GenE:!rai__Secretariat of the Council GUIDE TO THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 1/1984 CO C\1 w w {) This publication is also available in: DA ISBN 92-824-0165-0 DE ISBN 92-824-0166-9 GR ISBN 92-824-0167-7 FR ISBN 92-824-0169-3 IT ISBN 92-824-0170-7 NL ISBN 92-824-0171-5 ' ' Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1984 ISBN 92-824-0168-5 Catalogue number: BX-40-84-117 -EN-C © ECSC-EEC-EAEC. Brussels· Luxembourg, 1984 Printed in Belgium General Secretariat of the Council GUIDE TO THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Brussels, 1 January 1984 2 CONTENTS pages Council of the European Communities .......... 5 Conference of Representatives of the Governments of the Member States. 7 Presidency of the Council . 8 List of Representatives of the Government of the Member States who regularly take part in Council meetings. 9 Belgium . 10 Denmark. 11 Germany............ 12 Greece ............. 14 France .. 16 Ireland..... 18 Italy. 19 Luxembourg 20 Netherlands. 21 United Kingdom. 22 Permanent Representatives Committee . 25 COREPER 11. 26 COREPER I 28 Article 113 Committee. 30 Special Committee on Agriculture . 30 Standing Committee on Employment. .. 30 Standing Committee on Uranium Enrichment (COPENUR). 31 Scientific and Technical Research Committee (CREST) .. 31 Energy Committee ........ 32 Education Committee. 32 Select Committee on Co-Operation Agreements between the Member States and third countries . 33 Working Parties .. 33 Permanent Representations .. 35 Belgium. 36 Denmark. 41 Germany ... 47 Greece. 54 France. 63 Irland.. 68 Italy ... 73 Luxembourg .. 79 3 Netherlands. 80 United Kingdom . 84 General Secretariat of the Council . 91 Private Office. 92 Legal Department 94 Directorate-general A . 96 Directorate-general B. 99 Directorate-general C 101 Directorate-general D ............. 102 Directorate-general E. 104 Directorate-general F. 106 Directorate-general G 107 Association Councils ... 109 EEC - Turkey . 110 EEC- Malta. 111 EEC- Cyprus. 112 Co-Operation Councils. 113 EEC - Algeria . 114 EEC - Morocco .. 115 EEC - Tunisia .. 116 EEC- Egypt ... 117 EEC- Jordan 118 EEC- Syria. 119 EEC - Lebanon.. 120 EEC - Israel ............ 121 EEC - Yugoslavia. 122 Council of Ministers ACP - EEC 123 Representations of the ACP-States ....... 127 Committee on Senior Officials on Scientific and Technical Research (COST). 145 4 COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 1. Composition The Council consists of representatives of the Member States. Each Government delegates one of its members to the Council, the composition of wich may thus vary according to the subject before it. The office of President is held for a term of six months by each member of the Council in turn, in the following order : Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom. The Council meets when convened on the initiative of the President or at the request of one of its members or of the Commission. 2. Powers Following the merger ofthe institutions of the three European Communities, which took effect in 1967, a single Council took the place ofthe Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community and the Councils of the European Economic Community and Euratom. It exercises the powers and jurisdic­ tion conferred on those institutions in accordance with the provisions of the Treaties establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, and of the so-called «Merger» Treaty of 1965 establishing a single Council and a single Commission of the European Communities, of the 1972 Treaty concerning the accession of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom, and ofthe 1979 Treaty concerning the accession of Greece. In accordance with the Rome Treaties (EEC, Euratom), the Council ensures co-ordination of the general economic policies of the Member States and has power to take decisions. All provisions of general scope or of a certain importance must be adopted by the Council but, except in a limited number of cases, the Council may act only on a proposal from the Commission. The difference between the Rome Treaties and the Paris Treaty (ECSC) is that, according to the former, it is the Council which generally takes the decision, on a proposal from the Commission, while the latter states that decisions are generally to be taken by the High Authority (now the Commission) with the assent of the Council. 3. Method of voting in the Council The EEC and Euratom Treaties state that, save as otherwise provided, the Council shall act by a majority of its members. In most cases, however, the Treaties stipulate either unanimity or qualified majority. In calculating a qualified majority, Member States have the number of votes laid down in the Treaties: Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom: 10; Belgium, Greece, Netherlands : 5; Ireland, Denmark : 3; Luxembourg : 2. Total 63. When, in pursuance of the Treaties, the Council has to act on a proposal from the Commission, 45 votes are required to attain a qualified majority. In other cases, 45 votes are necessary, cast by six countries. 5 If the Council amends a proposal from the Commission, unanimity is required for the act constituting such amendment. Abstentions do not prevent the adoption by the Council of decisions which require unanimity. As regards the ECSC, except for the special arrangements covering budget matters, decisions of the Council, other than those for which a qualified majority or unanimity is required, are taken by a vote of the majority of its members; this majority is considered to be attained if it represents an absolute majority of the representatives of the Member States, including the votes of the representatives oftwo Member States which each produce at least one eighth ofthe total value of the coal and steel output of the Community. 4. Form of Council acts For EEC and Euratom matters, Council acts may take the following forms : regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions. Regulations are general in scope, binding in their entirety and directly applicable in all Member States; directives are binding on the Member States to which they are addressed as regards the results to be achieved, but leave national authorities the power to decide the form and means; decisions, which may be addressed to a Member State, to an undertaking or to an individual, are binding in their entirety on the parties named therein; recommendations and opinions are not binding. Regulations must be published in the Officiel Journal and, save as otherwise provided, enter into force twenty days after publication. Directives and decisions take effect upon notification to the parties concerned. Apart from instruments having legal effects which are expressly mentioned in the Treaties, the Council adopts decisions on general matters and resolutions; the legal scope of such instruments is determined in each individual case. 5. Presidency of the Council The President ofthe Council who, as mentioned above, exercises his duties for a period of six months, carries out as fully as possible his role of co­ ordination. He sees to the smooth running of Council work and endeavours to find concrete solutions to the problems placed before the Council. This co­ ordinating role is of paramount importance for the harmonious development of the Community and has been further strengthened by the series of practical measures adopted by the Council in 1973 and 1974. 6 CONFERENCE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES The Treaties establishing the EEC, the ECSC and Euratom lay down that certain decisions shall be taken by common accord by the Governments of the Member States. Thus, for amendments to the EEC Treaty (Article 236 - EEC), the necessary decisions are taken by the Conference of Representatives of the Governments of the Member States. 7 Holder of the office of President of the Council over the next few years : - from 1.1 to 30.06.1984 : FRANCE - from 1.7 to 31.12.1984 : IRELAND -from 1.1 to 30.06.1985 : ITALY - from 1.7 to 31.12.1985 : LUXEMBOURG -from 1.1 to 30.06.1986 :NETHERLANDS -from 1.7 to 31.12.1986 : UNITED KINGDOM - from 1.1 to 30.06.1987 : BELGIUM -from 1.7 to 31.12.1987 : DENMARK -from 1.1 to 30.06.1988 : GERMANY -from 1.7 to 31.12.1988 : GREECE 8 LIST OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES WHO REGULARLY TAKE PART IN COUNCIL MEETINGS 9 Belgium W. DE CLERCQ Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and External Trade L. TINDEMANS Minister for External Relations M. EYSKENS Minister for Economic Affairs H. DE CROO Minister for Communications and the Post, Telegraphs and Telephones M. HANSENNE Minister for Labour and Employment D. COENS Minister for Education Ph. MAYSTADT Minister for the Budget, Scientific Policy and Planning A. BERTOUILLE Minister for Education J.-L. DEHAENE Minister for Social Affairs and Institutional Reforms A. KEMPINAIRE State Secretary for External Trade, deputy to the Minister for Finance and External Trade E. KNOOPS State Secretary for Energy, deputy to the Minister for Economic Affairs P. DE KEERSMAEKER State Secretary for European Affairs and Agriculture, deputy to the Minister for External Relations F. AERTS State Secretary for Health and the Environment, deputy to the Minister for Social Affairs F.X. de DONNEA State Secretary for Development Co-operation, deputy to the Minister for External Relations 10 Denmark Henning CHRISTOPHERSEN