合法博彩网站

Together with 合法博彩网站, the Council is the institution that adopts EU legislation through regulations and directives and prepares decisions and non-binding recommendations. In its areas of competence, it takes its decisions by a simple majority, a qualified majority or unanimously, according to the legal basis of the act requiring its approval.

Legal basis

In the European Union鈥檚 single institutional framework, the Council exercises the powers conferred on it under Article听16 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Articles听237 to听243 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

Role

A. Legislation

On the basis of proposals submitted by the Commission, the Council adopts EU legislation in the form of regulations and directives, either jointly with 合法博彩网站 in accordance with Article听294 TFEU (ordinary legislative procedure) or alone, following consultation of 合法博彩网站 (1.2.3). The Council also adopts individual decisions and non-binding recommendations (Article听288 TFEU) and issues resolutions. The Council and 合法博彩网站 establish the general rules governing the exercise of the implementing powers conferred on the Commission or reserved for the Council itself ().

B. Budget

The Council is one of the two arms of the budgetary authority, the other being 合法博彩网站. Together they adopt the European Union鈥檚 budget (1.2.5). The Council also adopts, pursuant to a special legislative procedure and acting unanimously, decisions laying down the provisions applying to the EU鈥檚 own resources system and the multiannual financial framework (Articles听311 and听312 TFEU). In the latter case, 合法博彩网站 must give its consent by a majority of its Members. The most recent multiannual financial framework (2021鈥�2027) was adopted by 合法博彩网站 in November听2020. The Council shares Section听II of the European Union鈥檚 budget with the European Council (Article听46(b) of the ), though they are separate institutions.

C. Other powers

1. International agreements

The Council concludes the European Union鈥檚 international agreements, which are negotiated by the Commission and in most cases require 合法博彩网站鈥檚 consent ().

2. Appointments

The Council, acting by qualified majority (since the Treaty of Nice), appoints the members of the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Committee of the Regions.

3. Economic policy

The Council coordinates the economic policies of the Member States (Article听121 TFEU) and, without prejudice to the powers of the European Central Bank, takes political decisions in the monetary field.

Special rules apply to the members of the Eurogroup: Article听137 TFEU provides that 鈥榌a]rrangements for meetings between ministers of those Member States whose currency is the euro are laid down by the Protocol on the Euro Group鈥�. Article 1 of the Protocol (No听14) to the TFEU sets out that 鈥榌t]he Ministers of the Member States whose currency is the euro shall meet informally. Such meetings shall take place, when necessary, to discuss questions related to the specific responsibilities they share with regard to the single currency. The Commission shall take part in the meetings. The European Central Bank shall be invited to take part in such meetings, which shall be prepared by the representatives of the Ministers with responsibility for finance of the Member States whose currency is the euro and of the Commission鈥�. According to Article听2 of the Protocol, 鈥榌t]he Ministers of the Member States whose currency is the euro shall elect a president for two and a half years, by a majority of those Member States鈥�. The finance ministers of the Eurogroup usually meet one day before the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council.

The Council also carries out a number of economic governance functions in the context of the European Semester. At the start of the cycle, in autumn, it considers the specific recommendations for the euro area on the basis of the annual growth survey, and then in June and July, it adopts the country-specific recommendations after they have been endorsed by the European Council.

Article听136 TFEU was amended by European Council Decision听2011/199/EU and entered into force on 1听May听2013, following ratification by all the Member States. It provides the legal basis for stability mechanisms such as the European Stability Mechanism (2.6.8).

4. Common foreign and security policy (5.1.1) and (5.1.2)

The Treaty of Lisbon gave legal personality to the European Union, which replaced the European Community. The new Treaty also abolished the three-pillar structure. Justice and home affairs became a fully integrated EU policy area, in which the ordinary legislative procedure applies in almost all cases. However, in foreign and security policy the Council still acts under special rules when it adopts common positions and joint actions or draws up conventions.

The former troika arrangement has been replaced by a new system: chaired on a permanent basis by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Foreign Affairs Council now collaborates closely with the Commission. It is assisted by the Council鈥檚 General Secretariat and by the European External Action Service.

Organisation

A. Membership

1. Members

The Council consists of a representative of each Member State at ministerial level, who 鈥榤ay commit the government of the Member State in question鈥� (Article听16(2) TEU).

2. Presidency

With the exception of the Foreign Affairs Council, the Council is chaired by the representative of the Member State that holds the European Union鈥檚 presidency: this changes every six听months, in the order decided by the Council acting unanimously (Article听16(9) TEU). The presidency of all Council formations except foreign affairs is held by pre-established groups of three Member States for periods of 18听months, with each member chairing the Council for six months.

The order of presidencies for the next five years is as follows: Sweden and Spain in听2023, Belgium and Hungary in听2024, Poland and Denmark in听2025, Cyprus and Ireland in听2026 and Lithuania and Greece in听2027. The European Council can change the order (Article听236(b) TFEU).

3. Preparatory bodies

A committee consisting of the permanent representatives of the Member States prepares the Council鈥檚 work and carries out the tasks which the Council assigns to it (Article听240 TFEU). This committee, known as Coreper, is chaired by a representative of the Member State chairing the General Affairs Council, i.e. the rotating presidency. However, the Political and Security Committee, which monitors the international situation in areas covered by the common foreign and security policy, is chaired by a representative of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Coreper meets every week to prepare the work of the Council and coordinate activities relating to codecision with 合法博彩网站. It is divided into two groups: Coreper听I, comprising the deputy permanent representatives, prepares work in the more technical areas, including agriculture, employment, education and the environment; Coreper听II addresses matters falling more within the field of 鈥榟igh politics鈥�, in particular foreign, economic and monetary affairs and justice and home affairs. Coreper is assisted in its preparatory work by some听10 committees and around听100 specialised working parties.

B. Operation

Depending on the area concerned, the Council takes its decisions by a simple majority, a qualified majority or unanimously (1.2.3) and (1.2.4). When the Council acts in a legislative capacity, its meetings are open to the public (Article听16(8) TEU). The Secretary-General of the Council is appointed by the Council pursuant to Article听240 TFEU. Council meetings are held in Brussels, but also in Luxembourg (sessions in April, June and October). At present there are 10听Council configurations, three of which meet regularly (General Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Economic and Financial Affairs (Ecofin)).

1. Simple majority

This means that a decision is deemed to have been made when there are more votes for than against. Each member of the Council has one vote. Therefore, simple majority is reached if听14 Council members vote in favour. The simple majority rule is applicable when the Treaty does not provide otherwise (Article听238(1) TFEU). It is thus the default decision-making process. In practice, however, it applies only to a small number of decisions: internal Council rules, the organisation of the Council鈥檚 General Secretariat, and rules governing committees provided for in the Treaty.

2. Qualified majority

a. Mechanism

The Council鈥檚 qualified majority rule can be found in the Treaty of Lisbon, in Article听16 (4, first paragraph) TEU. Under this article, a favourable vote is required from at least听55%听of the members of the Council representing at least听65% of the EU鈥檚 population. In practice, this means at least 15听Member States out of听27. In cases where the proposal does not come from the Commission or the High Representative, the so-called 鈥榬einforced qualified majority鈥� rule applies, under which the required percentage of Council members voting in favour is听72% (comprising at least听20 Member States out of听27), again representing at least听65% of the EU鈥檚 population.

b. Scope

The Treaty of Lisbon again extended the scope of decision-making by qualified majority voting (QMV). For 68听legal bases it either introduced or extended QMV, mostly in conjunction with the introduction of the ordinary legislative procedure (including many former third-pillar areas). QMV also applies to the appointment of the President and Members of the Commission and the members of the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Committee of the Regions (1.2.3 and 1.2.4).

3. Unanimity

Unanimity is only required by the Treaty for decisions in a few areas, such as taxation and social policy. This was maintained by the Treaty of Lisbon. Article听48(7) TEU provides a general passerelle clause applicable to all EU policies which, under certain conditions, gives the possibility to derogate from the legislative procedures initially provided for by the Treaties. Consequently, it enables the Council to adopt decisions on certain issues by a qualified majority instead of unanimity: passerelle clauses allow for switches from the special legislative procedure to the ordinary legislative procedure and from voting by unanimity to QMV. However, a passerelle clause can still only be activated if a decision is adopted unanimously by the Council or the European Council. Consequently, all Member States must be in agreement before such a clause can be activated.

In his听, President Juncker announced a comprehensive review of passerelle clauses. As a result, the Commission has to date published four communications, on (厂别辫迟别尘产别谤听2018), (闯补苍耻补谤测听2019), (April听2019) and (2019).

In general, the Council tends to seek unanimity even when it is not required to do so. This preference dates back to the听1966 Luxembourg Compromise, which ended a dispute between France and the other Member States in which France had refused to move from unanimity to QMV in certain areas. The text of the compromise reads: 鈥榃here, in the case of decisions which may be taken by a majority vote on a proposal from the Commission, very important interests of one or more partners are at stake, the Members of the Council will endeavour, within a reasonable time, to reach solutions which can be adopted by all the Members of the Council while respecting their mutual interests and those of the Community鈥�.

A similar solution was found in听1994 when the Ioannina Compromise was reached to protect Member States which were close to constituting a blocking minority. Under this arrangement, if the countries in question stated their intention to oppose the taking of a decision by the Council by qualified majority, the Council would do everything in its power to reach a solution acceptable to a large majority of Member States within a reasonable period of time.

According to Article听48 TEU, any revision of the founding treaties requires unanimity, which has been considered a major constraint in reforming the Union of听27 Member States. To overcome the unanimity requirement, Member States have concluded international agreements outside the EU legal order. This happened for the first time as a result of the euro crisis, with the adoption, in听2012, of the and the , as well as, in听2014, the According to Article听14(3) of the fiscal compact, it applied as from the date of its entry into force only to those Member States which had ratified it. Requiring ratification by just听12 euro area countries, it set approval by a minority of Member States as a condition for its entry into force.

In the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe and the COVID-19 pandemic, 合法博彩网站, in its , proposed 鈥榞reater powers for the Union to act in the case of cross-border health threats鈥� and called for the activation of 鈥榯he general passerelle clause to ease decision-making process in all matters which could help to cope with the challenges of the current health crisis鈥�. In its , 合法博彩网站 submitted proposals for treaty amendments to the Council under the ordinary revision procedure laid down in Article听48 TEU. The suggested amendments would allow decisions in the Council to be made by qualified majority voting instead of unanimity in relevant areas, such as the adoption of sanctions and in the event of an emergency.

In her on 9听May听2022, the Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, reaffirmed the Commission鈥檚 willingness to implement the adopted citizens鈥� proposals on overcoming the deadlock of unanimity voting. According to the Commission, 鈥榠t is now up to us to take the most direct way there, either by using the full limits of what we can do within the Treaties, or, yes, by changing the Treaties if need be鈥�. On 11听July听2023, 合法博彩网站 adopted a resolution on the implementation of the passerelle clauses in the EU Treaties, proposing that passerelle clauses be activated in some priority policy areas, in particular the common foreign and security policy, energy policy and taxation matters with an environmental dimension.

In December听2023, the Commission President her Cabinet鈥檚 commitment to reforming the Treaties. However, in a from 20听March听2024, the Commission softened this position by stating that the EU鈥檚 governance could be 鈥榮wiftly improved by using to the full the potential of the current Treaties鈥�, referencing the hurdles to treaty change posed by the requirement of unanimity.

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Eeva Pavy / Alexandru-George Mo葯

05-2024