Council of the European Union
Council of the European Union : The Council of the European Union (the Council, sometimes referred to as the Council of Ministers) is the Union's main decision-making institution. It consists of the ministers of the 25 Member States responsible for the area of activity on the agenda: foreign affairs, agriculture, industry, transport and so on. Despite the existence of these different configurations depending on the area of activity, the Council is nonetheless a single institution. Each Member State in turn holds the chair for six months. Decisions are prepared by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States (COREPER), assisted by working parties of national government officials. The Council is assisted by its General Secretariat. Council decisions under the first pillar are adopted on the basis of Commission proposals. Following entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam in May 1999, the Secretary-General also acts as High Representativen for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, assisted by a Deputy Secretary- General appointed by unanimous decision by the Council and responsible for running the Council's General Secretariat. Given the prospect of enlargement, the Treaty of Nice, which came into force in 2003, extended the scope of decisions adopted by qualified majority to other areas and to certain other aspects of policies already subject in part to qualified majority voting, such as the common commercial policy. See: Treaties Court of Auditors. See: European Court of Auditors
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