This was the outcome of Act One.
The latest European Council conclusions are available in all 23 official EU languages.
The conclusions in English:
Conclusions of the European Council (4 February 2011) (document EUCO 2/11; 15 pages)
Act Two
Whereas the real decision makers tend to hide their differences by saying nothing or by fuzzy language, the second act is played out in public, for the enlightenment and entertainment of the spectators.
According to Article 15(6) TEU, the president of the European Council shall present a report to the European Parliament after each meeting. With a few days for the president to sort out the impressions, here is what the MEPs were served regarding Egypt and the Euro-Mediterranean region, energy, innovation and improving economic governance (financial stability in theEurozone):
Speech by Herman VAN ROMPUY President of the European Council at the European Parliament; 8 February 2011 (3 pages)
The press service of the European Parliament offers a summary of the discussion as a whole, with leaders appearing according to group size: MEPs question President Herman Van Rompuy on the outcome of the EU summit (8 February 2011).
EUbusiness tells us that the plans of France andGermany for the Euro area discipline have not received universal acclaim: Euro-MPs slam Franco-German eurozone 'pact' (8 February 2011).
Valentina Pop of EUobserver writes in the same vein: MEPs vent fury at Van Rompuy over Franco-German economic plan (8 February 2011).
Dichotomy
The official information oscillates between good news and nothing to report (Pangloss), whereas MEPs and media are drawn towards what is brewing behind the scenes (Candide).
If the German and French governments have plans for stricter fiscal discipline in the Eurozone, they seem to have earned their share of criticism for failing to inform other member states, europarliamentarians and EU citizens in a timely and open manner.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Greek debt and the ”grand bargain” is the latest post on the Brusselsblog (Financial Times), one of the ”must read” blogs in the Euroblogosphere.
P.S. 2: On my Euroblogs I want to discuss legal and political issues relevant to European enterprises, jobs, employers and employees, consumers and citizens, especially in cross-border situations. Details of internal market reform (Single Market Act) and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the recurring themes. Hopefully my blogs succeed in educating and guiding readers towards relevant sources. For me the blogs offer disciplined study as basic training for my teaching and legal counseling activities. My blogs are: upstream Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as usually downstream the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland. If you are interested in European business, politics or law, we can get acquainted through Twitter @RalfGrahn or Facebook.
Showing posts with label conclusions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conclusions. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Immaculate conception of the European Council 4 February 2011
Ahead of the European Council ”summit” on Friday, 4 February 2011, we looked at the preparatory General Affairs Council (GAC) in the blog post: An energetic and innovative European Council? (29 January 2011).
Yesterday the foreign ministers and the ministers for Europe representing the EU member states laboured to bring us the following conclusions, currently available only in English:
3064th Council meeting General Affairs; Brussels, 31 January 2011 (asiakirja 5640/11)
(I have published some general GAC remarks in Finnish.)
Ensuring follow-up
According to Article 16(6) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the General Affairs Council shall ensure the follow-up of meetings of the meetings of the European Council...
Yesterday's GAC left us with this memorable, elegant and enlightening sentence concerning the follow-up to the December 2010 meeting (page 8):
No need to burden the public with any explanations, clarifications, document references or links to relevant documents.
St Matthew knew: Neither cast ye your pearls before swine.
***
Just in passing, let it be known that the Council has provided us with an additional opportunity to ascertain the decisions to be followed in the first place. They have published, in English:
The European Council in 2010 (about 46 pages)
In the introductory part, president Herman Van Rompuy discusses the work of the European Council in 2010. The second part contains the conclusions of the six meetings in 2010, all conveniently in one place. The conclusions of the December meeting duly begin on page 42 for us to read.
The publication is available in Dutch, French and German as well.
Readers of other languages still find the conclusions on the web pages of the (European) Council, as before.
Preparation
Coordination and preparation are the GAC tasks indicated first in Article 16(6) TEU, so let us turn to the preparatory contribution yesterday: Preparation of the February meeting.
The first sentence of the conclusions of the General Affairs Council admirably bring us 'in medias res' (page 8):
If we fast-forward to the concluding sentence, leaving out the chaff in between, we may marvel at:
Despite drawing inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, this is probably as close as you ever get to the miracle of transubstantiation or the immaculate conception in temporal affairs. Miraculously the immaterial draft conclusions turn into revised draft conclusions, unseen by the 'profanum vulgus', untouched by any agent.
Never mind that you would expect the proposals going in to the most important official institution of the European Union to be public knowledge and openly discussed well before the decisions, even guidelines, affecting 501 million people are taken.
Evidently, good governance does not start at the top.
As long as the European Council acts like a summit, the General Affairs Council remains a joke.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Blenderlaw is the enjoyable legal blog with a transnational twist, written by Caronline Bradley.
P.S. 2: I am happy if you want to read my Euroblogs. The internal market and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the main themes, upstream on Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as downstream on the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland. We can get acquainted on Facebook and on Twitter @RalfGrahn, too.
Yesterday the foreign ministers and the ministers for Europe representing the EU member states laboured to bring us the following conclusions, currently available only in English:
3064th Council meeting General Affairs; Brussels, 31 January 2011 (asiakirja 5640/11)
(I have published some general GAC remarks in Finnish.)
Ensuring follow-up
According to Article 16(6) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the General Affairs Council shall ensure the follow-up of meetings of the meetings of the European Council...
Yesterday's GAC left us with this memorable, elegant and enlightening sentence concerning the follow-up to the December 2010 meeting (page 8):
The Council took stock of the follow-up being given to the European Council's meeting on 16 and 17 December.
No need to burden the public with any explanations, clarifications, document references or links to relevant documents.
St Matthew knew: Neither cast ye your pearls before swine.
***
Just in passing, let it be known that the Council has provided us with an additional opportunity to ascertain the decisions to be followed in the first place. They have published, in English:
The European Council in 2010 (about 46 pages)
In the introductory part, president Herman Van Rompuy discusses the work of the European Council in 2010. The second part contains the conclusions of the six meetings in 2010, all conveniently in one place. The conclusions of the December meeting duly begin on page 42 for us to read.
The publication is available in Dutch, French and German as well.
Readers of other languages still find the conclusions on the web pages of the (European) Council, as before.
Preparation
Coordination and preparation are the GAC tasks indicated first in Article 16(6) TEU, so let us turn to the preparatory contribution yesterday: Preparation of the February meeting.
The first sentence of the conclusions of the General Affairs Council admirably bring us 'in medias res' (page 8):
The Council examined the draft conclusions for the European Council meeting to be held in Brussels on 4 February.
If we fast-forward to the concluding sentence, leaving out the chaff in between, we may marvel at:
Revised draft conclusions will be submitted to the European Council.
Despite drawing inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, this is probably as close as you ever get to the miracle of transubstantiation or the immaculate conception in temporal affairs. Miraculously the immaterial draft conclusions turn into revised draft conclusions, unseen by the 'profanum vulgus', untouched by any agent.
Never mind that you would expect the proposals going in to the most important official institution of the European Union to be public knowledge and openly discussed well before the decisions, even guidelines, affecting 501 million people are taken.
Evidently, good governance does not start at the top.
As long as the European Council acts like a summit, the General Affairs Council remains a joke.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Blenderlaw is the enjoyable legal blog with a transnational twist, written by Caronline Bradley.
P.S. 2: I am happy if you want to read my Euroblogs. The internal market and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the main themes, upstream on Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as downstream on the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland. We can get acquainted on Facebook and on Twitter @RalfGrahn, too.
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Lisbon Treaty & European Council: Tasks and powers
Arguably the European Council already is the politically most powerful (influential) body of the European Union. Formally the Lisbon Treaty would retain the description of the European Council’s general tasks almost as they are, but the heads of state or government have increasingly taken over the leading role from the Community institutions. The Treaty of Lisbon would see the European Council among the EU institutions in a formal sense as well (Article 13 TEU).
***
General tasks
In the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon, Article 15(1) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), replaces the first paragraph of the current Article 4 TEU. In the amending treaty, the general political guidelines become the general political directions and priorities. The clarification is added that the European Council does not exercise legislative functions (but it comes awfully close) (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/23):
1. The European Council shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and shall define the general political directions and priorities thereof. It shall not exercise legislative functions.
***
Role of European Council
Paul Craig and Gráinne de Búrca describe the role of the European Council in a few well chosen sentences (with added explanations and examples):
• The European Council is central to the very development of the Community and Union itself.
• The European Council will often confirm important changes in the institutional structure of the Community.
• The European Council can provide the focus for significant constitutional initiatives that affect the operation of the Community and Union.
• The European Council will frequently consider the state of the European economy as a whole.
• Conflict resolution is another issue addressed by the European Council.
• The European Council plays a role in the initiation or development of particular policy strategies.
• The European is also central in external relations.
• The European Council will also consider new accessions to the Community.
(Source: Paul Craig and Gráinne de Búrca: EU Law ─ Text, Cases, and Materials; pages 56 to 57; Fourth edition, Oxford University Press)
***
Communication: Presidency Conclusions
The European Council communicates its political guidelines through Presidency Conclusions, issued at the end of each meeting.
The next ones are expected tomorrow, after the spring European Council.
The European Council does not have the Rules of Procedure necessary according to the Lisbon Treaty (one of the implementing tasks to prepare), but the General Secretariat of the Council has published Rules for the organisation of the European Council (January 2007):
Conclusions
12. The conclusions, which shall be as concise as possible, shall set out policy guidelines and decisions reached by the European Council, placing them briefly in their context and indicating the stages of the procedure to follow on from them.
13. An outline of the conclusions shall be distributed on the day of the European Council meeting in good time for the start of proceedings. The outline shall distinguish clearly between those parts of the text which have previously been approved and which are not in principle subject to discussion and those parts of the text which the European Council is to discuss with a view to reaching final conclusions at the meeting.
***
In addition, the European Council reports to the European Parliament.
***
Comments
Naturally, being central to includes the limits and limitations imposed by the European Council and by its decision making mostly based on unanimity or consensus.
The European Council is essentially free to set its own agenda, when it acts outside the specific decisions mandated by the treaties. It chooses independently how it deals with the political (non-mandatory) input from the Community (Commission) and intergovernmental (Council) feeding mechanisms. Thereby it becomes the most intergovernmental body of the European Union, sometimes concluding intergovernmental agreements outside the institutional framework, but with direct bearing on it.
On the other hand, most of the formal decisions are still taken by the ‘Community’ institutions.
Since the formal description of the general tasks of the European Council remain almost unchanged under the Treaty of Lisbon, most reports and comments on the amending treaty have concentrated on the obvious changes (President, High Representative, Presidential relations), while the incremental rise of the body have gone almost without remarks.
Ralf Grahn
***
General tasks
In the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon, Article 15(1) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), replaces the first paragraph of the current Article 4 TEU. In the amending treaty, the general political guidelines become the general political directions and priorities. The clarification is added that the European Council does not exercise legislative functions (but it comes awfully close) (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/23):
1. The European Council shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and shall define the general political directions and priorities thereof. It shall not exercise legislative functions.
***
Role of European Council
Paul Craig and Gráinne de Búrca describe the role of the European Council in a few well chosen sentences (with added explanations and examples):
• The European Council is central to the very development of the Community and Union itself.
• The European Council will often confirm important changes in the institutional structure of the Community.
• The European Council can provide the focus for significant constitutional initiatives that affect the operation of the Community and Union.
• The European Council will frequently consider the state of the European economy as a whole.
• Conflict resolution is another issue addressed by the European Council.
• The European Council plays a role in the initiation or development of particular policy strategies.
• The European is also central in external relations.
• The European Council will also consider new accessions to the Community.
(Source: Paul Craig and Gráinne de Búrca: EU Law ─ Text, Cases, and Materials; pages 56 to 57; Fourth edition, Oxford University Press)
***
Communication: Presidency Conclusions
The European Council communicates its political guidelines through Presidency Conclusions, issued at the end of each meeting.
The next ones are expected tomorrow, after the spring European Council.
The European Council does not have the Rules of Procedure necessary according to the Lisbon Treaty (one of the implementing tasks to prepare), but the General Secretariat of the Council has published Rules for the organisation of the European Council (January 2007):
Conclusions
12. The conclusions, which shall be as concise as possible, shall set out policy guidelines and decisions reached by the European Council, placing them briefly in their context and indicating the stages of the procedure to follow on from them.
13. An outline of the conclusions shall be distributed on the day of the European Council meeting in good time for the start of proceedings. The outline shall distinguish clearly between those parts of the text which have previously been approved and which are not in principle subject to discussion and those parts of the text which the European Council is to discuss with a view to reaching final conclusions at the meeting.
***
In addition, the European Council reports to the European Parliament.
***
Comments
Naturally, being central to includes the limits and limitations imposed by the European Council and by its decision making mostly based on unanimity or consensus.
The European Council is essentially free to set its own agenda, when it acts outside the specific decisions mandated by the treaties. It chooses independently how it deals with the political (non-mandatory) input from the Community (Commission) and intergovernmental (Council) feeding mechanisms. Thereby it becomes the most intergovernmental body of the European Union, sometimes concluding intergovernmental agreements outside the institutional framework, but with direct bearing on it.
On the other hand, most of the formal decisions are still taken by the ‘Community’ institutions.
Since the formal description of the general tasks of the European Council remain almost unchanged under the Treaty of Lisbon, most reports and comments on the amending treaty have concentrated on the obvious changes (President, High Representative, Presidential relations), while the incremental rise of the body have gone almost without remarks.
Ralf Grahn
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
EU: Excessive government deficits Ih
The Ecofin Council Conclusions ‘Immediate responses to financial turmoil’ (Council document 13930/08, 7 October 2008) shed some light on how ‘flexible’ the member states aim to be when implementing the EMU rules, namely the Stability and Growth Pact, including the excessive deficit procedure:
“The application of the Stability and Growth Pact should also reflect the current exceptional
circumstances, in accordance with the provisions of the Pact.”
In other words, the Pact can be bent, but not broken.
The Conclusions are available at:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/misc/103202.pdf
Ralf Grahn
“The application of the Stability and Growth Pact should also reflect the current exceptional
circumstances, in accordance with the provisions of the Pact.”
In other words, the Pact can be bent, but not broken.
The Conclusions are available at:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/misc/103202.pdf
Ralf Grahn
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