Introduction to Council of the European Union Presentation for the Alpeuregio Summerschool on 28 June 2011 Andrä RUPPRECHTER Director of DG B II – Rural Development and Agriculture Finances Council of the European Union The Justus Lipsius Building the site of the Council of the European Union Strategic Rectangle of the Decision-making European European Council Commission Council of the European European Union Parliament Executive of the EU EUROPEAN COUNCIL EUROPEAN COMMISSION Article 17 TEU (1) The Commission shall promote the general Article 15 TEU interest of the Union and take appropriate initiatives to that end. It shall ensure the application of the Treaties , and of (1) The European Council shall provide measures adopted by the institutions the Union with the necessary impetus pursuant to them. It shall oversee the for its development and shall define application of Union law under the control of the general political directions and the Court of Justice of the European Union. priorities thereof. It shall not exercise It shall execute the budget and manage programmes . It shall exercise coordinating, legislative functions . executive and management functions, as laid down in the Treaties. With the exception of the common foreign and security policy, and other cases provided for in the Treaties, it shall ensure the Union’s external representation . It shall initiate the Union’s annual and multiannual programming with a view to achieving interinstitutional agreements. (2) Union legislative acts may only be adopted on the basis of a Commission proposal , except where the Treaties provide otherwise. Other acts shall be adopted on the basis of a Commission proposal where the Treaties so provide. Legislative of the EU in the TEU EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Article 14 Article 16 (1) The European Parliament (1) The Council shall, jointly with the European Parliament, exercise shall, jointly with the Council, legislative and budgetary functions. exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall carry out policy-making and It shall exercise functions of coordinating functions as laid down political control and in the Treaties. consultation as laid down in the Treaties. It shall elect the President of the Commission. Council of the European Union Inter-governmental - supranational and national – a supranational institution of the Union - first chamber of legislative - a college – „Chamber of the Nations“ – Articulates the interests of the Member States - a fore where national Interests are formulated There is only one Council But there are 10 different formats: 1. General Affairs 2. Foreign Affairs (Permanent Chair) 3. Economic and Finances (ECOFIN) 4. Justice and Home Affairs 5. Employment, Social Affairs, Health and Protection of Consumers 6. Transport, Telecommunication and Energy 7. Competition (single Market, Industry and Research) 8. Agriculture and Fishery 9. Environment 10. Education, Formation, Youth and Culture How is the Council constituted? • There are Members of the Council Representative of the MS on ministerial level who is empowered to speak in the name of the Government and to take obligations on its behalf • Pyramid of Working Groups, Preparatory committees and the Ministers • Participation of the Commission on all levels Pyramid of Decision-making Council national CORE PER Delegation Council Working Party Where on meets and what on speaks? • Meetings of the Council - in Brussels, with the exception of April, June und October (Luxemburg) - Exceptions possible in crisis situation or ad hoc if needed • Secretariat - in Brussels : Justus Lipsius and Lex Building - Liaison offices in Geneve and New York • Languages - Translation (30 000 Documents, 70% EN, 30% translated – Production von 2 500 000 translated pages per year - Interpretation (3 options : “none”, “full”, “on request” COREPER • COmité des REprésentants PERmanents • Introduced by the Treaty (Article 205) • Objective is to reach agreement in order to be adopted by the Council • Two formats – but one committee • Over 50 meeting per year Work Programme for Council meetings prepared by COREPER Presidency (first semester 2011) Draft Work Programme for Council meetings prepared by COREPER (Part 2) DATE COUNCIL JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE GENERAL AFFAIRS 31.01.11 21.02.11 21.03.11 18.04.11 23.05.11 20.06.11 13.05.11 FOREIGN AFFAIRS 31.01.11 21.01.11 21.03.11 12.04.11 20.06.11 23-24.05.11 ECONOMIC AND 18.01.11 15.02.11 15.03.11 17.05.11 15.06.11 FINANCIAL AFFAIRS JUSTICE AND HOME 24-25.02.11 11-12-04.11 9-10.06.11 AFFAIRS Hungarian Presidency (first semester 2011) Draft Work Programme for Council meetings prepared by COREPER (Part 1) DATE COUNCIL JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL 19.5.11 POLICY, HEALTH AND 7.3.11 6-7.6.11 (morning) CONSUMER AFFAIRS COMPETITIVENESS (INTERNAL MARKET, 10-11.3.11 30-31.5.11 INDUSTRY, RESEARCH AND SPACE) TRANSPORT, 10.6.11 TELECOMMUNICATIO 27.5.11 Energy 28.2.11 31.3.11 NS Telecomm. 16.6.11 AND ENERGY Transport AGRICULTURE AND 24.1.11 21-22.2.11 17-18.3.11 14-15.4.11 16-17.5.11 27-28.6.11 FISHERIES ENVIRONMENT 14.3.11 17.6.11 EDUCATION, YOUTH, 14.2.11 19-20.5.11 CULTURE AND SPORT Special Committee on Agriculture • Introduced by decision of the Representatives of the government in the framework of the Council on 12 May 1960 – 50 anniversary • Prepares Council of Agriculture • Meetings usually • Council Working Parties • Commission represented by DG Agriculture Working Groups • 160 CWPs • Introduced and mandated by CRP and SCA • Meet in different constitutions – On diplomatic level (amb., attaches etc) – On expert level – On High Level (horizontal questions) • Different dossiers • On permanence or ad-hoc • More than 4000 meetings per year • Frequency depending on file Council Decision prepared by COREPER/SCA • if Coreper/SCA agree: "A" point (no debate) on OJ (MS can give declaration) • If open questions remain: "B" point on agenda for debate in Council – orientation/decision or referring back to CRP or SCA and CWP • If CRP agrees but some MS see need for debate: "false B point" (MS Statement) Presidency • Presidency on all levels • Political Engine of the Council – Serves the Council – Gives Orientation – Fixes the Agenda – Represents the Council towards other Institutions – External representation • Advantages – New momentum – 6 months for new priority – 18 month trio Presidencies • Disadvantages – continuity – Permanence – Preparation – Large administrative efforts European Commission Agriculture and Fisheries Council Dacian CIOLOS John DALLI Maria DAMANAKI Sándor FAZEKAS 01.01– 30.06.2011 Sabine Laruelle Kris Peeters Miroslav Naïdenov Ivan Fuksa Henrik Børge Høegh Ilse Aigner Helir-Valdor Seeder Simon Coveney Belgium Belgium Bulgaria Czech Republic Denmark Germany Estonia Ireland Kostas Skandalidis Ioannis Diamantidis Rosa Aguilar Bruno Le Maire Giancarlo Galan Demetris J. Eliades Jānis Dūklavs Kazys Starkevičius Greece Greece Rivero France Italy Cyprus Latvia Lithuania Spain Romain Schneider Henk Bleker Nikolaus Berlakovich Marek Sawicki António Manuel Valeriu Tabără Georges Pullicino Serrano Luxembourg Malte Netherlands Austria Poland Portugal Roumania Dejan Židan Zsolt Simon Sirkka-Liisa Anttila Eskil Erlandsson Caroline Slovenia Slovakia Finland Sweden Spelman United Kingdom Working methods of the Council • Different types of debate – Presentation – Orientation debate – Political debate – Common position – Political agreement – adoption Voting rules Member State Vote Population % Member State Vote Population % (*1 000) (*1 000) SE Sweden 10 9.113,20 1,84 DE Germany 29 82.314,90 16,63 AT Austria 10 8.298,90 1,68 FR France 29 63.392,10 12,80 BG Bulgaria 10 7.679,30 1,55 UK United Kingdom 29 60.823,80 12,29 DK Denmark 7 5.447,10 1,10 IT Italy 29 59.131,30 11,94 SK Slovakia 7 5.393,60 1,09 ES Spain 27 44.474,60 8,98 FI Finland 7 5.276,90 1,07 PL Poland 27 38.125,50 7,70 IE Ireland 7 4.319,40 0,87 RO Romania 14 21.565,10 4,36 LT Lithuania 7 3.384,90 0,68 NL Netherlands 13 16.358,00 3,30 LV Latvia 4 2.281,30 0,46 EL Greece 12 11.171,70 2,26 SI Slovenia 4 2.010,30 0,41 PT Portugal 12 10.599,10 2,14 EE Estonia 4 1.342,40 0,27 BE Belgium 12 10.584,50 2,14 CY Cyprus 4 778,7 0,16 CZ Czech Republic 12 10.287,20 2,08 LU Luxembourg 4 476,2 0,10 HU Hungary 12 10.066,10 2,03 MT Malta 3 407,8 0,08 Total 495.103,90 345 100,00 Population ceiling 306.964,42 62,00 Qualified majority 255 >14 MS (18 if no proposal) (13 MS) Blocking minority 91 Changes due to Lisbon Treaty • European Council • Permanent Presidency – European Council – Foreign Affairs • Co-decision • Transparency Legislative procedure • Procedure (role of co-decision) – Cooperation – Consultation – Co-decision • Ordinary legislative procedure Art. 224 Big issues ahead • Reform of the CAP – Proposals October 2011 – Items discussed • Directpayments • Marketintervention • Rural Development • New Financial Perspective – Proposal this week – Decided by European Council – 2014-2020.