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Key Issues in the European Council: State of Play in June 2019

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Key Issues in the European Council: State of Play in June 2019 Key issues in the European Council State of play in June 2019 STUDY EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service Authors: Suzana Anghel, Izabela Bacian, Ralf Drachenberg, Marko Vukovic European Council Oversight Unit PE 631.754 – June 2019 EN Key issues in the European Council: State of play in June 2019 Study The role of the European Council is to 'provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development' and to define its 'general political directions and priorities'. Since its establishment in 1975, the European Council has exercised considerable influence over the development of the European Union, a process enhanced by its designation as a formal institution of the Union under the Lisbon Treaty a decade ago. The European Council Oversight Unit within the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) monitors and analyses the activities, commitments and impact of the European Council, so as to maximize parliamentary understanding of the political dynamics of this important institution. This new EPRS publication, 'Key issues in the European Council', which will be updated quarterly to coincide with European Council meetings, aims to provide an overview of the institution’s activities on major EU issues. It analyses nine policy areas, explaining the legal and political background and the main priorities and orientations defined by the European Council. It also assesses the results of European Council involvement to date and identifies future challenges in the various policy fields. EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service AUTHOR(S) Suzana Anghel, European Council Oversight Unit Izabela Bacian, European Council Oversight Unit Ralf Drachenberg, European Council Oversight Unit Marko Vukovic, European Council Oversight Unit This study has been drawn up by the European Council Oversight Unit of the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, within the Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS) of the Secretariat of the European Parliament. It is an abridged version of the latest edition of European Council conclusions - A rolling check-list of commitments to date To contact the authors, please email: [email protected]. LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN Manuscript completed in June 2019. DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT This document is prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as background material to assist them in their parliamentary work. The content of the document is the sole responsibility of its author(s) and any opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent an official position of the Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. Brussels © European Union, 2019. PE 631.754 ISBN: 978-92-846-4863-4 DOI: 10.2861/426751 CAT: QA-04-19-469-EN-N [email protected] http://www.eprs.ep.parl.union.eu (intranet) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank (internet) http://epthinktank.eu (blog) Key issues in the European Council: State of play in June 2019 Introduction Established as an informal summit in 1975, the European Council became a formal European Union institution, with a full-time President, in 2009, on the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. From the outset, the European Council exercised considerable influence over the EU's development. But its role has grown rapidly over the past decade, becoming central to the operation of the European Union political system. The European Council consists of the Heads of State or Government of the 28 EU Member States, the European Council President and the President of the European Commission (Article 15(2) of the Treaty on European Union, TEU). The latter two have no voting rights. Meetings of the European Council are normally also attended by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The European Council's role is to 'provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and define the general political directions and priorities' (Article 15(1) TEU). Thus, at its formal meetings, normally four per year, the European Council adopts 'conclusions' that are aimed at identifying policy priorities and actions to be taken. However, as expressly specified in the Treaty, it cannot exercise legislative functions. In June 2014, the European Council adopted a strategic agenda of priority areas, designed to guide the work of the European Union until 2019. Subsequently, unprecedented domestic and global challenges, including the prospect of the UK's withdrawal from the EU, combined with a rise in populism and anti-EU sentiment, have triggered a wide-ranging debate on the future of Europe. The leaders of the EU-27 thus used the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties in March 2017 to issue a set of policy orientations for the Union for the next 10 years. They strongly underlined their unity and the EU's determination 'to address the challenges of a rapidly changing world and to offer to our citizens both security and new opportunities'. The Rome Agenda encompasses four broad chapters: a safe and secure Europe, a prosperous and sustainable Europe, a social Europe, and a stronger Europe on the global scene, which will shape the action of the Union over a decade. In June 2019, the European Council will adopt a strategic agenda to set policy priorities for the upcoming five years, replacing its previous strategic agenda. In addition to its horizontal priority-setting role, the Treaties have given the European Council specific responsibilities in a number of policy areas. The institution is notably tasked with identifying the Union's strategic interests and determining the objectives and general guidelines for Common Foreign and Security Policy (Article 26 TEU). Following a request from EU leaders, the High Representative, Federica Mogherini, presented an EU global strategy, which the European Council welcomed in June 2016. The strategy sets five broad priorities for the EU external action in the up- coming years: the security of the Union, state and societal resilience to the East and South, an integrated approach to conflict and crisis, cooperative regional orders, and global governance for the 21st century. Furthermore, the European Council defines the strategic guidelines for legislative and operational planning in the area of freedom, security and justice (Article 68 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, TFEU). For the period until 2019, the priorities for the European Union in the area of freedom, I EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service security and justice, have been to 'better manage migration in all aspects; prevent and combat crime and terrorism; [and] improve judicial cooperation among EU countries'. Following the outbreak of the migration crisis, and a series of terrorist attacks on European soil, key strategic documents, notably the European agenda on security and the European agenda on migration, were adopted in 2015, either at the request, or with the endorsement, of the European Council. The European Council also has to 'consider each year the employment situation in the Union and adopt conclusions thereon, on the basis of a joint annual report by the Council and the Commission' (Article 148 TFEU). The European Council’s decisions are taken mainly by consensus, but in certain cases it can also decide by qualified majority. For example, the President of the European Council is elected by qualified majority vote for a once-renewable term of two and a half years. The President's role is 'to ensure the preparation and continuity of the work of the European Council in cooperation with the President of the Commission', chair its meetings, 'facilitate cohesion and consensus within the European Council', and to ensure 'the external representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy, without prejudice to the powers of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy' (Article 15(5) TEU). As a result of both the UK's decision to leave the Union and the Leaders' Agenda proposed by European Council President Donald Tusk in 2017, aimed at 'reinvigorating and enriching' the European Council's work 'by engaging directly on politically sensitive issues', the working method and formations of the institution have evolved substantially in recent years. In recent years, members of the European Council have met in five different formats: 1 the EU-28 Heads of State or Government meet quarterly in the regular European Council meetings; 2 since 2016, the EU-27 (leaders of all the 28 EU Member States minus the UK) have met in the EU-27 (Article 50) format, to discuss Brexit-related issues; 3 the EU-27 or EU-28 have in recent years held informal meetings at least twice a year; 4 the EU-27 or EU-28 have since October 2017 participated in Leaders' Meetings; 5 the EU-27 (leaders of all the 28 EU Member States except the UK) have met in several inclusive Euro Summits. Participation in Euro Summits is usually restricted to the leaders of euro-area countries, but the President of the Euro Summit (currently also President of the European Council) can invite other leaders as well. Leaders' meetings, which are designed to enable discussion to take place on a specific topic, are a key feature of the Leaders' Agenda. Unlike regular European Council meetings, these discussions are based not on draft conclusions, but on short notes prepared by the President. The idea is to have an open, relatively unstructured debate on controversial but highly consequential issues, with a view to facilitating agreement at a follow-up European Council. The Leaders' Agenda contains a schedule of meetings and main agenda items for the period from October 2017 to June 2019. Although the European Council and the European Parliament occupy separate spheres of EU activity, the conduct of certain policies and procedures set out in the Treaties brings them together, II Key issues in the European Council: State of play in June 2019 as does the interaction between the President of the European Council and the leadership of the EP.
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