European Council
European Council :
This is the term used to describe the regular meetings of the Heads of State or Government of the European Union (EU) Member States. It was set up by the communiqué issued at the close of the Paris Summit of December 1974 and first met in Dublin, in March 1975. Before that time, from 1961 to 1974, the practice had been to hold European summit conferences. The existence of the European Council was given legal recognition by the Single European Act (1986), while official status was conferred on it by the Treaty on European Union (1992). It meets at least twice a year and the President of the European Commission attends as a full member. Its objectives are to give the EU the impetus it needs in order to develop further and to define general policy guidelines
