The treaty reform process started in December 2000 in Nice, but the voting rules of the Council of the European Union are going to take full effect only in April 2017 – if the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force.
It is hardly the overpowering strength of the European Union we as EU citizens have to fear, but its impotence.
***
Current treaty
The member states have been accorded votes in the Council roughly in line with their population numbers. Article 205 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) is found in the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/136-137.
A few days later, on 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union. But the amendment of Article 205 TEC by the 2003 Act of Accession, and the situation after the entry of Bulgaria and Romania is indicated only by a footnote and presented in an Appendix to the consolidated treaty (starting on page 325).
By inserting the changes, we present Article 205 TEC as it is in force since 1 January 2007:
Article 205 TEC
1. Save as otherwise provided in this Treaty, the Council shall act by a majority of its Members.
2. Where the Council is required to act by a qualified majority, the votes of its Members shall be weighted as follows:
Belgium 12‘
Bulgaria 10
Czech Republic 12
Denmark 7
Germany 29
Estonia 4
Greece 12
Spain 27
France 29
Ireland 7
Italy 29
Cyprus 4
Latvia 4
Lithuania 7
Luxembourg 4
Hungary 12
Malta 3
Netherlands 13
Austria 10
Poland 27
Portugal 12
Romania 14’.
Slovenia 4
Slovakia 7
Finland 7
Sweden 10
United Kingdom 29
Acts of the Council shall require for their adoption at least 255 votes in favour cast by a majority of the members where this Treaty requires them to be adopted on a proposal from the Commission.
In other cases, for their adoption acts of the Council shall require at least 255 votes in favour, cast by at least two thirds of the members.
3. Abstentions by Members present in person or represented shall not prevent the adoption by the Council of acts which require unanimity.
4. When a decision is to be adopted by the Council by a qualified majority, 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. If that condition is shown not to have been met, the decision in question shall not be adopted.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty
The original Treaty of Lisbon was signed by the heads of state or government on 13 December 2007. It contains horizontal (general) amendments, i.e. terms used throughout the treaties, and amendments specific to each Article. The Lisbon Treaty was published in the OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306.
The specific amendments to Article 205 TEC, to become the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) were (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/104-105):
:
191) Article 205 shall be amended as follows:
(a) paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be replaced by the following:
‘1. Where it is required to act by a simple majority, the Council shall act by a majority of its component members.
2. By way of derogation from Article 9 C(4) of the Treaty on European Union, as from 1 November 2014 and subject to the provisions laid down in the Protocol on transitional provisions, where the Council does not act on a proposal from the Commission or from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the qualified majority shall be defined as at least 72 % of the members of the Council, representing Member States comprising at least 65 % of the population of the Union.
3. As from 1 November 2014 and subject to the provisions laid down in the Protocol on transitional provisions, in cases where, under the Treaties, not all the members of the Council participate in voting, a qualified majority shall be defined as follows:
(a) A qualified majority shall be defined as at least 55 % of the members of the Council representing the participating Member States, comprising at least 65 % of the population of these States.
A blocking minority must include at least the minimum number of Council members representing more than 35 % of the population of the participating Member States, plus one member, failing which the qualified majority shall be deemed attained;
(b) By way of derogation from point (a), where the Council does not act on a proposal from the Commission or from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the qualified majority shall be defined as at least 72 % of the members of the Council representing the participating Member States, comprising at least 65 % of the population of these States.’.
(b) paragraph 4 shall be deleted and paragraph 3 shall be renumbered 4.
***
Comment
We have to wait until 1 November 2014 for the new rules on qualified majority voting to take effect. Even then they are subject to further delays under the Protocol on transitional provisions.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
After a few months and the publication of a number of “private” consolidations, the Council graciously published a readable (consolidated) version of the Lisbon Treaty, first on its web pages in April and then in the Official Journal, on Europe Day 2008. In part, the amended Article 205 TEC became Article 238 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/153-154):
Article 238 TFEU
(ex Article 205(1) and (2), TEC)
1. Where it is required to act by a simple majority, the Council shall act by a majority of its component members.
2. By way of derogation from Article 16(4) of the Treaty on European Union, as from 1 November 2014 and subject to the provisions laid down in the Protocol on transitional provisions, where the Council does not act on a proposal from the Commission or from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the qualified majority shall be defined as at least 72 % of the members of the Council, representing Member States comprising at least 65 % of the population of the Union.
3. As from 1 November 2014 and subject to the provisions laid down in the Protocol on transitional provisions, in cases where, under the Treaties, not all the members of the Council participate in voting, a qualified majority shall be defined as follows:
(a) A qualified majority shall be defined as at least 55 % of the members of the Council representing the participating Member States, comprising at least 65 % of the population of these States.
A blocking minority must include at least the minimum number of Council members representing more than 35 % of the population of the participating Member States, plus one member, failing which the qualified majority shall be deemed attained;
(b) By way of derogation from point (a), where the Council does not act on a proposal from the Commission or from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the qualified majority shall be defined as at least 72 % of the members of the Council representing the participating Member States, comprising at least 65 % of the population of these States.
4. Abstentions by Members present in person or represented shall not prevent the adoption by the
Council of acts which require unanimity.
***
Article 16(4) and (5) TEU
The basic provisions on voting in the Council are paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 16 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), presented here as a reminder (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/24):
Article 16(4) and (5) TEU
4. As from 1 November 2014, a qualified majority shall be defined as at least 55 % of the members of the Council, comprising at least fifteen of them and representing Member States comprising at least 65 % of the population of the Union.
A blocking minority must include at least four Council members, failing which the qualified majority shall be deemed attained.
The other arrangements governing the qualified majority are laid down in Article 238(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
5. The transitional provisions relating to the definition of the qualified majority which shall be applicable until 31 October 2014 and those which shall be applicable from 1 November 2014 to 31 March 2017 are laid down in the Protocol on transitional provisions.
***
Protocol on transitional provisions
Protocol (No 36) on transitional provisions is an illustration of treaty reform, which requires unanimous agreement between the member states and ratification by every member state. Three different stages are distinguished.
1) From the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon until 31 October 2014 the current rules on voting remain in force.
2) In principle, the Lisbon Treaty rules on qualified majority voting (QMV) are in effect between 1 November 2014 and 31 March 2017, subject to a request by a member of the Council to apply the old rules.
3) From 1 April 2017 the intended rules of the Lisbon Treaty become operational.
Protocol (No 36) on transitional provisions (excerpt; OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/322-323):
PROTOCOL (No 36)
ON TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES,
WHEREAS, in order to organise the transition from the institutional provisions of the Treaties applicable prior to the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon to the provisions contained in that Treaty, it is necessary to lay down transitional provisions,
HAVE AGREED UPON the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Treaty on European Union, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community:
Article 1
In this Protocol, the words ‘the Treaties’ shall mean the Treaty on European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.
-----
TITLE II
PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE QUALIFIED MAJORITY
Article 3
1. In accordance with Article 16(4) of the Treaty on European Union, the provisions of that paragraph and of Article 238(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union relating to the definition of the qualified majority in the European Council and the Council shall take effect on 1 November 2014.
2. Between 1 November 2014 and 31 March 2017, when an act is to be adopted by qualified majority, a member of the Council may request that it be adopted in accordance with the qualified majority as defined in paragraph 3. In that case, paragraphs 3 and 4 shall apply.
3. Until 31 October 2014, the following provisions shall remain in force, without prejudice to the second subparagraph of Article 235(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
For acts of the European Council and of the Council requiring a qualified majority, members' votes shall be weighted as follows:
Belgium 12
Bulgaria 10
Czech Republic 12
Denmark 7
Germany 29
Estonia 4
Ireland 7
Greece 12
Spain 27
France 29
Italy 29
Cyprus 4
Latvia 4
Lithuania 7
Luxembourg 4
Hungary 12
Malta 3
Netherlands 13
Austria 10
Poland 27
Portugal 12
Romania 14
Slovenia 4
Slovakia 7
Finland 7
Sweden 10
United Kingdom 29
Acts shall be adopted if there are at least 255 votes in favour representing a majority of the members where, under the Treaties, they must be adopted on a proposal from the Commission. In other cases decisions shall be adopted if there are at least 255 votes in favour representing at least two thirds of the members.
A member of the European Council or the Council may request that, where an act is adopted by the European Council or the Council by a qualified majority, a check is made to ensure that the Member States comprising the qualified majority represent at least 62 % of the total population of the Union. If that proves not to be the case, the act shall not be adopted.
4. Until 31 October 2014, the qualified majority shall, in cases where, under the Treaties, not all the members of the Council participate in voting, namely in the cases where reference is made to the qualified majority as defined in Article 238(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, be defined as the same proportion of the weighted votes and the same proportion of the number of the Council members and, if appropriate, the same percentage of the population of the Member States concerned as laid down in paragraph 3 of this Article.
---
***
Hopefully the rest of the world is decent enough to wait for Europe to get its act together.
Ralf Grahn
Showing posts with label 16 TEU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 16 TEU. Show all posts
Monday, 6 July 2009
Saturday, 28 March 2009
EU Council tasks: External action
The intergovernmental European Council provides or fails to provide the necessary impetus and the political directions for the EU. The national governments are represented in the second most important institution as well, the Council of the European Union.
The Council is a unitary institution, but it meets in different configurations , which cover all the policy areas of the European Union, including those where the Commission and the European Parliament have little or no say.
We look at the legislative, budgetary and executive powers of the Council in more detail. (The executive powers of the Council are tactfully described as policy-making and coordinating functions; Article 16(1) TEU.)
We start with the European Union on the world stage ─ external relations in the wide sense ─ in the light of the Treaty of Lisbon.
***
Foreign Affairs Council (FAC)
The new Foreign Affairs Council is one of the two Council configurations mentioned in the Lisbon Treaty together with its tasks (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/24):
Article 16(6) TEU, third subparagraph
The Foreign Affairs Council shall elaborate the Union's external action on the basis of strategic guidelines laid down by the European Council and ensure that the Union's action is consistent.
***
High Representative
The Empire struck back in the Lisbon Treaty negotiations, depriving the foreign affairs chief of the title Foreign Minister, but extending the Council’s grasp to the external relations managed by the Commission, by the “double-hatted” role of the High Representative acting both directly for the Council and as Vice-President of the Commission.
The High Representative is appointed by the European Council. He chairs the new Foreign Affairs Council (Article 18(3) TEU) and he is the work-horse of the Council in matters pertaining to the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and the common security and defence policy (CSDP):
Article 18(2) TEU
2. The High Representative shall conduct the Union's common foreign and security policy. He shall contribute by his proposals to the development of that policy, which he shall carry out as mandated by the Council. The same shall apply to the common security and defence policy.
(See also Article 27 TEU.)
***
Consistency
In addition to the guiding principles for the external action of the European Union (Article 21 TEU), consistency is emphasised between a) between the different areas of external action, and b) external actions and other policy areas:
Article 21(3) TEU, second subparagraph
The Union shall ensure consistency between the different areas of its external action and between these and its other policies. The Council and the Commission, assisted by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, shall ensure that consistency and shall cooperate to that effect.
***
Recommendations: Strategic interests and objectives
External action
The European Council identifies the strategic interests and objectives for the European Union’s external action, with regard to countries, regions or themes, but it acts unanimously on a recommendation by the Council, and the implementation returns to the Council (FAC), the High Representative or the Commission.
The High Representative and the Commission (Vice-President) make proposals to the Council (FAC) (Article 22 TEU).
***
We will turn to the Council’s role in the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) in a future post.
Ralf Grahn
The Council is a unitary institution, but it meets in different configurations , which cover all the policy areas of the European Union, including those where the Commission and the European Parliament have little or no say.
We look at the legislative, budgetary and executive powers of the Council in more detail. (The executive powers of the Council are tactfully described as policy-making and coordinating functions; Article 16(1) TEU.)
We start with the European Union on the world stage ─ external relations in the wide sense ─ in the light of the Treaty of Lisbon.
***
Foreign Affairs Council (FAC)
The new Foreign Affairs Council is one of the two Council configurations mentioned in the Lisbon Treaty together with its tasks (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/24):
Article 16(6) TEU, third subparagraph
The Foreign Affairs Council shall elaborate the Union's external action on the basis of strategic guidelines laid down by the European Council and ensure that the Union's action is consistent.
***
High Representative
The Empire struck back in the Lisbon Treaty negotiations, depriving the foreign affairs chief of the title Foreign Minister, but extending the Council’s grasp to the external relations managed by the Commission, by the “double-hatted” role of the High Representative acting both directly for the Council and as Vice-President of the Commission.
The High Representative is appointed by the European Council. He chairs the new Foreign Affairs Council (Article 18(3) TEU) and he is the work-horse of the Council in matters pertaining to the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and the common security and defence policy (CSDP):
Article 18(2) TEU
2. The High Representative shall conduct the Union's common foreign and security policy. He shall contribute by his proposals to the development of that policy, which he shall carry out as mandated by the Council. The same shall apply to the common security and defence policy.
(See also Article 27 TEU.)
***
Consistency
In addition to the guiding principles for the external action of the European Union (Article 21 TEU), consistency is emphasised between a) between the different areas of external action, and b) external actions and other policy areas:
Article 21(3) TEU, second subparagraph
The Union shall ensure consistency between the different areas of its external action and between these and its other policies. The Council and the Commission, assisted by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, shall ensure that consistency and shall cooperate to that effect.
***
Recommendations: Strategic interests and objectives
External action
The European Council identifies the strategic interests and objectives for the European Union’s external action, with regard to countries, regions or themes, but it acts unanimously on a recommendation by the Council, and the implementation returns to the Council (FAC), the High Representative or the Commission.
The High Representative and the Commission (Vice-President) make proposals to the Council (FAC) (Article 22 TEU).
***
We will turn to the Council’s role in the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) in a future post.
Ralf Grahn
Friday, 27 March 2009
EU Council tasks (principles)
Each member state of the European Union is represented by its head of state or government in the European Council and by its government in the Council, the two most powerful institutions of the EU (although the European Council formally becomes an institution only if the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force).
The second of these intergovernmental institutions, the Council of the European Union (European Community) exercises legislative and budgetary functions. It also holds executive powers, but in the Treaty of Lisbon this is expressed more obliquely by using the words policy-making and coordinating functions.
This post looks at some general principles concerning the exercise of power by the Council (and the other institutions).
***
Treaty in force
The main provision expresses the tasks of the Council in a fragmented manner in Article 202 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), published in the latest codified version of the treaties in force in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/135:
SECTION 2
THE COUNCIL
Article 202 TEC
To ensure that the objectives set out in this Treaty are attained the Council shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty:
— ensure coordination of the general economic policies of the Member States,
— have power to take decisions,
— confer on the Commission, in the acts which the Council adopts, powers for the implementation of the rules which the Council lays down. The Council may impose certain requirements in respect of the exercise of these powers. The Council may also reserve the right, in specific cases, to exercise directly implementing powers itself. The procedures referred to above must be consonant with principles and rules to be laid down in advance by the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after obtaining the opinion of the European Parliament.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
Council’s tasks in general
Since the publication of the consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon on 9 May 2008, the proposed primary legislation of the European Union is on the whole more readable than the existing treaties (although a modernised text cannot abolish the complicated structure of the EU).
In two sentences Article 16(1) of the amended Treaty on European Union (TEU) in the consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon manages to convey a general idea of what the Council is supposed to do (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/24):
Article 16 TEU
1. The Council shall, jointly with the European Parliament, exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall carry out policy-making and coordinating functions as laid down in the Treaties.
***
Conferred powers
According to the Treaty of Lisbon, the institutions of the European Union act within the limits of the treaties; the principle of attributed or conferred powers:
Article 5(1) TEU
1. The limits of Union competences are governed by the principle of conferral. The use of Union competences is governed by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
***
Institutional framework
The guiding principles are common to the institutions, which depend on each other:
Article 13(1) TEU, first subparagraph
1. The Union shall have an institutional framework which shall aim to promote its values, advance its objectives, serve its interests, those of its citizens and those of the Member States, and ensure the consistency, effectiveness and continuity of its policies and actions.
***
Limited powers
The powers of each institution are set out and limited by the treaties, and the need for interinstitutional cooperation is stated (institutional balance):
Article 13(2) TEU
2. Each institution shall act within the limits of the powers conferred on it in the Treaties, and in conformity with the procedures, conditions and objectives set out in them. The institutions shall practice mutual sincere cooperation.
***
This sets the background for the treatment of the various tasks the Lisbon Treaty confers upon the Council.
Ralf Grahn
The second of these intergovernmental institutions, the Council of the European Union (European Community) exercises legislative and budgetary functions. It also holds executive powers, but in the Treaty of Lisbon this is expressed more obliquely by using the words policy-making and coordinating functions.
This post looks at some general principles concerning the exercise of power by the Council (and the other institutions).
***
Treaty in force
The main provision expresses the tasks of the Council in a fragmented manner in Article 202 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), published in the latest codified version of the treaties in force in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/135:
SECTION 2
THE COUNCIL
Article 202 TEC
To ensure that the objectives set out in this Treaty are attained the Council shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty:
— ensure coordination of the general economic policies of the Member States,
— have power to take decisions,
— confer on the Commission, in the acts which the Council adopts, powers for the implementation of the rules which the Council lays down. The Council may impose certain requirements in respect of the exercise of these powers. The Council may also reserve the right, in specific cases, to exercise directly implementing powers itself. The procedures referred to above must be consonant with principles and rules to be laid down in advance by the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after obtaining the opinion of the European Parliament.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
Council’s tasks in general
Since the publication of the consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon on 9 May 2008, the proposed primary legislation of the European Union is on the whole more readable than the existing treaties (although a modernised text cannot abolish the complicated structure of the EU).
In two sentences Article 16(1) of the amended Treaty on European Union (TEU) in the consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon manages to convey a general idea of what the Council is supposed to do (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/24):
Article 16 TEU
1. The Council shall, jointly with the European Parliament, exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall carry out policy-making and coordinating functions as laid down in the Treaties.
***
Conferred powers
According to the Treaty of Lisbon, the institutions of the European Union act within the limits of the treaties; the principle of attributed or conferred powers:
Article 5(1) TEU
1. The limits of Union competences are governed by the principle of conferral. The use of Union competences is governed by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
***
Institutional framework
The guiding principles are common to the institutions, which depend on each other:
Article 13(1) TEU, first subparagraph
1. The Union shall have an institutional framework which shall aim to promote its values, advance its objectives, serve its interests, those of its citizens and those of the Member States, and ensure the consistency, effectiveness and continuity of its policies and actions.
***
Limited powers
The powers of each institution are set out and limited by the treaties, and the need for interinstitutional cooperation is stated (institutional balance):
Article 13(2) TEU
2. Each institution shall act within the limits of the powers conferred on it in the Treaties, and in conformity with the procedures, conditions and objectives set out in them. The institutions shall practice mutual sincere cooperation.
***
This sets the background for the treatment of the various tasks the Lisbon Treaty confers upon the Council.
Ralf Grahn
Thursday, 26 March 2009
European Union: Council
Nationally elected officials ─ heads of state or government in the European Council and government ministers in the Council ─ meeting in Brussels set the pace and the limits for a European Union primarily based on member states.
Expansion, internal and external developments and the proposals of the Treaty of Lisbon point to the rising importance of the European Council and its main feeding mechanism, the Council.
Currently, the Council is mentioned as an institution (after the European Parliament) of the European Community in Article 7 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC). Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union, in the Treaty of Lisbon, inserts the European Council as an EU institutions above the Council.
To the extent that the intergovernmental bodies are able to decide by (qualified) majority, their effectiveness (output legitimacy) improves. In this sense, the Treaty of Lisbon would be a step forward, when we increasingly see the need for European solutions and European contributions on the world scene.
But the democratic (input) legitimacy of the European Union remains a vexed question, with national politicians deciding European level questions and the EU citizens directly represented only through the European Parliament.
In this blog post we recap the main provision on the EU Council as agreed by the member states in the Treaty of Lisbon.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty
Article 1, point 17 of the original Treaty of Lisbon inserted a new Article 9c into the Treaty on European Union (TEU); Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 17.12.2007 C 306/18.
Cf. Articles I-23, I-24 and I-25 of the Constitutional Treaty (OJEU 16.12.2004 C 310), Article I-22, I-23 and I-24 of the preceding draft Constitution, as well as Articles 202 to 207 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) in force.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
The new Article 9c was renumbered Article 16 TEU in the consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/24):
Article 16 TEU
1. The Council shall, jointly with the European Parliament, exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall carry out policy-making and coordinating functions as laid down in the Treaties.
2. The Council shall consist of a representative of each Member State at ministerial level, who may commit the government of the Member State in question and cast its vote.
3. The Council shall act by a qualified majority except where the Treaties provide otherwise.
4. As from 1 November 2014, a qualified majority shall be defined as at least 55 % of the members of the Council, comprising at least fifteen of them and representing Member States comprising at least 65 % of the population of the Union.
A blocking minority must include at least four Council members, failing which the qualified majority shall be deemed attained.
The other arrangements governing the qualified majority are laid down in Article 238(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
5. The transitional provisions relating to the definition of the qualified majority which shall be applicable until 31 October 2014 and those which shall be applicable from 1 November 2014 to 31 March 2017 are laid down in the Protocol on transitional provisions.
6. The Council shall meet in different configurations, the list of which shall be adopted in accordance with Article 236 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The General Affairs Council shall ensure consistency in the work of the different Council configurations. It shall prepare and ensure the follow-up to meetings of the European Council, in liaison with the President of the European Council and the Commission.
The Foreign Affairs Council shall elaborate the Union's external action on the basis of strategic guidelines laid down by the European Council and ensure that the Union's action is consistent.
7. A Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States shall be responsible for preparing the work of the Council.
8. The Council shall meet in public when it deliberates and votes on a draft legislative act. To this end, each Council meeting shall be divided into two parts, dealing respectively with deliberations on Union legislative acts and non-legislative activities.
9. The Presidency of Council configurations, other than that of Foreign Affairs, shall be held by Member State representatives in the Council on the basis of equal rotation, in accordance with the conditions established in accordance with Article 236 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
***
Article 16 TEU is packed with information relevant to the functioning of the European Union. We are going to look at the individual paragraphs in future posts.
Even if the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty remains at least as uncertain as before (due to the Czech Republic and Ireland, but also Germany and Poland), the pan-European challenges are on the increase, and the proposed improvements and their severe limitations of the amending treaty have lost nothing of their importance for EU citizens.
Ralf Grahn
Expansion, internal and external developments and the proposals of the Treaty of Lisbon point to the rising importance of the European Council and its main feeding mechanism, the Council.
Currently, the Council is mentioned as an institution (after the European Parliament) of the European Community in Article 7 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC). Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union, in the Treaty of Lisbon, inserts the European Council as an EU institutions above the Council.
To the extent that the intergovernmental bodies are able to decide by (qualified) majority, their effectiveness (output legitimacy) improves. In this sense, the Treaty of Lisbon would be a step forward, when we increasingly see the need for European solutions and European contributions on the world scene.
But the democratic (input) legitimacy of the European Union remains a vexed question, with national politicians deciding European level questions and the EU citizens directly represented only through the European Parliament.
In this blog post we recap the main provision on the EU Council as agreed by the member states in the Treaty of Lisbon.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty
Article 1, point 17 of the original Treaty of Lisbon inserted a new Article 9c into the Treaty on European Union (TEU); Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 17.12.2007 C 306/18.
Cf. Articles I-23, I-24 and I-25 of the Constitutional Treaty (OJEU 16.12.2004 C 310), Article I-22, I-23 and I-24 of the preceding draft Constitution, as well as Articles 202 to 207 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) in force.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
The new Article 9c was renumbered Article 16 TEU in the consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/24):
Article 16 TEU
1. The Council shall, jointly with the European Parliament, exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall carry out policy-making and coordinating functions as laid down in the Treaties.
2. The Council shall consist of a representative of each Member State at ministerial level, who may commit the government of the Member State in question and cast its vote.
3. The Council shall act by a qualified majority except where the Treaties provide otherwise.
4. As from 1 November 2014, a qualified majority shall be defined as at least 55 % of the members of the Council, comprising at least fifteen of them and representing Member States comprising at least 65 % of the population of the Union.
A blocking minority must include at least four Council members, failing which the qualified majority shall be deemed attained.
The other arrangements governing the qualified majority are laid down in Article 238(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
5. The transitional provisions relating to the definition of the qualified majority which shall be applicable until 31 October 2014 and those which shall be applicable from 1 November 2014 to 31 March 2017 are laid down in the Protocol on transitional provisions.
6. The Council shall meet in different configurations, the list of which shall be adopted in accordance with Article 236 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The General Affairs Council shall ensure consistency in the work of the different Council configurations. It shall prepare and ensure the follow-up to meetings of the European Council, in liaison with the President of the European Council and the Commission.
The Foreign Affairs Council shall elaborate the Union's external action on the basis of strategic guidelines laid down by the European Council and ensure that the Union's action is consistent.
7. A Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States shall be responsible for preparing the work of the Council.
8. The Council shall meet in public when it deliberates and votes on a draft legislative act. To this end, each Council meeting shall be divided into two parts, dealing respectively with deliberations on Union legislative acts and non-legislative activities.
9. The Presidency of Council configurations, other than that of Foreign Affairs, shall be held by Member State representatives in the Council on the basis of equal rotation, in accordance with the conditions established in accordance with Article 236 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
***
Article 16 TEU is packed with information relevant to the functioning of the European Union. We are going to look at the individual paragraphs in future posts.
Even if the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty remains at least as uncertain as before (due to the Czech Republic and Ireland, but also Germany and Poland), the pan-European challenges are on the increase, and the proposed improvements and their severe limitations of the amending treaty have lost nothing of their importance for EU citizens.
Ralf Grahn
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