for country abbreviations, with the exception
of Greece and the United Kingdom for which the recommended abbreviations are EL and UK, respectively.
Shortened name in original language
Shortened name Full name (protocol name)
Code Former abbreviation
Belgique/België Belgium Kingdom of Belgium BE B Česka republika Czech Republic Czech Republic CZ Danmark Denmark Kingdom of Denmark DK DK Deutschland Germany Federal Republic of Germany DE D Eesti Estonia Republic of Estonia EE Ελλάδα (Elláda) Greece Hellenic Republic EL EL España Spain Kindgom of Spain ES E France France French Republic FR F Ireland Ireland Ireland IE IRL Italia Italy Italian Republic IT I Κύπρος (Kibris) Cyprus Republic of Cyprus CY Latvija Latvia Republic of Latvia LV Lietuva Lithuania Republic of Lithuania LT Luxembourg Luxembourg Grand Duchy f Luxembourg LU L
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Magyarország Hungary Republic of Hungary HU Malta Malta Republic of Malta MT Nederland Netherlands Kingdom of the Netherlands NL NL Österreich Austria Republic of Austria AT A Polska Poland Republic of Poland PL Portugal Portugal Portuguese Republic PT P Slovenija Slovenia Republic of Slovenia SI Slovensko Slovakia Slovak Republic SK Suomi/Finland Finland Republic of Finland FI FIN Sverige Sweden Kingdom of Sweden SE S United Kingdom United Kingdom
(not England or Great Britain)
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
UK UK
Bulgaria Romania
(c) Rules for placing flags
– The order in which the flags of the Member States are placed is based on the alphabetical order of
their names in their national language. The flags of the acceding States are placed after those of the Member
States, also in alphabetical order. The flags of the candidate countries come next, in the order of these
countries' applications to join the EU.
– When an event is organised by the Presidency, its flag is the first in the series of flags and the
European flag is the last in the series. The flags of the other Member States are placed in between in the
alphabetical order of the names of the Member States concerned in their national language. When the event
is organised by a European institution, the European flag comes first followed by the flags of the Member
States in alphabetical order.
– At international meetings, it is customary to fly the flags of the participating States, with the flag of
the host State in first place followed by the flags of the other States in alphabetical order and from left to
right.
The alphabetical order to be followed may vary depending on the type of meeting between the European
Union and third countries:
a) alphabetical order in the national language of the country is followed at European Conference
meetings;
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b) alphabetical order in English is followed at meetings with the Gulf, ACP and ASEM States;
c) alphabetical order in French is followed at EUROMED meetings.
– When an official photo session is organised during a visit by a foreign Head of State or Government,
the visitor and their host frequently pose in front of flags. As a matter of courtesy, the host should ensure that
his guest is to his right. The same rule applies at press conferences with foreign dignitaries.
In such cases, the flags are arranged so as to enable the visitor and his host to each pose or speak in front of
his own national flag for clearer identification.
(d) Order of protocol for corteges
The protocol order for the arrival of corteges at specific events at Head of State or Government level is as
follows:
– European Institutions:
Secretary-General/High Representative for the CFSP, President of the European Commission, President of
the European Parliament;
– Candidate countries in reverse alphabetical order of their applications to joint the European Union:
Croatia, Turkey;
– Acceding States in reverse alphabetical order of their names in their national language;
– 25 Member States in reverse order of Presidencies.
If a Member State and/or a candidate country is represented by its Head of State, it comes after all the
countries of the same category represented by Prime Ministers.
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(e) Order of interinstitutional precedence and order of precedence among dignitaries of the
Institutions and Bodies
European Institutions and Bodies 1. European Parliament 2. Council of the European Union 3. Commission 4. Court of Justice 5. Court of Auditors 6. European Central Bank 7. European Investment Bank 8. Economic and Social Committee 9. Committee of the Regions Dignitaries of the Institutions and Bodies 1. President of the European Parliament 2. President of the Council 3. President of the Commission 4. President of the Court of Justice 5. President of the Court of Auditors 6. President of the European Central Bank 7. Foreign Ministers 8. Secretary-General/High Representative for the CFSP 9. Other Ministers who are members of the Council 10. Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament and of the Commission 11. President of the Court of First Instance 12. President of the European Investment Bank 13. President of the Economic and Social Committee 14. President of the Committee of the Regions 15. Members of the Parliament and of the Commission 16. Judges and Advocates-General of the Court of Justice 17. Members of the Court of Auditors 18. Permanent Representatives 19. Vice-Presidents of the European Investment Bank 20. Vice-Presidents of the Economic and Social Committee 21. Vice-Presidents of the Committee of the Regions 22. Members of the Court of First Instance 23. Members of the Economic and Social Committee 24. Members of the Committee of the Regions 25. European Ombudsman 26. European Data Protection Supervisor 27. Registrars and Secretaries-General of the Institutions and Bodies 28. Assistant European Data Protection Supervisor 29. Directors-General of the European Institutions 30. Directors of the European Institutions
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(f) Specific rules concerning the High Representative for the CFSP
The High Representative (HR) takes part in European Council meetings and in the meals of Heads of State
and Government during those meetings. He sits to the left of the President of the European Council in the
meeting room and to his right during meals.
At summit meetings with third countries, the High Representative sits to the left of the President of the
European Council both in the meeting room and during meals. The seat to the right of the President of the
Council is reserved for the President of the Commission.
At meetings of the General Affairs/External Relations Council (GAERC), the High Representative sits to the
left of the President in the meeting room and opposite the President during meals.
At Troika meetings with third countries, the High Representative sits to the right of the President both in the
meeting room and during meals.
For family photos at the various abovementioned events, the High Representative is always in the front row.
2. Meals and receptions (organised by the General Secretariat and charged to the Council
budget)66
(a) Meals at Council meetings
The principle is as follows:
Lunches are working lunches connected with the meeting. They are organised by the General Secretariat.
– General Affairs and External Relations, Ecofin and JHA Councils: one lunch per meeting.
Those invited are: Ministers, Members of the Commission, State Secretaries, Permanent Representatives and
– at meetings of the General Affairs and External Relations Council – Political Directors. Guests are divided
between two different rooms: one is for the President and Heads of Delegation; while the other guests lunch
in a separate room.
66 The General Secretariat is willing to provide assistance over and above the events described in this chapter, but the costs are to be
met by the Presidency.
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– All other Councils: as a rule, one lunch at the beginning and one at the end of a Presidency.
Those invited are: Ministers or Heads of Delegation only. At meetings in Luxembourg, Deputy Permanent
Representatives are also invited but lunch in a different room.
Those present at the table of the President and Heads of Delegation are:
– for the General Affairs and External Relations, Ecofin and JHA Councils: the
Secretary-General/High Representative or the Deputy Secretary-General, the Chairman of Coreper, the
Chairman of the Political and Security Committee (for the General Affairs and External Relations Council),
the Secretary-General (or Deputy Secretary-General) of the Commission and the relevant Commissioner. If
several subjects are being discussed over lunch, the presence of more than one Commissioner may be
necessary;
– for other Councils configurations: the Chairman of Coreper (Part 1), the relevant Commissioner and
the relevant Director-General from the General Secretariat of the Council.
Whatever the Council configuration, additional guests are invited to the Presidency table only if a President
so requests because of the subject being discussed over lunch. This applies equally to, for example, Members
of the Commission and Chairmen of Committees in the context of the Ecofin Council.
(b) Larger functions
ACP-EC Council
When the meeting takes place in Europe, the Presidency gives a meal for Heads of Delegation plus one
person and a meal or reception for other delegates. The General Secretariat is responsible for organisation
and costs.
When the meeting takes place in an ACP country, the host State generally gives a very large reception for all
those attending. The European side endeavours to return the hospitality by organising a reception on a
smaller scale.
It is traditional for the President of the Council to take part in the annual meeting of the ACP-EC Joint
Assembly and on that occasion to give a meal for a small number of people.
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Other Association or Cooperation Councils
As a general rule, the Presidency gives a meal. The format varies, depending on the venue and the
programme.
Participation in negotiations in the framework of international organisations (UN, UNCTAD, WTO, etc.)
The Community spokesmen in these fora are usually either the Commission and the Presidency of the
Council together or the Commission alone. It is for the Presidency to decide whether it is appropriate to hold
a reception for Heads of Delegation. If it decides to do so, it may give the reception jointly with the
Commission. Organisation is entrusted to the General Secretariat.
(c) Other meals
Coreper (Part 2)
Under established practice in recent years, one working meal per month is arranged (normally at the meeting
preceding that of the General Affairs and External Relations Council), as well as some meals with certain
Commissioners. Maximum number of meals: 12.
Coreper (Part 1)
Working meals may be arranged, with the Council paying for not more than six per six-month period.
Special Committee on Agriculture, Article 133 Committee, Antici Group, Mertens Group and Article 36
Committee
Working meals may be arranged, with the Council paying for one per six-month period.
Political and Security Committee (PSC):
PSC lunches are paid for by the Member States in turn according to the seating arrangements in the meeting
room. The General Secretariat of the Council is responsible for organisation and invoicing. PSC lunches
attended by the SG/HR are paid for by the Council.
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3. Travel by the President
The nature of the President's duties requires him to travel on a number of occasions, all of which are
connected with Council business.
The occasions in question are chiefly Association Council meetings held in non-member States and Troika
meetings, also in non-member States. Sometimes the President is sent by the Council on a "tour of the
capitals".
Following the entry into force of the Decision of 10 October 2000 of the Secretary-General/High
Representative concerning reimbursement of travel expenses of delegates (Decision No 361/2000, see Annex
IV), the Council decides whether the cost of the President's ticket and that of one companion is reimbursable.
If it is, reimbursement is based on the business restricted class fare within Europe and the business class fare
outside Europe.
If the President travels first class, the Presidency has to pay the difference. Where a special plane is used, the
Council pays part of the cost up to the limit indicated above.
When the President is representing his State at a major international conference, for example in the United
Nations framework, and chairing on-the-spot coordinating meetings of Member States, the Council does not
contribute to the cost.
The Council never pays accommodation expenses or office rental or equipment costs.
4. Meetings away from customary places of work
In the case of all meetings in the Council framework taking place outside Brussels/Luxembourg, such as
Association or Cooperation Councils meeting in non-member States, the bulk of the cost is borne by the host
country. A proportion of costs (hiring of rooms, technical equipment, and entertainment costs) could be
charged to the Council's budget if approved beforehand by Coreper or the Secretary-General and subject to
the availability of funds. The General Secretariat of the Council generally helps with the practical
organisation of such meetings.
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As a rule, on the other hand, the Presidency bears the full cost of all meetings convened on its initiative
outside the institutional framework as such – principally those held in its own country: informal ministerial
meetings, and meetings of the Permanent Representatives Committee, Political and Security Committee,
Article 36 Committee, Special Committee on Agriculture and certain working parties. The Presidency may,
however, call on one of the thirteen teams of interpreters placed at the Council's disposal daily. This, of
course, means that the team in question is not available in Brussels.
The organisation and cost of European Council meetings are entirely the Presidency's responsibility,
although it relies on the General Secretariat for help in all organisational matters. The General Secretariat
keeps a detailed, regularly updated checklist available for consultation by the Presidency.
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Chapter VIII – Financial responsibility
As already mentioned in Chapter I.6, concerning the General Secretariat of the Council, the Deputy
Secretary-General, under the authority of the Secretary-General/High Representative, has full responsibility,
in accordance with Article 207(2) TEC and Article 23(5) CRP, for administering the Secretariat's human and
financial resources.
The Presidency should therefore ensure that it obtains the Deputy Secretary-General's agreement before
embarking upon any initiatives or taking any decisions which might have implications in terms of human or
financial resources.
The Presidency should note that the officials with whom it deals within the General Secretariat are under
strict instructions not to commit the Secretariat 67, even tacitly, to any unauthorised organisational measure or
expenditure whatsoever, whether involving human or financial resources (instructions issued on
20 October 2000).
Those service instructions cover:
– any contact with the Presidency, delegations, other institutions or third parties;
– any action or initiative, in particular by a working party, which might:
a) involve making available staff, equipment or infrastructure68;
b) entail overtime or any other kind of supplementary services;
c) give rise to any other financial obligations for the Council.
Any Secretariat officials coming across any such moves must explicitly reserve their position and refer the
matter to the Deputy Secretary-General for agreement.
The Presidency should also note the following rules, dictated by budgetary constraints and the need to plan
work in the light of the human resources available.
67 … unless duly empowered by the Deputy Secretary-General to do so. 68 Such matters should be referred to Coreper via the Antici Group for discussion with the Appointing Authority at that level.
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1. Preparations on behalf of the Presidency
Permanent Representations should as far as possible handle preparations on behalf of the Presidency, or at
least coordinate them.
Preparatory meetings between Presidency representatives and the relevant Secretariat officials should thus,
as a rule, be held in Brussels.
Meetings in the Presidency's capital should be arranged only where political preparation proves necessary
and in exceptional cases, without the Secretariat incurring any expenditure as a result (travel and subsistence
expenses chargeable to the Presidency).
2. Travel expenses of delegates of Council members
A system of fixed budgets to cover travel expenses incurred by delegates of Council members was
introduced on 1 January 2004 (see Annex 3) Member States holding the Presidency have a higher budget.
The budget allocation may be used for the eligible meetings listed in the Decision.
The following should be noted in this connection:
– informal meetings are not eligible. The Secretariat will not meet any expenses, all of which have to
be borne by the Presidency (including the travel and subsistence expenses of Secretariat officials);
– in no case may the number of meetings of committees or working parties held in the Presidency's
country exceed the limit of fifteen.
3. Interpreting
Under Decision 56/04 of 7 April 2004, the Council budget covers interpreting services for meetings of the
European Council, the Council and certain preparatory bodies.
The Decision also indicates the meetings of preparatory bodies for which no interpreting is provided (which
include, in particular, meetings outside the headquarters of the Council).
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An annual envelope of EUR 2 million for each language69 is provided for preparatory bodies for whose
meetings interpreting is available under the Decision. Delegations wishing active or passive interpreting for
their language in the preparatory bodies in question may request it, with the cost being set off against the
envelope. Requests exceeding the provision are for the account of the requesting State. 66% of any unused
amounts are transferred to the budget for travel expenses (see point 2).
4. Production and translation of documents
In planning the meetings and proceedings of working parties and Coreper, allowance must be made for the
time inevitably taken to draft, translate and produce documents. The Presidency should therefore discourage
the holding of working party meetings the day before or the same day as Coreper meets, since such meetings
make it impossible not only to have documents translated but also to have them properly distributed, thereby
detracting from the efficacy of proceedings.
With its special responsibility for the planning and organisation of Council business, the Presidency should
also as far as possible avoid, or at least limit to exceptional cases, the holding of meetings at weekends or on
public holidays, which gives rise to considerable additional expenditure. In order to help the Presidency
assess each specific situation arising, the Secretariat will systematically draw up financial impact statements
where any such meetings are envisaged.
Cooperation between the Presidency and the Secretariat is also desirable as regards document production and
translation into the official Community languages, which confronts the Secretariat with a substantial
workload and a constant organisational challenge70. Particular attention should be paid here to allowing
reasonable intervals between meetings dealing with a particular issue, to compliance with time limits and to
whether to have a text translated, which should be considered only where of assistance in making progress.
69 to be shared by countries with the same official language. 70 In 2004, for instance, the General Secretariat of the Council processed 23 555 original documents totalling 219 106 pages, some
89 345 of which were translated by each of the eleven language divisions. The document reproduction department produced over 100 million photocopied pages and distributed 95 948 hard-copy documents.
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5. Publication of documents in the Official Journal
Cooperation between the Presidency and the Secretariat should assure that allowance is also made for the
time inevitably needed to identify, send, correct, proofread, typeset and print documents in the Official
Journal of the European Union after their adoption, which is another organisational challenge.71 Attention
should be paid to good document quality, availability of all language versions and reasonable planning of
publication and entry-into-force dates. This help avoiding costly rescheduling of planned publications, last-
minute corrections of texts during their treatment, as well as Corrigenda in the OJ – at the expense of the
General Secretariat's budget.
71 In 2004, the Council published 103 497 pages in the OJ L and C series plus 6 179 pages in the electronic OJ Ce series in all
official languages, with the assistance of the Office for publications in Luxembourg (EUR-OP) and private printers.
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ANNEX 1
COUNCIL DECISION
of
determining the order in which the office of President of the Council shall be held
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the second paragraph of Article 203 thereof, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular the second paragraph of Article 116 thereof, Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Articles 28(1) and 41(1) thereof, Whereas:
(1) By Decision 95/2/EC/Euratom, ECSC72, the Council established the order in which the
office of President of the Council was to be held for the Member States of the European
Union at the date of 1 January 1995.
(2) The European Union was enlarged on 1 May 2004 to include ten new Member States.
(3) The order in which the office of President of the Council shall be held should accordingly be
determined taking into account the new Member States.
(4) This Decision shall be without prejudice to amendments to the order in which the office of
President shall be held adopted by the Council after the accession of Bulgaria and Romania,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
72 OJ L 1, 1.1.1995, p. 220. Decision as amended by Decision 2002/105/EC/ECSC, Euratom (OJ L 39, 9.2.2002, p. 17).
91
Article 1
1. The order in which the Member States shall hold the Presidency of the Council from
1 January 2006 is set out in the Annex hereto.
2. The Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Member States concerned, may
decide that a Member State may hold the Presidency during a period other than that
resulting from the order established in the Annex hereto.
Article 2
This Decision shall take effect on 1 January 2006.
Article 3
This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Done at …………,
For the Council
The President
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ANNEX to annex 1
Austria January – June 2006 Finland July – December 2006 Germany January – June 2007 Portugal July – December 2007 Slovenia January – June 2008 France July – December 2008 Czech Republic January – June 2009 Sweden July – December 2009 Spain January – June 2010 Belgium July – December 2010 Hungary January – June 2011 Poland July – December 2011 Denmark January – June 2012 Cyprus July – December 2012 Ireland January – June 2013 Lithuania July – December 2013 Greece January – June 2014 Italy July – December 2014 Latvia January – June 2015 Luxembourg July – December 2015 Netherlands January – June 2016 Slovakia July – December 2016 Malta January – June 2017 United Kingdom July – December 2017 Estonia January – June 2018
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ANNEX 2
WORKING METHODS FOR AN ENLARGED COUNCIL Code of Conduct
On the eve of a quasi-doubling in size the number of its members, it is important for the Council to follow rules on the organisation of its work which will allow it to better use the necessarily limited time available. This Code of Conduct aims to improve the efficiency of the preparation and conduct of meetings of the Council and its preparatory bodies, in accordance with the Council's rules of procedure and more specifically its article 19. I. PREPARATION OF MEETINGS The context is one where increased demand for speaking time from delegations collides with a more or less static "supply" of meeting time resulting from factors which can only be expanded slightly if at all (number of meeting rooms, availability of interpreters, etc.). Referral of reports The traditional practice of referring reports upwards and downwards between the Council's preparatory bodies − often several times − is caused to some extent by a faulty division of labour between COREPER and working parties. Thus, working parties refer files to COREPER73 on which preparatory work has not been completed. COREPER for its part is sometimes over-hasty in referring an entire file back to the working party, on occasion without a sufficiently clear remit.
(1) The Presidency will ensure that a file is only submitted by a working party to COREPER when there is reasonable prospect of progress or clarification of positions being achieved at that level. Conversely, files may only be referred downwards again when necessary, and in any event only with the remit to tackle precise, well-defined problems.
Better documents Time would be gained in meetings by the use of more efficient documents. This concept is developed more fully in the Guide for producing documents for the Council and its preparatory bodies issued by the Council Secretariat. Their timely availability is essential for a better preparation of meetings and all efforts should accordingly be undertaken in this sense.
73 References to COREPER should be understood as applying also to other preparatory bodies above working party level.
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Using time between meetings It is necessary to use the time between meetings more constructively. The Presidency already makes use of contacts with delegations as a way of advancing work. This could be further developed through "targeted tasking". Thus, once work on a file has reached the point where it is possible to identify stumbling blocks on which there is a clear line-up of delegations, the Presidency could explore possible solutions with whatever assistance it considers necessary from within the working party/committee, including that provided by the General Secretariat and the Commission. Decision-making would naturally remain entirely the prerogative of the plenary meeting.
(2) The Presidency shall take necessary steps to advance work between meetings. It can, for example, with the agreement of the working party or committee, undertake in the most efficient way necessary consultations on specific problems with a view to reporting back to the working party or committee concerned on possible solutions. It can also conduct written consultations by requesting delegations to react in written form to a proposal before the next meeting of the working party or committee.
Change of medium Time could be gained in meetings if delegations were to take the floor against the background of documentation they had made available in advance, via the Council Secretariat. Such documentation could, for example, include general introductory statements of position on a new proposal, motivations of position on specific points and proposals for amendments (the latter to be accompanied by precise language.) Wherever possible, groups of like-minded delegations should aim at making available written input reflecting joint positions.
(3) Delegations should, whenever appropriate, set out the positions they are likely to take in a forthcoming meeting in written form before that meeting; when such information contains proposals for amending text, such proposals should take the form of precise language. Wherever possible, written input should be submitted jointly by delegations maintaining the same position.
Role of the Antici/Mertens Groups With a view to lightening the load on COREPER:
(4) COREPER should avoid going over ground already covered in the Antici and Mertens groups; this applies in particular to the "I" items, information on the organisation and order of its business and information on the agenda and organisation of forthcoming Council meetings. Wherever possible, delegations shall raise Any Other Business items in the Antici/Mertens groups rather than at COREPER.
(5) The Presidency will convey to the Antici and Mertens groups as soon as possible before
COREPER all necessary information in order to allow a thorough preparation of COREPER, including information on what the Presidency expects to achieve from the discussion on each agenda item. Conversely, the Presidency may, as appropriate, encourage delegations to communicate to the Antici/Mertens group information on the positions they will be taking at COREPER. In this context the Presidency shall finalise the agenda of COREPER. The Presidency will consider convening the Antici and Mertens groups more frequently, when required by circumstances.
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II. CONDUCT OF MEETINGS With the forthcoming enlargement a new threshold will have been crossed, with the sheer number of participants in a meeting requiring a greater discipline than hitherto if results are to be achieved within a reasonable length of time. Agenda management Certain meeting practices must be abandoned.
(6) No items will be placed on the Council agenda simply for presentation by the Commission or Council members, except where a debate is foreseen on new major initiatives.
(7) The Presidency shall refrain from placing on COREPER's agenda items for information
only. The information in question (e.g. on the outcome of meetings in another forum or with a third State or another institution, procedural or organisational questions, etc.) should instead be transmitted to delegations via their Antici or Mertens, whenever possible in written form, and should not be repeated in COREPER.
Role of the Presidency The Presidency shall organise meetings in a manner that will ensure the most efficient use of time. Efficient documents will play an important role in supporting some of the recommendations set out below for achieving this objective.
(8) At the start of a meeting, the Presidency shall give any necessary further information regarding the handling of the meeting and in particular indicate the length of time it expects to be devoted to each item. It shall refrain from making lengthy introductions and avoid repeating information which is already known to delegations.
(9) At the start of a discussion on a substantive point, the Presidency shall, depending on the
type of discussion which is needed, indicate to delegations the maximum length of their interventions on that point. In most cases interventions should not exceed two minutes.
(10) Full table rounds shall be proscribed in principle; they may only be used in exceptional
circumstances on specific questions, with a time limit on interventions set by the Presidency.
(11) The Presidency shall give as much focus as possible to discussions, in particular by
requesting delegations to react to compromise texts or specific proposals. (12) During and at the end of meetings the Presidency shall refrain from making lengthy
summaries of the discussions and shall confine itself to concluding briefly on the results (substance and/or procedure) achieved.
Behaviour of delegations Delegations should equally contribute to the efficient conduct of a meeting.
(13) Delegations shall avoid repeating points made by previous speakers. Their interventions shall be brief, substantive and to the point.
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(14) Like-minded delegations are encouraged to hold consultations with a view to the presentation by a single spokesperson of a common position on a specific point.
(15) When discussing texts, delegations shall propose concrete drafting proposals, submitted in
writing, rather than limit themselves to expressing their disagreement with a particular proposal.
(16) Unless indicated otherwise by the Presidency, delegations shall refrain from taking the
floor when in agreement with a particular proposal; in this case silence will be taken as agreement.
Harnessing technology The use of a number of technical devices could reinforce the effect of a number of the recommendations set out above; these could include the Presidency setting off a blinking light when the speaker's time limit has expired; the electronic registration of requests for the floor; the automatic calculation and electronic display of the result of a vote (whether indicative or formal). Consequently, the Council Secretariat will reflect on ways of enhancing the efficiency of the conduct of meetings by the use of technical devices, including on possible means to speed up the production of textual amendments for consideration in the meeting.
__
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ANNEX 3
DECISION OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL/HIGH REPRESENTATIVE
FOR THE COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY
CONCERNING REIMBURSEMENT OF TRAVEL EXPENSES
OF DELEGATES OF COUNCIL MEMBERS
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL/HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY, Having regard to the Council's Rules of Procedure of 22 July 2002 74, and in particular Article 23(5) thereof, Whereas: 1. The Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security
Policy (hereafter Secretary-General/High Representative), assisted by the Deputy Secretary-General, is fully responsible for administering the appropriations under Section II – Council – of the general budget of the European Communities, and takes all necessary steps to ensure their sound management. He implements the appropriations in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities.
2. Given existing budgetary constraints, and in order to facilitate planning of budgetary expenditure of
Member States and the General Secretariat of the Council, it is necessary to specify the criteria, limits and practical arrangements for the reimbursement of delegates' expenses by the Council.
3. The appropriations in Section II – Council – of the budget under "meetings in general" are intended to
cover the refund of travel expenses incurred by the Presidency and delegations at meetings of the Council and meetings held within the Council framework.
4. The accession of Cyprus, Malta, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, the Czech
Republic and Slovenia should take effect on 1 May 2004. 5. A new system for reimbursing travel expenses should be adopted, whereby each Member State will
receive a fixed budget enabling it to decide the extent of its representation at meetings. 6. Only expenses arising from travel which actually took place in order to participate in meetings of the
Council or its subordinate bodies, in meetings within the framework of the activities of the Council as an institution, in meetings of an intergovernmental conference or those held within the framework of the Treaties and which are inextricably linked to the work of the Council may be reimbursed, independently of whether or not such sessions or meetings are held at the Council's headquarters.
7. Decision No 504/2002 of the Secretary-General/High Representative of 19 December 2002 should be
repealed and replaced by this Decision,
74 OJ L 230, 28.8.2002, p. 7.
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HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1 Principles
1. Travel expenses incurred by delegates of Council members shall be charged to the general budget of the
European Communities (Section II – Council), subject to the conditions and limits set out below, as long as the travel actually took place to attend:
(a) A meeting of the Council or one of its preparatory bodies;
(b) Another meeting in the framework of the activities of the Council as an institution;
(c) A meeting of an intergovernmental conference with a view to revising the Treaties or the
accession of a State to the European Union, or of one of its dependent bodies;
(d) Any meeting other than those mentioned under (c), held within the framework of the Treaties and which is considered to be inextricably linked to the work of the Council and aimed at giving major political impetus to the development of the Union.
2. The lists of meetings for which travel expenses may be reimbursed or not under paragraph 1 are in
Annex I to this Decision. These lists will be regularly updated by the Secretary-General/High-Representative depending on the operation of the Council
3. The principle of reimbursement of travel expenses referred to in paragraph 1 is based on an allocation of the appropriations of the budget heading in the form of fixed budgets for each Member State. This allocation shall enable each Member State to decide on the extent of its representation at the meetings referred to in paragraph 1, whether they are held at Council headquarters or elsewhere.
Article 2 1. Each Member State shall receive a fixed annual budget equal to the percentage of the budgetary
appropriations under the heading "Meetings" in Annex II to this Decision.
The percentage shall be multiplied by 1,5 for States holding the Presidency of the Council in any given year.
2. By derogation from paragraph 1, and to take account of the effects of enlargement scheduled for 1 May 2004, the budget appropriation for the item "Meetings" for 2004 shall be divided into two parts: one corresponding to the period from January to April (four twelfths) and the other to the period from May to December (eight twelfths). The budget for the 15 existing Member States shall be calculated separately for each of these periods, on the basis of the percentages in Annexes II and III.
3. In the event of accession of a new Member State during the year or of a change in the planned
accession of one or more of the candidate countries on the list in Annex II to this Decision, the list and the percentages contained in it shall be revised. The amount of the fixed budgets shall continue to be calculated by the method laid down in paragraph 1.
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Article 3 Procedure for implementing the budget
1. The General Secretariat of the Council shall pay the fixed budgets to the relevant national
administration. The payment shall be made in two instalments: 60% of the amount on 15 January and 40% on 15 July of each year, in euro. However, for 2004, the current 15 Member States shall receive an initial payment corresponding to the amount prior to enlargement. The second payment shall be paid on the date of enlargement to all the Member States of the enlarged Union.
Should the European Union budget not have been finally adopted, the provisional twelfths procedure shall apply.
2. In the two months following the end of the budget year in question, each Member State shall provide
the General Secretariat of the Council with a statement showing how the total appropriation allocated to it has been used.
The General Secretariat of the Council shall check the statement and carry out, if necessary, an audit of Member States' use of their total appropriations.
3. Unused sums and amounts for which no supporting documents have been provided shall be deducted
from the amounts to be paid in the next instalment. 4. The General Secretariat of the Council shall keep lists of attendance at meetings for which travel
expenses are to be defrayed from the Council budget.
Article 4 Final provisions
1. Decision No 504/2002 of the Secretary-General/High Representative of 19 December 2002 concerning
reimbursement of travel expenses of delegates of Member States is hereby repealed. 2. This Decision shall enter into force on 1 January 2004.
Brussels,
Javier SOLANA
Secretary-General/High Representative
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Annex I to Annex 3 Meetings covered by Article 1 of this Decision giving entitlement to reimbursement or not I. MEETINGS GIVING ENTITLEMENT TO REIMBURSEMENT 1. (i) Council meetings; (ii) joint Council meetings
(ii) working parties and committees in the list of committees and working parties involved in the Council's preparatory work established by COREPER (including joint working parties and committees) 75. This list is regularly updated by the Secretariat in the light of the operation of the Council 76;
(iv) Troika meetings as scheduled by the Presidency under the Common Foreign and Security
Policy; (v) Biennial ministerial meetings of the WTO; (vi) Summits between the Union and the countries in a region (e.g. Latin America and the
Caribbean, Africa or Asia); (vii) Intergovernmental conferences and their dependent bodies.
2. Meetings in the country of the Presidency
The number of working party or committee meetings traditionally organised in the country of the Presidency and eligible under these arrangements may under no circumstance exceed fifteen.
II. MEETINGS WHICH DO NOT GIVE ENTITLEMENT TO REIMBURSEMENT 1. Committees set up by the Treaties
(i) Economic and Financial Committee – The secretariat of this committee is provided by the Commission, which also meets its
travel expenses;
(ii) Employment Committee – This consultative committee, set up under Article 130 of the Treaty, formulates opinions
at the request of either the Council or the Commission, and contributes to the preparation of the Council proceedings. Its travel expenses are met by the Commission.
(iii) Social Protection Committee
– Travel expenses are met by the Commission. 75 In the framework of bilateral and regional fishing agreements which are the exclusive competence of the Community, the
Working Party on External Fisheries Policy is required to participate in the meetings referred to in the Annex. In such cases,
only applications for the annual meeting of the agreement in question, or alternatively for the meeting considered most
important, give entitlement to reimbursement. 76 Current version: see 7003/03 of 4 March 2003.
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2. Other meetings (in Brussels and elsewhere)
(i) COST – the technical committees [Exceptions: the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) and the Working Party on Legal, Administrative and Financial Questions (JAF) are still eligible for the reimbursement arrangements]
(ii) The Energy Charter
(iii) Association committees (iv) Cooperation committees (v) Coordination meetings held under the auspices of the Commission
(vi) Coordination meetings alongside an international conference or meeting. Coordination
meetings in Geneva alongside WTO meetings, and meetings of the Working Party on General Affairs held alongside Parliamentary sessions in Strasbourg are included in this category.
(vii) External fisheries policy meetings, with the exception of those listed in the Annex. (viii) Meetings of joint committees set up under joint agreements, irrespective of who presides. (ix) Meetings of joint committees set up under Community agreements.
(x) No preparatory or follow-up meetings to the summits held under paragraph I.1.(vi) above (held
outwith Council headquarters), whether or not it is a meeting of the Council or a Council body, shall be eligible for reimbursement.
_______________
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Bilateral and regional fishing agreements
Regional:
NAFO NASCO ICCAT IBSFC SEAFO IOTC NEAFC IATTC
Bilateral: EC – Estonia EC – Argentina EC – Mauritius
Faroe Islands Cape Verde Morocco Greenland Comoros Sao Tomé and Principe Iceland Côte d'Ivoire Senegal Latvia Equatorial Guinea Seychelles Lithuania Gabon Norway Guinea Poland Guinea-Bissau Russian Federation Madagascar Angola Mauritania
________________________
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Annex II to annex 3
Share of each Member State in the budgetary appropriations under the heading "Meetings" expressed as percentages
Member State Share Belgium 0,3% Czech Republic 3,5% Denmark 5,2% Germany 2,2% Estonia 7,4% Greece 2,9% Spain 6,4% France 1,3% Ireland 2,6% Italy 5,1% Cyprus 5,3% Latvia 6,1% Lithuania 5,6% Luxembourg 0,4% Hungary 4,1% Malta 3,5% Netherlands 0,6% Austria 3,8% Poland 3,4% Portugal 5,7% Slovenia 3,0% Slovakia 3,2% Finland 8,7% Sweden 5,8% United Kingdom 3,9%
_______________
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Annex III to annex 3
Share referred to in Article 2(2) of this Decision for the period from January to April 2004
Member State Share
Belgium 0,5% Denmark 9,4% Germany 4,0% Greece 5,3% Spain 11,6% France 2,4% Ireland 4,8% Italy 9,4% Luxembourg 0,7% Netherlands 1,1% Austria 6,9% Portugal 10,3% Finland 15,8% Sweden 10,6% United Kingdom 7,2%
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ANNEX 4 APPROACH ON INTERPRETING
A. MEETINGS OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL AND THE COUNCIL
Full interpreting will be provided for meetings of the Council and the European Council and will be financed entirely from the Council budget. B. PREPARATORY BODIES MEETING WITH FULL INTERPRETING A maximum of 20 preparatory bodies should meet with 20/20 interpreting financed entirely from the Council budget. C. OTHER PREPARATORY BODIES Interpreting will be available on request on the following basis: (i) Delegations which wish to avail themselves of active or passive interpreting for their official language(s) in a preparatory body must indicate their requests for the coming six-month period by 1 November and 1 May each year1 (ii) The cost of requests will be set off against annual envelopes of € 2 million2 (in two sixmonthly instalments) for each language under the Council budget. iii) Requests for passive interpreting will be charged at 50% of the cost of active interpreting unless such requests can be covered within possibilities offered by DG SCIC and do not require additional interpreters. (iv) DG SCIC will provide a maximum of 11 teams to the Council on any given day3. (v) The Secretariat will provide Member States with a monthly statement of estimated interpreting costs for their official language(s). (vi) Should the cost of requests exceed the amount available under the budget, the Member States concerned4 undertakes to make an advance payment to the Council Secretariat in the first three months of each semester in order to cover such requests.
1 The system will be applied from 1 May 2004. For example requests for the period 1 May to 30 June must be finalized by 15 January of each year. 2 The envelopes will be increased annually in line with growth in the heading 5 ceiling, plus adjustments forinflation. 3 Of these 11 teams, 2 will cover full interpreting, and 9 will cover preparatory bodies where interpreting is available on request. 4 Member States sharing the same official language will apportion costs between them on the basis of the relative size of their population officially using the language. They will notify the Secretariat by of the actual breakdown to be used.
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(vii) Should the cost of requests for a particular language be less than the envelope set aside, a transfer of 66% of the unused amounts will be made at the end of each six-month period5 to the envelopes for Member States under the budget line for delegates’ travel expenses6. (viii) Should difficulties arise because of shortages of booths or interpreters, the Secretariat and the Presidency, in liaison with DG SCIC, will seek a satisfactory solution with the delegations concerned which respects the principle of equal treatment of official languages. (ix) An amount of € 3 million will be set aside under the budget as a reserve to cover meeting cancellations and other contingencies. (x) The Secretariat will produce a report on the practical functioning of this approach after one year of operation so that a review can be undertaken before 1 November 2005.
5 These transfers will be based on the estimated interpreting costs referred to in point (v). 6 For Member States sharing official languages, the same key as for point (vi) above will be used for calculating transfers to the envelopes for Member States under the budget line for delegates’ travel expenses. Any such transfers may only be used to cover expenditure incurred in the current financial year.
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Annex I to Annex 4 Statement for the summary record of COREPER “Pending the review foreseen in point C.(x) of the overall approach, no requests for interpreting will be made from 1 May 2004 in at least 18 preparatory bodies currently using interpreting; this number will increase to 25 from 1 July 2004. No requests will be made in preparatory bodies which currently meet without interpreting nor in coordination meetings of officials outside the headquarters of the Council. The practice followed in COREPER1 will continue, with the cost covered on a 50/50 basis respectively by the Council budget and by the envelopes concerned”.
1 The practice followed in COREPER is interpreting into English, French and German.
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ANNEX 5
COUNCIL DECISION No 56/04
OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL/HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY
CONCERNING INTERPRETING FOR THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, THE COUNCIL AND ITS PREPARATORY BODIES
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL/HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY, Having regard to the Council's Rules of Procedure of [ 22 July 2002 ] 77, and in particular Article 23(5) thereof, Whereas: 1. The Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security
Policy (hereafter Secretary-General/High Representative), assisted by the Deputy Secretary-General,
is fully responsible for administering the appropriations under Section II – Council – of the general
budget of the European Communities, and takes all necessary steps to ensure their sound management.
2. The appropriations in Section II - Council - of the budget under Article 239 ("Services rendered between
institutions - Joint interpreting and conference service") are intended to cover the payment for
interpretation services rendered to the Council by Commission interpreters (DG SCIC).
3. Article 18(1)(e) of the Financial Regulation78 foresees the possibility to finance specific items of
expenditure with revenue from third parties in respect of services supplied by the General Secretariat at
their request.
4. The accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland,
Slovenia and Slovakia which will take effect on 1 May 2004 will add nine official languages to the
existing eleven.
77 (OJ L 230, 28.8.2002, p. 7) ), amended by Council Decision of 11 October 2004 (OJ L 319, 20.10.2004, p. 15), amended by
Council Decision of 23 January 2006 (OJ L 22, 26.1.2006, p.32). 78 Regulation (EC, Euratom) No. 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the
European Communities (OJ L 248 of 16.9.2002, p. 1).
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Given existing budgetary constraints as well as the limited capacity of available interpreting, and in order to
facilitate planning of the interpreting capacity available to the Council, the Permanent Representatives
Committee (Part II), in its 2034th meeting on 18 December 2003, noted that the conditions exist for the
Secretary General/High Representative to apply a new approach on interpreting on a trial basis.
5. In order to put into practice this approach, it is necessary to adopt implementing provisions for
interpreting facilities needed for meetings of the European Council, the Council and its preparatory
bodies.
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1 Principles and scope
1. For the purpose of this decision, the budgetary appropriations under Article 239 (Services rendered
between institutions - Joint interpreting and conference service) of Section II - Council - of the general
budget of the European Communities shall be used:
a) to cover entirely the payment for interpreting services for meetings of the European Council and
the Council;
b) to cover entirely the payment for interpreting services for meetings of the preparatory bodies
which are marked "F" in the list in Annex 179;
c) to cover 50% of the payment for interpreting services for meetings of COREPER; the remaining
50% shall be financed in accordance with Articles 4 to 6;
d) to cover, in accordance with Articles 4 to 6, payment for interpreting services for meetings of
preparatory bodies for which interpreting is available on request, marked "R" in the list
in Annex 1;
e) to cover payments due to meeting cancellations and other contingencies; for this purpose, an
annual amount of € 3 million shall be set aside as a reserve.
2. For meetings of preparatory bodies marked "N" in the list in Annex 1, Member States have
undertaken not to request interpreting pending the review foreseen in Article 8 of this Decision.
3. No interpreting shall be provided for meetings of preparatory bodies or coordination meetings of
officials outside the headquarters of the Council, nor for meetings of preparatory bodies marked “Z” in the
list in Annex 1.
79 Not reproduced here. See annex 7.
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Article 2 Planning
Delegations wishing to avail themselves of active or passive interpreting80 for their official
language(s) in a preparatory body marked "R" in the list in Annex 1 shall indicate their requests for the
coming six-month period by 1 May and 1 November each year.
Article 3
Calculation of costs for interpreting
1. The cost for interpreting shall be calculated on the basis of the daily rate ("pivot price") laid
down in the service level agreement between the Commission (DG SCIC) and the Council applicable for the
period in question.
2. Passive interpreting shall be charged at 50 % of the daily rate ("pivot price"), unless it can be provided
within possibilities offered by DG SCIC and does not require additional interpreters.
Article 4
Annual envelope
The total cost of interpreting upon request, as well as 50 % of the cost for interpreting for meetings
of COREPER, shall be set off against annual envelopes of € 2 million in two six-monthly instalments for
each language. The envelopes shall be increased annually in line with the technical adjustment of heading 5
of the financial perspective. The General Secretariat shall inform Member States of the amount of the
provision available for each language for each six-month period.
Article 5 Exceeding the six-monthly provision
1. Before 1 January and 1 July each year, the General Secretariat shall provide delegations with an
estimate of costs for interpreting for meetings of COREPER and interpreting upon request for each language
for the coming six-month period, based on the programme of meetings for this period and, where no detailed
programme is available, an estimate of the number of meetings on the basis of the corresponding period for
the previous year
80 Active interpreting: a booth is allocated for the language into which interpreting is provided; the language in question can be
listened to as well as spoken by delegates.
Passive interpreting: the language in question may be spoken by delegates, but no interpreting is provided into that language.
111
2. If the estimated total costs for interpreting referred to in paragraph 1 exceed the provision available for
a given language for the six-month period in question, the delegation(s) concerned shall make an advance
payment to the General Secretariat in the first three months of this six-month period to cover the amount
exceeding the available provision. This advance payment shall be apportioned between the delegations
sharing official languages in conformity with the breakdown in Annex 281 notified by the Member States
concerned.
3. The revenue resulting from the advance payments referred to in paragraph 2 shall be assigned to
cover expenditure under Article 239 (Services rendered between institutions - Joint interpreting and
conference service) of Section II - Council - of the general budget of the European Communities.
4. If the actual cost of interpreting provided for a given language during a six-month period is less than
the amount of the advance payment made pursuant to paragraph 2, the unused amounts shall be reimbursed
to the Member State(s) concerned or, at the request of the delegation concerned, set off against any advance
payments due for the next six-month period, where applicable in conformity with the breakdown in Annex 2.
5. Any advance to the General Secretariat under this Article should be paid to the bank account indicated in Annex 382.
Article 6
Underuse of the six-monthly provision 1. The General Secretariat shall provide delegations with monthly statements of estimated costs for
interpreting for COREPER meetings and interpreting upon request for their official language(s) for the total
of the current six-month period.
2. If it appears, on the basis of the monthly statements referred to in paragraph 1, that the estimated cost
of interpreting for a given language is less than the provision available for the current six-month period, the
General Secretariat shall transfer, upon written request of the delegation(s) concerned, 66 % of the unused
amounts to the envelope(s) available under the budget line for delegates’ travel expenses for that
delegation(s) for the current financial year. Any request by a delegation for the payment relating to the
period from July to December shall be made by 15 November.
3. For delegations sharing official languages, the breakdown in Annex 2 shall be used for calculating
transfers to the envelopes for delegations under the budget line for delegates' travel expenses.
81 Not reproduced here. See annex 6 82 Not reproduced here
112
4. The payment of the requested transfer to the relevant national administration shall be made before the
end of the six-month period concerned. The transferred appropriations shall be used according to the terms of
Decision No 190/2003 of 19 September 2003 concerning reimbursement of travel expenses of delegates of
Council Members. They shall cover only travel expenditure incurred in the current financial year.
Article 7
Transitional provisions For the year 2004, the following provisions shall apply: a) by derogation from Article 1(3), for coordination meetings of officials in Geneva, one team of
interpreters will be available for the period from 1 May 2004 until 30 June 2004, and for preparatory
bodies meeting outside the headquarters of the Council, no interpreting will be provided from 1 July
2004.
b) by derogation from Article 4, the total cost of interpreting upon request, as well as 50% of the cost for
interpreting for meetings of COREPER, shall be set off against an envelope of € 1 333 000 for each
language, covering the eight-month period from 1 May until 31 December 2004.
c) by derogation from Article 5(2), if the estimated total costs for interpreting for meetings of COREPER
and interpreting upon request, calculated on the basis of information received by the General
Secretariat before 1 May 2004, exceed the provision available for a given language for the eight-
month period from 1 May 2004 until 31 December 2004, the Member State(s) concerned shall make
an advance payment to the General Secretariat in the first three months of this eight-month period.
d) by derogation from Article 5(4), the reimbursement or setting off of unused amounts shall be
calculated on the basis of the eight-month period from 1 May 2004 until 31 December 2004.
e) by derogation from Article 6(1), the monthly statements shall refer to the total of the eight-month
period from 1 May 2004 until 31 December 2004.
f) by derogation from Article 6(2), if it appears, on the basis of the monthly statements referred to in
Article 6(1), that the estimated cost of interpreting for a given language is less than the provision
available for the eight-month period from 1 May 2004 until 31 December 2004, the General
Secretariat shall transfer, upon written request of the delegation(s) concerned, 66% of the unused
amounts to the envelope(s) available under the budget line for delegates' travel expenses for that
delegation(s) for the current financial year. Any request by a delegation relating for payment relating
to the period from May 2004 to December 2004 shall be made by 15 November 2004.
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Article 8 Final provisions
After one year from the entry into force of this Decision, the General Secretariat shall produce a
report on its application and the practical functioning of the system, so that a review can be undertaken
before 1 November 2005.
This Decision shall enter into force on 1 March 2004. It shall apply from 1 May 2004.
Brussels, .................2004
Javier SOLANA
Secretary General of the Council/High
Representative
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ANNEX 6
DECISION No. 85/05 OF THE DEPUTY SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL
CONCERNING THE BREAKDOWN BETWEEN DELEGATIONS SHARING OFFICIAL LANGUAGES FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE FINANCING OF INTERPRETING
THE DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL, Having regard to Article 5(2) of Decision No. 56/04 of the Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy concerning interpreting for the European Council, the Council and its preparatory bodies; Whereas : (1) For the application of Decision No. 56/04 of the Secretary-General of the Council/High
Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy concerning interpreting for the
European Council, the Council and its preparatory bodies, it is necessary to set out the breakdown
between delegations sharing official languages for the purpose of apportioning interpreting costs.
(2) The Member States concerned have notified to the General Secretariat of the Council the figures
determining their respective share of interpreting costs.
(3) Pursuant to Article 5(2) of the above-mentioned Decision No. 56/04, this breakdown, as notified by
the Member States concerned, shall be set out in a decision of the Deputy Secretary-General of the
Council.
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS :
Article 1 For the application of Article 5(2) and (4) and of Article 6(3) of Decision No. 56/04 of the Secretary-General
of the Council/High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy concerning interpreting for
the European Council, the Council and its preparatory bodies, the breakdown between the delegations
sharing official languages is set out as follows :
115
German Austria 8.90 % Germany 91.10 % Dutch Netherlands 50.00 % Belgium 50.00 % French France 100.00 % English United Kingdom 93.74 % Ireland 6.26 % Greek Greece 93.91 % Cyprus 6.09 %
Article 2 The delegations concerned may at any time notify to the General Secretariat any changes in the breakdown set out in Article 1. In such a case, Article 1 shall be modified accordingly with effect from the first day of the six-month period following that notification.
Article 3 This Decision replaces and repeals Decision No. 176/04. It shall enter into force and apply from 1 July 2005. Brussels, Pierre de BOISSIEU Deputy Secretary-General of the Council
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ANNEX 7
DECISION No 133/05
OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL/HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR
THE COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY
AMENDING DECISION No 56/04
CONCERNING INTERPRETING FOR THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL,
THE COUNCIL AND ITS PREPARATORY BODIES
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL/HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE
COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY,
Having regard to the Council's Rules of Procedure of 22 March 2004, and in particular Article 23(5) thereof,
Whereas, at its meeting on 14 September 2005, the Permanent Representatives Committee agreed that the "on
request" system should exceptionally be extended to cover the Working Party on Staff Regulations,
Whereas the list of Council preparatory bodies has been updated in conformity with Article 19(3) of the
Council's Rules of Procedure,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Sole Article
1. The list at Annex 1 to Decision 56/04 shall be replaced by the list annexed to this Decision.
2. This Decision shall apply from 1 November 2005 Brussels, 13 October 2005
Javier SOLANA Secretary General of the Council/High Representative
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Annex to Annex 7
Provision of interpreting in Council preparatory bodies
Legend The interpreting arrangements in the right hand column are designated as follows: "F" : Full interpreting "R" : Interpreting on request "N" : Interpreting not requested "Z" : Zero interpreting "C" : Interpreting provided by the Commission
COMMITTEES ESTABLISHED BY THE TREATIES Arrangements
A.1 Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) (a) Part II (b) Part I
Article 1(1)(c)
A.2 Economic and Financial Committee C A.3 Employment Committee C A.4 Article 133 Committee
(a) Full Members (b) Deputies (c) Experts (Textiles, Services, Steel, Motor Vehicles, Mutual Recognition)
F R R
A.5 Political and Security Committee Z A.6 Article 36 Committee F A.7 Social Protection Committee C
COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED BY INTERGOVERNMENTAL DECISION
A.8 Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) F
COMMITTEES ESTABLISHED BY COUNCIL ACT A.9 Military Committee (EUMC) Z
A.10 Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management N A.11 Economic Policy Committee C A.12 Financial Services Committee R A.13 Security Committee
(a) INFOSEC (AQUA's, experts) (b) GNSS experts (c) Security Accreditation Panels (SAPs)
Z
GROUPS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH COREPER
A.14 Antici Group Z A.15 Mertens Group Z A.16 Friends of the Presidency Group N
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COUNSELLORS/ATTACHES
A.17 Counsellors/Attachés N
GENERAL AFFAIRS B.1 Working Party on General Affairs Z B.2 Working Party on Enlargement N B.3 No longer exists B.4 High-Level Working Group on Asylum and Migration F B.5 Horizontal Working Party on Drugs F B.6 Working Party on Structural Measures R B.7 Working Party on Outermost Regions N B.8 No longer exists B.9 Working Party on Atomic Questions
(a) Ad hoc Working Party on Nuclear Safety R
B.10 Working Party on Statistics R B.11 Working Party on Information N B.12 Working Party on Legal Data Processing R B.13 Working Party on Electronic Communications
(a) SESAME High Level Coordinators Group Z
B.14 Working Party on Codification of Legislation R B.15 Working Party of Legal/Linguistic Experts Z B.16 Working Party on the Court of Justice R B.17 Working Party on the Staff Regulations R
B.18 Working Party on New Buildings N B.19 Ad Hoc Working Party on the follow-up to the Council conclusions on
Cyprus of 26 April 2004 R
EXTERNAL RELATIONS/SECURITY AND DEFENCE/DEVELOPMENT
C.1 Working Party of Foreign Relations Counsellors (a) Sanctions
Z
C.2 Working Party on Public International Law (a) International Criminal Court
Z
C.3 Working Party on the Law of the Sea N C.4 United Nations Working Party Z C.5 Working Party on OSCE and the Council of Europe Z C.6 Working Party on Human Rights Z C.7 Working Party on Transatlantic Relations N C.8 Working Party on Central and Southeast Europe N C.9 Working Party on Eastern Europe and Central Asia N
C.10 Working Party on EFTA N C.11 Working Party on the Western Balkans Region Z C.12 Ad hoc Working Party on the Middle East Peace Process N C.13 Middle East/Gulf Working Party N C.14 Mashreq/Maghreb Working Party N C.15 Africa Working Party Z C.16 ACP Working Party N C.17 Asia-Oceania Working Party N C.18 Working Party on Latin America N C.19 Working Party on Terrorism (International Aspects) Z C.20 Working Party on Non-Proliferation Z
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C.21 Working Party on Conventional Arms Export Z C.22 Working Party on Global Disarmament and Arms Control Z C.23 Working Party on Dual-Use Goods R C.24 Working Party on European Arms Policy N C.25 Politico-Military Working Party Z C.26 Military Committee Working Group (EUMCWG) Z C.27 Working Party on Trade Questions R C.28 Working Party on the Generalised System of Preferences R C.29 Export Credits Group R C.30 Working Party on Development Cooperation N C.31 Working Party on Preparation for International Development
Conferences N
C.32 Working Party on Food Aid N C.33 Working Party on Commodities N C.34 Working Party on Consular Affairs Z C.35 Working Party on CFSP Administrative Affairs and Protocol Z C.36 Nicolaidis Group Z
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
D.1 Working Party on Financial Questions (a) Own Resources
R
D.2 Working Party of Financial Counsellors N D.3 Working Party on Financial Services
(a) Money Laundering (b) Reinsurance (c) Capital requirements
F
D.4 Working Party on Tax Questions (a) Indirect Taxation (VAT, Excise duties, Energy taxation) (b) Direct Taxation (including Taxation of Savings, Interest and Royalties)
F
D.5 Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) (a) Subgroup A (b) Subgroup B
F
D.6 High Level Working Party R D.7 No longer exists D.8 Budget Committee R D.9 Working Party on Combating Fraud R
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
E.1 Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA) F E.2 Working Party on Migration and Expulsion F E.3 Visa Working Party R E.4 Asylum Working Party F E.5 CIREFI R E.6 Working Party on Frontiers F E.7 Committee on Civil Law Matters F E.8 SIS/Sirene Working Party R E.9 SIS-TECH Working Party
(a) General (b) Sisnet
R
E.10 Police Cooperation Working Party (a) Telecommunications (b) Investigative Techniques and Forensic Science (c) Exchange of Police Intelligence
F
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E.11 Europol Working Party F E.12 Working Party on Terrorism R E.13 Customs Cooperation Working Party R E.14 Working Party on Cooperation in Criminal Matters F E.15 Working Party on Substantive Criminal Law F E.16 Working Party on Collective Evaluation R E.17 Working Party on Schengen Evaluation R E.18 Working Party on the Schengen Acquis R E.19 Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime F E.20 Working Party on the European Judicial Network R E.21 Working Party on Civil Protection R E.22 Ad Hoc Working Party on Fundamental Rights and Citizenship R
AGRICULTURE/FISHERIES
F.1 Working Party on Agricultural Structures and Rural Development (a) Agriculture and Environment (b) Rural Development (c) Agricultural Structures (d) Aegean Islands
R
F.2 Working Party on Horizontal Agricultural Questions (a) Simplification of the CAP (b) Strengthening of Controls
R
F.3 Working Party on Financial Agricultural Questions (a) Agri-monetary Questions (b) AGRIFIN
R
F.4 Working Party on the Promotion of Agricultural Products R F.5 Working Party on Genetic Resources in Agriculture R F.6 Working Party on Agricultural Questions
(a) Labelling of Processed Agricultural Products (b) Animal Feedingstuffs (c) Seeds and Propagating Material (d) Harmful Organisms (e) Pesticide Residues (f) Pesticides/Plant Protection Products (g) Plant Breeder Rights
R
F.7 Working Party on Animal Products (a) Beef and Veal (b) Sheepmeat and Goatmeat (c) Pigmeat (d) Eggs and Poultry (e) Milk and Milk Products (f) Beekeeping and Honey
R
F.8 Working Party on Arable Crops (a) Cereals (b) Oilseeds (c) Rice (d) Protein Crops (e) Dried Fodder (f) Seeds
R
121
F.9 Working Party on Special Plant Products and Textile Fibres
(a) Floriculture (b) Hops (c) Tobacco (d) Cotton (e) Flax and Hemp (f) Silk Worms
R
F.10 Working Party on Forestry R F.11 Working Party on Fruit and Vegetables
(a) Bananas (b) Fresh Fruit and Vegetables (c) Processed Fruit and Vegetables (d) Potatoes
R
F.12 Working Party on Products not listed in Annex I R F.13 Working Party on Olive Oil R F.14 Working Party of Chief Plant Health Officers R F.15 Working Party on Plant Health
(a) Protection and Inspection (b) Propagating and Planting Materials (c) Roosendaal Group
R
F.16 Working Party on Foodstuff Quality (a) Organic Farming (b) Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin (c) Certificates of Specific Character
R
F.17 Working Party on Sugar and Isoglucose R F.18 Working Party on Wines and Alcohol
(a) Wines (b) Aromatised Wines (c) Spirit drinks (d) Alcohol (e) Vinegar (f) OIV
R
F.19 Working Party of Chief Veterinary Officers R F.20 Working Party of Veterinary Experts
(a) Public Health (b) Animal Health (c) Animal Welfare (d) Animal Husbandry (e) Fishery Products (f) Potsdam Group (g) Third Countries
R
F.21 Coordination Working Party (a) FAO (b) OECD
R
F.22 Codex Alimentarius Working Party (a) General Principles (b) Food Additives and Contaminants (c) Food Hygiene (d) Food Labelling (e) Methods of Analysis and Sampling (f) Pesticide Residues (g) Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods
R
122
(h) Food Import and Export Certification and Inspection Systems (i) Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (j) Cocoa Products and Chocolate (k) Sugars (l) Processed Fruits and Vegetables (m) Fats and Oils (n) Fish and Fishery Products (o) Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (p) Milk and Milk Products (q) Natural Mineral Waters (r) Task Force on Biotechnology (s) Task Force on Fruit Juices (t) Task Force on Animal Feeding (u) Coordinating Committee for Europe (v) Meat Hygiene
F.23 Working Party on External Fisheries Policy R F.24 Working Party on Internal Fisheries Policy R F.25 Working Party of Director-Generals of Fisheries Departments R F.26 High Level Working Party on CAP reform R
COMPETITIVENESS (Internal Market, Industry, Research)
G.1 Working Party on Competitiveness and Growth R G.2 Working Party on Public Procurement R G.3 Working Party on Intellectual Property
(a) Patents (b) Copyright (c) Design
F R R
G.4 Working Party on Company Law (a) Statutory Auditing (b) European association (c) Cross-border mergers (d) Second directive (e) Accounting
R
G.5 Working Party on Insurance R G.6 Working Party on Establishment and Services R G.7 Working Party on Technical Harmonisation
(a) Standardisation (b) Motor Vehicles (c) Dangerous Substances and Preparations (d) Machinery (e) Cosmetics (f) Instruments (g) Fertilisers
R
G.8 Working Party on Liability for Defective Products R G.9 Working Party on Customs Union
(a) Customs Legislation and Policy (b) Common Customs Tariff
R
G.10 Working Party on Data Protection R G.11 Working Party on Foodstuffs R G.12 Working Party on Free movement of persons R G.13 Working Party on Competition R G.14 Working Party on Research R G.15 Joint Working Party on Research/Atomic Questions R
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G.16 CREST R G.17 Ad hoc Working Party on Chemicals R
TRANSPORT/TELECOMMUNICATIONS/ ENERGY
H.1 Working Party on Land Transport R H.2 Working Party on Shipping R H.3 Working Party on Aviation R H.4 Working Party on Transport - Intermodal Questions and Networks R H.5 Working Party on Telecommunications and Information Society R H.6 Working Party on Postal Services R H.7 Working Party on Energy R
EMPLOYMENT/SOCIAL POLICY HEALTH AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS
I.1 Working Party on Social Questions R I.2 Working Party on Public Health R I.3 Working Party on Consumer Protection and Information F I.4 Working Party on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices R
ENVIRONMENT
J.1 Working Party on the Environment (a) Internal environmental aspects of sustainable development
R
J.2 Working Party on International Environment Issues (a) Global environmental aspects of sustainable development (b) Climate Change
R
EDUCATION, YOUTH AND CULTURE
K.1 Education Committee R K.2 Working Party on Youth R K.3 Committee on Cultural Affairs R K.4 Audio-visual Working Party R
________________________
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ANNEX 8
LIST OF COUNCIL PREPARATORY BODIES A. Committees established by the Treaties, by intergovernmental decision, by Council act and groups closely associated with COREPER 3 B. General Affairs 5 C. External Relations/Security and Defence/Development 6 D. Economic and Financial Affairs 7 E. Justice and Home Affairs 8 F. Agriculture and Fisheries 9 G. Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry, Research) 12 H. Transport/Telecommunications/Energy 13 I. Employment/Social Policy/Health and Consumer Affairs 13 J. Environment 13 K. Education/Youth/Culture 13
125
COMMITTEES ESTABLISHED BY THE TREATIES
A.9 Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) (a) Part II (b) Part I
A.10 Economic and Financial Committee 83 A.11 Employment Committee 84 A.12 Article 133 Committee 85
(a) Full Members (b) Deputies (c) Experts (Textiles, Services, Steel, Motor Vehicles, Mutual Recognition)
A.13 Political and Security Committee A.14 Article 36 Committee A.15 Social Protection Committee 86
COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED BY INTERGOVERNMENTAL DECISION A.16 Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) 87
83 This advisory body, established under Article 114 of the Treaty, formulates opinions at the request of either the Council or the
Commission and contributes to the preparation of Council proceedings. It has an elected chair and its secretariat is provided by
the Commission. 84 This advisory body, established under Article 130 of the Treaty, formulates opinions at the request of either the Council or the
Commission and contributes to the preparation of Council proceedings. It has an elected chair and its secretariat is provided by
the Commission. 85 The Article 133 Committee assists the Commission in the conduct of the negotiation of trade agreements and gives advice to the
Commission on the Common Commercial Policy. Its consultative functions are without prejudice to the functions in particular of the relevant geographical working parties responsible for bilateral relations with third countries.
86 This advisory body, established under article 144 of the Treaty, formulates opinions at the request of either the Council or the
Commission. It has an elected chair and its secretariat is provided by the Commission. 87 The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) was established by a decision of the Representatives of the Governments of the
Member States on 12 May 1960 to prepare decisions of the Agriculture Council.
126
COMMITTEES ESTABLISHED BY COUNCIL ACT
A.9 Military Committee (EUMC) 88
A.10 Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management 89 A.11 Economic Policy Committee 90
A.12 Financial Services Committee 91 A.13 Security Committee 92
(a) INFOSEC (AQUAs, experts) (b) GNSS experts 93 (c) Security Accreditation Panels (SAPs)
GROUPS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH COREPER A.14 Antici Group A.15 Mertens Group A.16 Friends of the Presidency Group A.17 Ad Hoc Group on the Financial Perspective 94
COUNSELLORS/ATTACHES A.18 Counsellors/Attachés95
88 See Council Decision 2001/79/CFSP of 22 January 2001, OJ L 27 of 30.1.2001, p. 4-6. This Committee has an elected chair. 89 See Council Decision 2000/354/CFSP of 22 May 2000, OJ L 127, p.1. 90 See Council Decision 2000/604/EC of 29 September 2000, OJ L 257 of 11.10.2000, p. 28. This Committee has an elected chair
and its secretariat is provided by the Commission. 91 See Council Decision of 18 February 2003, OJ L 67 of 12.03.2003, p. 17. This Committee has an elected chair. 92 See Council Decision 2001/264/EC of 19 March 2001, OJ L 101 of 11.4.2001, p. 10. This Committee is chaired by a member
of the General Secretariat of the Council. 93 See doc 10403/04. 94 See doc 11441/1/04 REV 1. 95 There is no change in the practices followed in different sectors for convening and organising formal Counsellor or Attaché
meetings.
127
GENERAL AFFAIRS
B.20 Working Party on General Affairs B.21 Working Party on Enlargement B.22 High-Level Working Group on Asylum and Migration B.23 Horizontal Working Party on Drugs 96 B.24 Working Party on Structural Measures B.25 Working Party on Outermost Regions B.26 Working Party on Atomic Questions
(a) Ad hoc Working Party on Nuclear Safety B.27 Working Party on Statistics 97 B.28 Working Party on Information 98 B.29 Working Party on Legal Data Processing 3 99 B.30 Working Party on Electronic Communications 3
(a) SESAME High Level Coordinators Group B.31 Working Party on Codification of Legislation 3
B.32 Working Party of Legal/Linguistic Experts 3 B.33 Working Party on the Court of Justice B.34 Working Party on the Staff Regulations B.35 Working Party on New Buildings 3 B.36 Ad hoc Working Party on the follow-up to the Council conclusions on Cyprus of
26 April 2004 100
96 The Horizontal Working Party retains a general overview of all drug-related questions. The Presidency and the General
Secretariat will accordingly ensure that it receives information on all drug-related issues being handled in other working parties. 97 Deals in particular with ECOFIN, internal market and agricultural statistics. This Working Party retains a general overview of
all statistical questions. The Presidency and the General Secretariat accordingly ensure that it receives information on all
statistics-related issues being dealt with in other working parties.
98 Working Party chaired by a member of the General Secretariat of the Council. 99 Includes debates on the integrated system for access to Community Law, which includes CELEX matters. 100 Cf. COREPER (Part II) of 7 April 2004.
128
EXTERNAL RELATIONS/SECURITY AND DEFENCE/DEVELOPMENT C.37 Working Party of Foreign Relations Counsellors
(a) Sanctions101 C.38 Working Party on Public International Law
(a) International Criminal Court C.39 Working Party on the Law of the Sea C.40 United Nations Working Party C.41 Working Party on OSCE and the Council of Europe C.42 Working Party on Human Rights C.43 Working Party on Transatlantic Relations C.44 Working Party on Central and Southeast Europe C.45 Working Party on Eastern Europe and Central Asia C.46 Working Party on EFTA102 C.47 Working Party on the Western Balkans Region C.48 Ad hoc Working Party on the Middle East Peace Process C.49 Middle East/Gulf Working Party C.50 Mashreq/Maghreb Working Party C.51 Africa Working Party C.52 ACP Working Party 103 C.53 Asia-Oceania Working Party C.54 Working Party on Latin America C.55 Working Party on Terrorism (International Aspects) C.56 Working Party on Non-Proliferation C.57 Working Party on Conventional Arms Exports C.58 Working Party on Global Disarmament and Arms Control C.59 Working Party on Dual-Use Goods C.60 Working Party on European Arms Policy C.61 Politico-Military Working Party C.62 Military Committee Working Group (EUMCWG)104 C.63 Working Party on Trade Questions C.64 Working Party on the Generalised System of Preferences C.65 Export Credits Group C.66 Working Party on Development Cooperation C.67 Working Party on Preparation for International Development Conferences C.68 Working Party on Food Aid C.69 Working Party on Commodities C.70 Working Party on Consular Affairs C.71 Working Party on CFSP Administrative Affairs and Protocol C.72 Nicolaidis Group 105
101 Cf. doc. 5603/04. 102 In addition to the EFTA countries and the Faroe Islands, the Working Party on EFTA is responsible for matters relating to
Monaco, Andorra, San Marino and the Holy See. 103 Includes ACP/FIN. 104 This Working Party has an elected chair. Experts may be convened to meet concurrently with the Working Group meeting
(cf. doc 400/1/00 ADD 1 REV 2, pp. 37-95). 105 Cf. doc 8441/03.
129
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
D.10 Working Party on Financial Questions (a) Own Resources
D.11 Working Party of Financial Counsellors D.12 Working Party on Financial Services
(a) Money Laundering (b) Reinsurance (c) Capital requirements
D.13 Working Party on Tax Questions (a) Indirect Taxation (VAT, Excise duties, Energy taxation) (b) Direct Taxation (including Taxation of Savings, Interest and Royalties)
D.14 Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) 106 (a) Subgroup A (b) Subgroup B
D.15 High Level Working Party 107 D.16 Budget Committee D.17 Working Party on Combating Fraud
106 High-level representatives of the Finance Ministers. This Group has an elected chair. 107 Established to ensure the coordination of work to achieve parallel progress on the tax package (cf doc. 9915/01).
130
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
E.23 Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA) E.24 Working Party on Migration and Expulsion E.25 Visa Working Party E.26 Asylum Working Party E.27 CIREFI E.28 Working Party on Frontiers 108 E.29 Committee on Civil Law Matters E.30 SIS/Sirene Working Party E.31 SIS-TECH Working Party E.32 Police Cooperation Working Party E.33 Europol Working Party E.34 Working Party on Terrorism E.35 Customs Cooperation Working Party E.36 Working Party on Cooperation in Criminal Matters E.37 Working Party on Substantive Criminal Law E.38 Working Party on Collective Evaluation E.39 Working Party on Schengen Evaluation E.40 Working Party on the Schengen Acquis E.41 Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime E.42 Working Party on the European Judicial Network E.43 Working Party on Civil Protection E.44 Ad Hoc Working Party on Fundamental rights and citizenship 109
108 Including false documents. 109 Cf. COREPER (Part II) of 27 April 2005.
131
AGRICULTURE/FISHERIES
F.22 High Level Group on Agriculture110 F.23 Working Party on Agricultural Structures and Rural Development
(a) Agriculture and Environment (b) Rural Development (c) Agricultural Structures (d) Aegean Islands
F.24 Working Party on Horizontal Agricultural Questions (a) Simplification of the CAP (b) Strengthening of Controls 111
F.25 Working Party on the Promotion of Agricultural Products F.26 Working Party on Genetic Resources in Agriculture F.27 Working Party on Foodstuff Quality
(a) Organic Farming (b) Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin (c) Certificates of Specific Character
F.28 Working Party on Animal Products (a) Beef and Veal (b) Sheepmeat and Goatmeat (c) Pigmeat (d) Eggs and Poultry (e) Milk and Milk Products (f) Beekeeping and Honey
F.29 Working Party on Arable Crops (a) Cereals (b) Oilseeds (c) Rice (d) Protein Crops (e) Dried Fodder (f) Seeds
F.30 Working Party on Sugar and Isoglucose F.31 Working Party on Fruit and Vegetables
(a) Bananas (b) Fresh Fruit and Vegetables (c) Processed Fruit and Vegetables (d) Potatoes
F.32 Working Party on Olive Oil 112 F.33 Working Party on Wines and Alcohol
(a) Wines (b) Aromatised Wines (c) Spirit drinks (d) Alcohol (e) Vinegar (f) OIV 113
110 Cf. doc.13642/05. This Group meets at the level of Deputies of Ministers. 111 Including the integrated system. 112 Including table olives.
132
F.34 Working Party on Special Plant Products and Textile Fibres
(c) Floriculture (d) Hops (e) Tobacco (d) Cotton (e) Flax and Hemp (f) Silk Worms
F.35 Working Party on Products not listed in Annex I F.36 Working Party on Financial Agricultural Questions
(a) Agri-monetary questions (b) AGRIFIN
F.37 Working Party on Forestry F.38 Working Party on Agricultural Questions
(a) Labelling of Processed Agricultural Products (b) Animal Feedingstuffs (c) Seeds and Propagating Material (d) Harmful Organisms (e) Pesticide Residues (f) Pesticides/Plant Protection Products (g) Plant Breeder Rights
F.39 Working Party of Chief Plant Health Officers F.40 Working Party on Plant Health
(a) Protection and Inspection (b) Propagating and Planting Materials (c) Roosendaal Group
F.41 Working Party of Chief Veterinary Officers F.42 Working Party of Veterinary Experts
(a) Public Health (b) Animal Health (c) Animal Welfare (d) Animal Husbandry (e) Fishery Products (f) Potsdam Group (g) Third Countries
F.43 Coordination Working Party (a) FAO (b) OECD
113 Including the CSD / Ad hoc UN Forum on forests.
133
F.44 Codex Alimentarius Working Party
(w) General Principles (x) Food Additives and Contaminants (y) Food Hygiene (z) Food Labelling (aa) Methods of Analysis and Sampling (bb) Pesticide Residues (cc) Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (dd) Food Import and Export Certification and Inspection Systems (ee) Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (ff) Cocoa Products and Chocolate (gg) Sugars (hh) Processed Fruits and Vegetables (ii) Fats and Oils (jj) Fish and Fishery Products (kk) Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (ll) Milk and Milk Products (mm) Natural Mineral Waters (nn) Task Force on Biotechnology (oo) Task Force on Fruit Juices (pp) Task Force on Animal Feeding (qq) Coordinating Committee for Europe (rr) Meat hygiene
F.24 Working Party on External Fisheries Policy F.25 Working Party on Internal Fisheries Policy F.26 Working Party of Directors-General of Fisheries Departments
134
COMPETITIVENESS (Internal Market, Industry, Research)
G.18 Working Party on Competitiveness and Growth 114 G.19 Working Party on Public Procurement G.20 Working Party on Intellectual Property
(a) Patents (b) Copyright (c) Design
G.21 Working Party on Company Law (a) Statutory Auditing (b) European association (c) Cross-border mergers (d) Second Directive (e) Accounting
G.22 Working Party on Insurance G.23 Working Party on Establishment and Services G.24 Working Party on Technical Harmonisation
(a) Standardisation (b) Motor Vehicles (c) Dangerous Substances and Preparations (d) Machinery (e) Cosmetics (f) Instruments (g) Fertilisers
G.25 Working Party on Customs Union (c) Customs Legislation and Policy (d) Common Customs Tariff
G.26 Working Party on Data Protection G.27 Working Party on Foodstuffs G.28 Working Party on Free Movement of Persons G.29 Working Party on Competition G.30 Working Party on Research G.31 Joint Working Party on Research/Atomic Questions G.32 CREST 115 G.33 Ad hoc Working Party on Chemicals 116
114 Including internal market, industry and tourism. In line with the COREPER decision (doc. 14818/02), this Working Party meets
in different configurations depending on the agenda. When necessary and at the Presidency's initiative it meets at senior official
level, with representatives designated by the Member States to deal, inter alia, with horizontal issues. 115 This committee is chaired by the Commission. Its secretariat is provided by the Council Secretariat. The rules of procedure of
CREST allow for the establishment of ad hoc Working Parties, of which there are several. 116 See decision taken by COREPER (Part 1) on 5 November 2003 (doc 14242/03).
135
TRANSPORT/TELECOMMUNICATIONS/ENERGY
H.8 Working Party on Land Transport 117 H.9 Working Party on Shipping 1 H.10 Working Party on Aviation 1
H.11 Working Party on Transport - Intermodal Questions and Networks 1
H.12 Working Party on Telecommunications and Information Society H.13 Working Party on Postal Services H.14 Working Party on Energy 118
EMPLOYMENT/SOCIAL POLICY
HEALTH AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS I.3 Working Party on Social Questions I.4 Working Party on Public Health I.5 Working Party on Consumer Protection and Information I.6 Working Party on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices
ENVIRONMENT 119
J.3 Working Party on the Environment (a) Internal environmental aspects of sustainable development
J.4 Working Party on International Environment Issues (a) Global environmental aspects of sustainable development (b) Climate Change
EDUCATION, YOUTH AND CULTURE
K.5 Education Committee K.6 Working Party on Youth K.7 Committee on Cultural Affairs K.8 Audio-visual Working Party
________________________
117 These working parties also meet in special configurations according to operational needs, including as special committees
provided for in Council negotiating directives. 118 Includes the High-level Working Party on Energy. 119 Experts may be convened to meet concurrently with the working party meeting.
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List of abbreviations
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations
ASEM Asia - Europe meeting
CCLM Committee on Civil Law Matters
CEUMC Chairman of the European Union Military Committee CFSP CommonForeign and Security Policy
CHODs Chiefs of Defence Staff
CIVCOM Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management
CoE Council of Europe
Coreper Permanent Representatives Committee
COREU Telex Network of European Correspondents
COSAC Conference of bodies concerned with Community affairs in the Parliaments of the European Community
COST European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research CRP Council's Rules of Procedure
CSD Commission on Sustainable Development
CSO Committee of Senior Officials
EAEC European Atomic Energy Community
EC European Community
ECOFIN Economic and financial questions ECOSOC Economic and Social Council
ECSC European Coal and Steel Community
EP European Parliament
EPC European Political Cooperation
ESDP European Security and Defence Policy
EUMC European Union Military Committee
EUMS European Union Military Staff
EUPM European Union Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Euratom European Atomic Energy Community
EUROMED Euro-Mediterranean Committee for the Barcelona process
EUSR European Union Special Representative
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
GAERC General Affairs and External Relations Council
GSC General Secretariat of the Council
GSP Generalised System of Preferences
137
HR High Representative
ILO International Labour Organization
IATTC Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
ICCAT International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
IOTC Indian Ocean Tuna Commission Liste of abbreviations (continuation)
ISO International Organisation for Standardisation
JAF Administrative and Financial Questions
JHA Justice and Home Affairs
MFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs
NAC North Atlantic Council
NAFO Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation
NASCO North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation
NEAFC North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission
OJ Official Journal
OSCE Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
PMG Politico-Military Group PPEWU Policy Planning and Early Warning Unit
PROXIMA European Union Police Mission in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia PSC Political and Security Committee
RELEX Commission for External Relations
SCA Special Committee on Agriculture
SCIC Joint Interpreting and Conference Service
SCIFA Situation Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum
SG/HR Secretary-General, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy
SITCEN Centre
TEC Treaty establishing the European Community
TEU Treaty on European Union
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNGA United Nations General Assembly
WTO World Trade Organisation