President of the European Council
Emblem
Incumbent Herman Van Rompuy since 1 December 2009
Residence	Brussels, Belgium
Appointer	European Council by qualified majority
Term length	Two years and six months, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Herman Van Rompuy
Formation	1 December 2009
Salary	€298,495.44 per year
Website	President of the European Council

The President of the European Council (sometimes incorrectly referred to as the President of the European Union) is a principal representative of the European Union (EU) on the world stage, and the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council.^[1] This institution comprises the college of heads of state or government of EU member states as well as the President of the European Commission, and provides political direction to the European Union (EU). The current president is the former Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy.

From 1975 to 2009, the head of the European Council was an unofficial position (often referred to as President-in-Office) held by the head of state or government of the member state holding the semiannually rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union at any given time. However, since the Treaty of Lisbon, article 15 of Treaty on European Union states that the European Council appoints a full time president for a two-and-a-half year term, with the possibility of renewal once. Appointments, as well as the removal of incumbents, require a double majority support in the European Council.

On 19 November 2009, the European Council agreed that its first president under the Lisbon Treaty would be Herman Van Rompuy (European People's Party, Belgium). Van Rompuy took office when the Lisbon Treaty came into force on 1 December 2009 with a term stretching until 31 May 2012.^[2]

History[link]

European Union

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the European Union

European Parliament President Martin Schulz Largest groups; Joseph Daul: EPP María Badía (Interim): S&D 7th session MEPs (736) 2009-14 term Bureau Vice Presidents Quaestor Conference Legislative procedure

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy Parties List of meetings

Council of the EU Presidency Denmark Configurations General Foreign Economic Euro Legislative procedure Voting Secretariat Secretary-General Uwe Corsepius COREPER

European Commission Barroso Comm. President José M. Barroso Vice Presidents Catherine Ashton Viviane Reding Joaquín Almunia Siim Kallas Neelie Kroes Antonio Tajani Maroš Šefčovič Commissioners Civil Service Secretary-General Catherine Day

Court of Justice Court of Justice General Court Civil Service Tribunal Members Rulings

Other institutions Central Bank President ESCB Euro EMU Eurozone Court of Auditors Budget OLAF Investment Bank CoR EESC Ombudsman Other bodies Agencies National parliaments

Policies and issues Budget Four Freedoms Economic area Single market Area of FS&J Schengen Policies Agricultural Energy Fisheries Regional Citizenship Identity Pro-Europeanism Euroscepticism Integration Supranationalism Federalism U.S.E. Multi-speed Opt-outs Enhanced co-op Withdrawal

Foreign relations High Representative Catherine Ashton Ext. Action Service Foreign Policy Defence Policy Enlargement

Elections 1979, 1984, 1989 1994, 1999, 2004 2009 (last election) 2014 (next election) Political parties Constituencies Referendums

Law Acquis Primacy Subsidiarity Treaties Fundamental Rights Membership v t e

The first meeting of all EU (then EC) heads of state or government was held in 1961 as an informal summit, but only became formalised in 1974, when it was baptised "European Council" by the then French President Giscard d'Estaing. The Presidency of the European Council was based on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with it being hosted by the member state holding the Council Presidency, rotating every six months. As the European Council is composed of national leaders, it was chaired by the head of state or government of the Presidency state. ^[3][4][5]

Permanent post[link]

The European Constitution, drafted by the European Convention, outlined the "President of the European Council" as a longer term and full time chairmanship.^[6] The Constitution was rejected by voters in two Member States during ratification but the changes envisaged to the European Council presidency were retained in the Treaty of Lisbon, which came into force on 1 December 2009.

The first President is expected to "set the job description" for future office holders^[7] as there is no clear idea of how the post would evolve. One body of thought was that the President would stick to the administrative role as outlined by the treaty, a standard bearer who would simply chair meetings and ensure the smooth running of the body and its policies. This would attract semi-retired leaders seeking a fitting climax to their career and would leave most work to the Commission rather than wield power within the institutions.^[8] However another opinion envisages a more pro-active President within the Union and speaking for it abroad. This post would hence be quickly fashioned into a de facto "President of Europe" and, unlike the first model, would be seen on the world stage as speaking for the EU. Persons connected to this position would be more charismatic leaders.^[6] The appointment of Herman Van Rompuy (see below) indicated a desire to see the former style of President.

The Treaty of Lisbon doesn't define a nomination process for the President of the Council and several official and unofficial candidates were proposed. At the final European Council meeting on the treaty in Lisbon, on 19 November 2007, French President Nicolas Sarkozy set off public speculation on candidates by naming Tony Blair, Felipe González and Jean-Claude Juncker, and praising the three as worthy candidates^[9] with Blair in particular being a long time front runner for the post. However, he faced large scale opposition for being from a large state outside the eurozone and the Schengen Area as well as being a leader who entered the Iraq War which had split Europe. Minor opposition to other leaders such as Juncker also led to their rejection.^{[citation needed]}

Current President[link]

On 19 November 2009, Herman Van Rompuy, at that time Prime Minister of Belgium, was chosen to be appointed as the first full-time President of the European Council. The formal decision on the appointment was made after the Treaty of Lisbon came into force, which was on 1 December 2009.^[10] The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said that he had unanimous backing from the 27 EU leaders at the summit in Brussels on the evening of 19 November 2009. Mr Brown also praised Mr Van Rompuy as "a consensus builder" who had "brought a period of political stability to his country after months of uncertainty".^[11] Mr Van Rompuy has a reputation as a coalition builder, having taken charge of the linguistically divided Belgian government and steered it out of a crisis.^{[citation needed]} At a press conference after his appointment, Van Rompuy commented: "Every country should emerge victorious from negotiations. A negotiation that ends with a defeated party is never a good negotiation. I will consider everyone's interests and sensitivities. Even if our unity remains our strength, our diversity remains our wealth", he said, stressing the individuality of EU member states.^[12]

Van Rompuy's first council meeting was an informal gathering in the Solvay Library in Leopold Park, rather than the more usual formal gathering in the Justus Lipsius building nearby. The meeting was called to reflect on long term structural economic problems facing Europe, but was in fact overtaken by the Greek economic crisis. This immediately stepped into the economic policy sphere of the Commission President, although Van Rompuy has defined the Commission's role as the detailed content of economic plans, and the European Council as providing strategic guidance, dealing with means and being responsible for success. By this he is encouraging collective responsibilities from the leaders in the European Council now it is an institution like any other.^[13]

Van Rompuy also quickly proposed that the European Council should meet almost monthly, which would turn it into a form of cabinet government; something that would help it in dealing with the economy and foreign affairs. However this may result in the failure of some leaders, probably the non-eurozone leaders, to attend.

He has developed his relations with the European Parliament. Although Van Rompuy is not formally accountable to MEPs, he reports to the Parliament after each meeting of the European Council, he meets the political group leaders regularly (and the President of the Parliament monthly) and has agreed to answer written parliamentary questions from them.^[13]

Duties and powers[link]

Pre-2009[link]

The role of President-in-Office of the assembled European Council was performed by the head of state or government of the member state currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. This presidency rotated every six months, meaning there was a new President of the European Council twice a year. The presidency set agenda of the meetings, a competence that was misused to push national interests. The presiding country was allowed also to have additional negotiators at the table.^[4][14][15]

The role as President-in-Office was merely a primus inter pares role among other European heads of state or government. Being primarily responsible for preparing and chairing the meetings of the European Council, the role had no executive powers and was in no sense equivalent to that of a head of state. However, the President-in-Office represented the European Council externally and reported to the European Parliament after its meetings as well as at the beginning and at the end of the presidency.^[14][15]

Post-2009[link]

The president's role is largely political, preparing the work of the European Council, organising and chairing its meetings, seeking to find consensus among its members and reporting to the European Parliament after each meeting; the president will also "at his level and in that capacity, ensure the external representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy, without prejudice to the powers of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security".^[16] Some overlap between the roles of the President of the European Council, the President of the Commission, and the High Representative—notably in foreign policy—leaves uncertainty about how much influence the President of the European Council will acquire. There is further concern over whether the President will have sufficient personnel and resources to fulfil the duties of the post effectively and that, in lacking a ministry, the President might become a "play ball" between EU leaders.^[17]

With the reorganisation of leading EU posts under the Lisbon Treaty, there was some criticism of each posts vague responsibilities. Ukrainian ambassador to the EU Andriy Veselovsky praised the framework and clarified it in his own terms: The President of the European Commission speaks as the EU's "government" while the new President of the European Council is a "strategist". The High Representative specialises in "bilateral relations" while the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy deals in technical matters such as the free trade agreement with Ukraine. The President of the European Parliament meanwhile articulates the EU's values.^[18]

The European Council President also extended his influence into financial policy, the most important area left to the rotating Council presidency, with the rotating presidency seeing a greater decrease in power than previously planned.^[19] Many of the changes introduced with the Lisbon Treaty need concretion through practical implementation by the current actors. The Spanish presidency unsuccessfully tried to challenge the European Council President's prominent post during the first rotating presidency of 2010,^[20] while the second half of the year saw a Belgian rotating presidency marked by a weakened caretaker government which did not challenge Herman van Rompuy, himself a Belgian politician. The Belgian rotating presidency announced it was taking a "backrow seat"^[21] with regards to both the European Council President as well as the High Representative, thus fueling hopes for a more comunitarian character in both the council and foreign policy.

Privileges of office[link]

The Résidence Palace in Brussels is under renovation to become the European Council's new headquarters.

Formal negotiations on the salary and privileges of the permanent presidency began in April 2008 as part of the draft of the 2009 EU budget. The outcome was that the President should enjoy the same conditions as the President of the Commission, with a basic salary of 138% of the highest civil service grade: that would be €24,874.62 per month (not including family and other allowances).^{[22][23][24][dated info]}

The President receives a chauffeured car and around 20 dedicated staff members. He also has a housing allowance, rather than an official residence which was considered "too symbolic". Likewise, the idea of a private jet was also rejected for being symbolic and, as one diplomat pointed out, a discrepancy in privileges between the European Council and Commission presidents may only fuel rivalry between the two.^[25]

The possibility of there being greater perks for the European Council President than Commission President has prompted Parliament to threaten a rejection of the 2009 budget. It saw a large salary and extras as a symbolic signal that the post is intended to become more powerful, increasing intergovernmentalism at the Parliament's expense. With some in the Council suggesting a staff of up to 60, the Committee on Constitutional Affairs has indicated it may drop the gentlemen's agreement that Parliament and Council will not interfere in each other's budget.^[26]

Democratic mandate[link]

The lack of accountability to MEPs or national parliamentarians has also cast doubt as to whether national leaders will in practice stand behind the President on major issues.^[17] Under the rotational system, the presidents simply had the mandate of their member states, while the new permanent president is chosen by the members of the European Council.^[27]

There have been calls by some, such as former German interior minister and current minister of finance Wolfgang Schäuble,^[28] for direct elections to take place to give the President a mandate, this would strengthen the post within the European Council allowing for stronger leadership in addition to addressing the question of democratic legitimacy in the EU. However, this might cause conflict with Parliament's democratic mandate or a potential mandate for the Commission (see section below). To give a mandate to the European Council's President would signify a development of the Union's governance towards a presidential system, rather than a parliamentary system.^[27]

Relationship with Commission[link]

There has been disagreement and concern over competition between the President of the European Council Van Rompuy and the Commission President Barroso due to the vague language of the treaty. Some clarifications see Van Rompuy as the "strategist" and Barroso as a head of government. In terms of economic policy, Van Rompuy saw the European Council as dealing with overall strategy and the Commission as dealing with the implementation. Despite weekly breakfasts together there is a certain extent of rivalry between the two yet-defined posts.^[13][18][29]

Although the President of the European Council may not hold a national office, such as a Prime Minister of a member state, there is no such restraint on European offices. For example, the President may be an MEP, or more significantly the Commission President (who already sits in the European Council). This would allow the European Council to concurrently appoint one person to the roles and powers of both President of the European Council and President of the European Commission, thus creating a single presidential position for the Union as a whole.^[6]

Since the creation of the European Council presidency, President Van Rompuy and Commission President Barroso have begun to compete with each other as Van Rompuy has benefited from the general shift in power from the Commission to the European Council yet with Barroso still holding the real powers. At international summits they continued previous practice of both going at the same time. The complicated situation has renewed some calls to merge the posts, possibly at the end of Barroso's term in 2014 or even as early as mid-2012 when Van Rompuy's present mandate ends. However some member states are expected to oppose the creation of such a high profile post.^[13][29]

Were the post not to be combined, some believe that the dual-presidential system could lead to "cohabitation" and infighting between the two offices. While it is comparable to the French model, where there is a President (the European Council President) and Prime Minister (the Commission President), the Council President does not hold formal powers such as the ability to directly appoint and sack the Commission President, or the ability to dissolve Parliament. Hence while the European Council President may have prestige, he/she lacks power and while the Commission President has power, he/she lacks the prestige of the former.^[30] Some believe this problem would be increased further if the Council President were to be strengthened by a democratic mandate, as mentioned above.^[27]

List of presidents[link]

Rotating presidency[link]

Year	Period	Office Holder	State
1975	Jan–Jun	Liam Cosgrave	Ireland
	Jul–Dec	Aldo Moro	Italy
1976	Jan–Jun	Gaston Thorn	Luxembourg
	Jul–Dec	Joop den Uyl	Netherlands
1977	Jan–Jun	James Callaghan	United Kingdom
	Jul–Dec	Jack Lynch	Ireland
1978	Jan–Jun	Anker Jørgensen	Denmark
	Jul–Dec	Helmut Schmidt	West Germany
1979	Jan–Jun	Valéry Giscard d'Estaing	France
	Jul–Dec	Jack Lynch	Ireland
1980	Jan–Jun	Francesco Cossiga	Italy
	Jul–Dec	Pierre Werner	Luxembourg
1981	Jan–Jun	Dries van Agt	Netherlands
	Jul–Dec	Margaret Thatcher	United Kingdom
1982	Jan–Jun	Wilfried Martens	Belgium
	Jul–Dec	Poul Schlüter	Denmark
1983	Jan–Jun	Helmut Kohl	West Germany
	Jul–Dec	Andreas Papandreou	Greece
1984	Jan–Jun	François Mitterrand	France
	Jul–Dec	Garret FitzGerald	Ireland
1985	Jan–Jun	Bettino Craxi	Italy
	Jul–Dec	Jacques Santer	Luxembourg
1986	Jan–Jun	Ruud Lubbers	Netherlands
	Jul–Dec	Margaret Thatcher	United Kingdom
1987	Jan–Jun	Wilfried Martens	Belgium
	Jul–Dec	Poul Schlüter	Denmark
1988	Jan–Jun	Helmut Kohl	West Germany
	Jul–Dec	Andreas Papandreou	Greece
1989	Jan–Jun	Felipe González	Spain
	Jul–Dec	François Mitterrand	France
1990	Jan–Jun	Charles Haughey	Ireland
	Jul–Dec	Giulio Andreotti	Italy
1991	Jan–Jun	Jacques Santer	Luxembourg
	Jul–Dec	Ruud Lubbers	Netherlands
1992	Jan–Jun	Aníbal Cavaco Silva	Portugal
	Jul–Dec	John Major	United Kingdom
1993	Jan–Jun	Poul Nyrup Rasmussen	Denmark
	Jul–Dec	Jean-Luc Dehaene	Belgium
1994	Jan–Jun	Andreas Papandreou	Greece
	Jul–Dec	Helmut Kohl	Germany
1995	Jan–Jun	Jacques Chirac	France
	Jul–Dec	Felipe González	Spain
1996	Jan–Jun	Romano Prodi	Italy
	Jul–Dec	John Bruton	Ireland
1997	Jan–Jun	Wim Kok	Netherlands
	Jul–Dec	Jean-Claude Juncker	Luxembourg
1998	Jan–Jun	Tony Blair	United Kingdom
	Jul–Dec	Viktor Klima	Austria
1999	Jan–Jun	Gerhard Schröder	Germany
	Jul–Dec	Paavo Lipponen	Finland
2000	Jan–Jun	António Guterres	Portugal
	Jul–Dec	Jacques Chirac	France
2001	Jan–Jun	Göran Persson	Sweden
	Jul–Dec	Guy Verhofstadt	Belgium
2002	Jan–Jun	José María Aznar López	Spain
	Jul–Dec	Anders Fogh Rasmussen	Denmark
2003	Jan–Jun	Costas Simitis	Greece
	Jul–Dec	Silvio Berlusconi	Italy
2004	Jan–Jun	Bertie Ahern	Ireland
	Jul–Dec	Jan Peter Balkenende	Netherlands
2005	Jan–Jun	Jean-Claude Juncker	Luxembourg
	Jul–Dec	Tony Blair	United Kingdom
2006	Jan–Jun	Wolfgang Schüssel	Austria
	Jul–Dec	Matti Vanhanen	Finland
2007	Jan–Jun	Angela Merkel	Germany
	Jul–Dec	José Sócrates	Portugal
2008	Jan–Jun	Janez Janša	Slovenia
	Jul–Dec	Nicolas Sarkozy	France
2009	Jan–May	Mirek Topolánek	Czech Republic
	May-Jun	Jan Fischer
	Jul-Dec	Fredrik Reinfeldt	Sweden

Permanent presidents[link]

President		Portrait	State	European party	National party	Took office	Left office
	Herman Van Rompuy		Belgium	People's Party	CD&V	1 December 2009	Second 2.5 year term expires November 2014
			Previously Prime Minister of Belgium, Van Rompuy was the first permanent president and was chosen as a low profile consensus builder. He led a task force on reforming the EU's economic governance: he drafted the ESM treaty and amendment. He is a supporter of greater economic integration but is against the entry of Turkey to the EU.

See also[link]

• List of presidents of EU institutions
  • President of the European Parliament
  • President of the European Commission
  • Presidency of the Council of the European Union

References[link]

External links[link]

• President of the European Council – Official Website
• A 'George Washington' for Europe – BBC News

v t e European Council List of meetings · President · Party composition (1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 (Jan–Apr) • 2004 (May–Dec) • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012) Van Rompuy (President) · Faymann · Di Rupo · Borisov · Christofias · Nečas · Thorning-Schmidt · Ansip · Katainen · Hollande · Merkel · Pikrammenos · Orbán · Kenny · Monti · Dombrovskis · Grybauskaitė · Juncker · Gonzi · Rutte · Tusk · Passos Coelho · Băsescu · Fico · Janša · Rajoy · Reinfeldt · Cameron · Barroso European Union Portal

European Council Bulgarian: Европейски съвет Czech: Evropská rada Danish: Det Europæiske Råd Dutch: Europese Raad Estonian: Euroopa Ülemkogu Finnish: Eurooppa-neuvosto French: Conseil européen German: Europäischer Rat Greek: Ευρωπαϊκό Συμβούλιο Hungarian: Európai Tanács Irish: An Chomhairle Eorpach Italian: Consiglio europeo Latvian: Eiropadome Lithuanian: Europos Vadovų Taryba Maltese: Kunsill Ewropew Polish: Rada Europejska Portuguese: Conselho Europeu Romanian: Consiliul European Slovak: Európska rada Slovene: Evropski svet Spanish: Consejo Europeo Swedish: Europeiska rådet
Established	1961 (informally) 2009 (formally)
Type	EU collective presidency
President	Herman Van Rompuy
Seat	Justus Lipsius building, Brussels
Website	www.european-council.europa.eu

The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy. The High Representative for Foreign Affairs, currently Catherine Ashton, takes part in its meetings.^[1]

While the European Council has no formal legislative power, it is charged under the Treaty of Lisbon^[2] with defining "the general political directions and priorities" of the Union. It is thus the Union's strategic (and crisis solving) body, acting as the collective presidency of the EU.^[3]

The meetings of the European Council are chaired by its President and take place at least twice every six months;^[1] usually in the Justus Lipsius building, the headquarters of the Council of the European Union in Brussels.^[4][5][6]

The European Council was established as an informal body in 1975; it became an official EU institution in 2009 when the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force.

History[link]

A traditional group photo, here taken at the royal palace in Brussels during Belgium's 1987 Presidency

The first summits of EU heads of state or government were held in February and July 1961 (in Paris and Bonn respectively). They were informal summits of the leaders of the European Community and were started due to then-French President Charles de Gaulle's resentment at the domination of supranational institutions (e.g. the European Commission) over the integration process, but petered out. The first influential summit held, after the departure of De Gaulle, was The Hague summit of 1969, which reached an agreement on the admittance of the United Kingdom into the Community and initiated foreign policy cooperation (the European Political Cooperation) taking integration beyond economics.^[1][7]

The summits were only formalized in the period between 1974 and 1988. At the December summit in Paris in 1974, following a proposal from then-French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, it was agreed that more high level, political input was needed following the "empty chair crisis" and economic problems. The inaugural European Council, as it became known, was held in Dublin on 10 and 11 March 1975 during Ireland's first Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In 1987, it was included in the treaties for the first time (the Single European Act) and had a defined role for the first time in the Maastricht Treaty. At first only two meetings per year were required, now there are on average six European Councils each year. The seat of the Council was formalized in 2002, basing it in Brussels. In addition to usual European Councils, there are the occasional extraordinary meetings, as for example in 2001 when the European Council gathered to lead the EU's response to the 11 September attacks.^[1][7]

The European Council at the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009

Some meetings of the European Council are seen by some as turning points in the history of the European Union. For example:^[1]

• 1969, The Hague: Foreign policy and enlargement.
• 1974, Paris: Creation of the Council.
• 1985, Milan: Initiate IGC leading to the Single European Act.
• 1991, Maastricht: Agreement on the Maastricht Treaty.
• 1993, Copenhagen: Leading to the definition of the Copenhagen Criteria.
• 1997, Amsterdam: Agreement on the Amsterdam Treaty.
• 1998, Brussels: Selected member states to adopt the euro.
• 1999; Cologne: Declaration on military forces.^[8]
• 1999, Tampere: Institutional reform
• 2000, Lisbon: Lisbon Strategy
• 2002, Copenhagen: Agreement for May 2004 enlargement.
• 2007, Lisbon: Agreement on the Lisbon Treaty.
• 2009, Brussels: Appointment of first President and merged High Representative.
• 2010, European Financial Stability Facility

As such, the European Council had already existed before it gained the status as an institution of the European Union with the entering into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Indeed, Article 214(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community provided (before it was amended by the Treaty of Lisbon) that ‘the Council, meeting in the composition of Heads of State or Government and acting by a qualified majority, shall nominate the person it intends to appoint as President of the Commission’ (emphasis added); this may be seen as an early codification of the European Council in the Treaties. In the event, Article 15 of the Treaty on European Union (amended by the Treaty of Lisbon) officially introduces the term European Council as a substitute for the phrase "Council [of the European Union] meeting in the composition of the Heads of State or Government", which was previously sometimes used in the treaties to refer to this body.^[9]

The Treaty of Lisbon made the European Council a formal institution distinct from the (ordinary) Council of the EU, and created the present longer term and full-time presidency. As an outgrowth of the Council of the EU, the European Council had previously followed the same Presidency, rotating between each member state. While the Council of the EU retains that system, the European Council established, with no change in powers, a system of appointing an individual (without them being a national leader) for two-and-a-half-years.^[10] Following the ratification of the treaty in December 2009, the European Council elected the then-Prime Minister of Belgium Herman Van Rompuy as its first permanent President (resigning from Belgian Prime Minister).^[11]

Powers and functions[link]

European Union

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the European Union

European Parliament President Martin Schulz Largest groups; Joseph Daul: EPP María Badía (Interim): S&D 7th session MEPs (736) 2009-14 term Bureau Vice Presidents Quaestor Conference Legislative procedure

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy Parties List of meetings

Council of the EU Presidency Denmark Configurations General Foreign Economic Euro Legislative procedure Voting Secretariat Secretary-General Uwe Corsepius COREPER

European Commission Barroso Comm. President José M. Barroso Vice Presidents Catherine Ashton Viviane Reding Joaquín Almunia Siim Kallas Neelie Kroes Antonio Tajani Maroš Šefčovič Commissioners Civil Service Secretary-General Catherine Day

Court of Justice Court of Justice General Court Civil Service Tribunal Members Rulings

Other institutions Central Bank President ESCB Euro EMU Eurozone Court of Auditors Budget OLAF Investment Bank CoR EESC Ombudsman Other bodies Agencies National parliaments

Policies and issues Budget Four Freedoms Economic area Single market Area of FS&J Schengen Policies Agricultural Energy Fisheries Regional Citizenship Identity Pro-Europeanism Euroscepticism Integration Supranationalism Federalism U.S.E. Multi-speed Opt-outs Enhanced co-op Withdrawal

Foreign relations High Representative Catherine Ashton Ext. Action Service Foreign Policy Defence Policy Enlargement

Elections 1979, 1984, 1989 1994, 1999, 2004 2009 (last election) 2014 (next election) Political parties Constituencies Referendums

Law Acquis Primacy Subsidiarity Treaties Fundamental Rights Membership v t e

The European Council is an official institution of the EU, mentioned by the Lisbon Treaty as a body which "shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development". Essentially it defines the EU's policy agenda and has thus been considered to be the motor of European integration. It does this without any formal powers, only the influence it has being composed of national leaders.^[1][5] Beyond the need to provide "impetus", the Council has developed further roles; to "settle issues outstanding from discussions at a lower level", to lead in foreign policy — acting externally as a "collective Head of State", "formal ratification of important documents" and "involvement in the negotiation of the treaty changes".^[6][7]

Since the institution is composed of national leaders, it gathers the executive power of the member states and has thus a great influence in high profile policy areas as for example foreign policy. It also exercises powers of appointment, such as appointment of its own President, the President of the European Commission, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the President of the European Central Bank. Moreover, the European Council influences police and justice planning, the composition of the Commission, matters relating to the organisation of the rotating Council presidency, the suspension of membership rights, and changing the voting systems through the Passerelle Clause. Although the European Council has no direct legislative power, under the "emergency brake" procedure, a state outvoted in the Council of Ministers may refer contentious legislation to the European Council. However, the state may still be outvoted in the European Council.^[10][12][13] Hence with powers over the supranational executive of the EU, in addition to its other powers, the European Council has been described by some as the Union's "supreme political authority".^{[6][7][10][14]}

Composition[link]

The European Council consists of the heads of state or government of the member states, alongside its own President and the Commission President (non-voting). The meetings used to be regularly attended by the national foreign minister as well, and the Commission President likewise accompanied by another member of the Commission. However, since the Treaty of Lisbon, this has been discontinued, as the size of the body had become somewhat large following successive accessions of new Member States to the Union.^[1][5][6]

Meetings can also include other invitees, such as the President of the European Central Bank, as required. The Secretary-General of the Council attends, and is responsible for organisational matters, including minutes. The President of the European Parliament also attends to give an opening speech outlining the European Parliament's position before talks begin.^[1][5][6]

Additionally, the negotiations involve a large number of other people working behind the scenes. Most of those people, however, are not allowed to the conference room, except for two delegates per state to relay messages. At the push of a button members can also call for advice from a Permanent Representative via the "Antici Group" in an adjacent room. The group is composed of diplomats and assistants who convey information and requests. Interpreters are also required for meetings as members are permitted to speak in their own languages.^[1]

The European Council meeting in Brussels in March 2011

As the composition is not precisely defined, some states which have a considerable division of executive power can find it difficult to decide who should attend the meetings. While an MEP, Alexander Stubb argued that there was no need for the President of Finland to attend Council meetings with or instead of the Prime Minister of Finland (who was head of European foreign policy).^[15] In 2008, having become Finnish Foreign Minister, Stubb was forced out of the Finnish delegation to the emergency council meeting on the Georgian crisis because the President wanted to attend the high profile summit as well as the Prime Minister (only two people from each country could attend the meetings). This was despite Stubb being head of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe at the time which was heavily involved in the crisis. Problems also occurred in Poland where the President of Poland and the Prime Minister of Poland were of different parties and had a different foreign policy response to the crisis.^[16]

President Herman Van Rompuy (left), here seen along with Commission President Barroso, took office on 1 December 2009.

Eurozone summits[link]

A number of ad hoc meetings of Heads of State or Government of the Euro area countries were held in 2010 and 2011 to discuss the Sovereign Debt crisis. It was agreed in October 2011 that they should meet regularly twice a year (with extra meetings if needed). This will normally be at the end of a European Council meeting and according to the same format (chaired by the President of the European Council and including the President of the Commission), but usually restricted to the (currently 17) Heads of State or Government of countries whose currency is the euro.

President[link]

The President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy of Belgium, is elected for a once-renewable term of two and a half years. The role as President-in-Office is in no sense (other than protocol) equivalent to an office of a head of state, merely a primus inter pares (first among equals) role among other European heads of government. The President-in-Office is primarily responsible for preparing and chairing the Council meetings, and has no executive powers other than the task of representing the Union externally. The President must report to the European Parliament after each European Council meeting.^[6][14]

The post was created by the Treaty of Lisbon and was subject to a debate over its exact role. Prior to Lisbon, the Presidency rotated in accordance with the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.^[6][14] The leader of the Council Presidency country can still act as President when the permanent president is absent.

Members[link]

With the exception for the Presidential states, German speaking states and EU offices, most European Council members are titled or referred to in English speaking media as "Prime Minister" due to the dominance of parliamentary democracy in Europe. However, in their native countries the formal and informal titles differ: for example President of the Government or Minister of State. The President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission are members of the Council, but do not take part in votes. According to the treaties, the High Representative takes part in the European Council's work and attends most meetings, but is not formally a member of the Council and likewise does not vote.

	Representative	Picture	Member State	Title	Political party	Member since	Elections		Votes[a 1]	Share in the total population[a 1]
							Last	Next
	Van Rompuy, HermanHerman Van Rompuy		President Non voting position	&0President	European People's Party National: Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V)	02009-12-011 December 2009	–	–	–	–
	Faymann, WernerWerner Faymann		Austria	&1Federal Chancellor	Party of European Socialists National: Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)	02008-12-022 December 2008	2008	2013?	10	1.67%
	Di Rupo, ElioElio Di Rupo		Belgium	&1Prime Minister	Party of European Socialists National: Socialist Party (PS)	02011-12-066 December 2011	2010	2014?	12	2.17%
	Borisov, BoykoBoyko Borisov Cyrillic script: Бойко Борисов		Bulgaria	&1Prime Minister	European People's Party National: Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB)	02009-07-2727 July 2009	2009	2013?	10	1.49%
	Milanović, ZoranZoran Milanović		Croatia Observer	&1Prime Minister	Party of European Socialists National: Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP)	02011-12-2323 December 2011	2011	2016?	–	–
	Christofias, DemetrisDemetris Christofias Greek script: Δημήτρης Χριστόφιας		Cyprus	&0President	Party of the European Left National: Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL)[a 2]	02008-02-2828 February 2008	2008	2013?	4	0.16%
	Nečas, PetrPetr Nečas		Czech Republic	&1Prime Minister	Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists National: Civic Democratic Party (ODS)	02010-07-1313 July 2010	2010	2014?	12	2.10%
	Thorning-Schmidt, HelleHelle Thorning-Schmidt		Denmark	&1Minister of State[a 3]	Party of European Socialists National: Social Democrats (SD)	02011-10-033 October 2011	2011	2015?	7	1.11%
	Ansip, AndrusAndrus Ansip		Estonia	&1Prime Minister	European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party National: Estonian Reform Party (Reformierakond)	02005-04-1212 April 2005	2011	2015?	4	0.27%
	Katainen, JyrkiJyrki Katainen		Finland	&1Prime Minister	European People's Party National: National Coalition Party (Kok.)	02011-06-2222 June 2011	2011	2015?	7	1.07%
	Hollande, FrançoisFrançois Hollande		France	&0President	Party of European Socialists National: Socialist Party (PS)	02012-05-1515 May 2012	2012	2017?	29	12.95%
	Merkel, AngelaAngela Merkel		Germany	&1Federal Chancellor	European People's Party National: Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	02005-11-2222 November 2005	2009	2013?	29	16.27%
	Pikrammenos, PanagiotisPanagiotis Pikrammenos Greek script: Παναγιώτης Πικραμμένος		Greece	&1Prime Minister	Independent	02012-05-1616 May 2012	May 2012	June 2012	12	2.25%
	Orbán, ViktorViktor Orbán Eastern name order, as used in Hungary: Orbán Viktor		Hungary	&1Minister-President[a 3]	European People's Party National: Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz)	02010-05-2929 May 2010 (also in office: 1998-2002; note that Hungary has been a member state of the EU from 2004)	2010	2014?	12	1.99%
	Kenny, EndaEnda Kenny Irish language: Éanna Ó Coinnigh		Ireland	&1Taoiseach[a 4]	European People's Party National: Fine Gael (FG)	02011-03-099 March 2011	2011	2016?	7	1.07%
	Monti, MarioMario Monti		Italy	&1President of the Council of Ministers[a 3]	Independent	02011-11-1616 November 2011	2008	2013?	29	12.07%
	Dombrovskis, ValdisValdis Dombrovskis		Latvia	&1Minister-President	European People's Party National: Unity (Vienotība)	02009-03-1212 March 2009	2011	2015?	4	0.44%
	Grybauskaitė, DaliaDalia Grybauskaitė		Lithuania	&1President	Independent	02009-07-1212 July 2009	2009	2014?	7	0.65%
	Juncker, Jean-ClaudeJean-Claude Juncker		Luxembourg	&1Prime Minister	European People's Party National: Christian Social People's Party (CSV)	01995-01-2020 January 1995	2009	2014?	4	0.10%
	Gonzi, LawrenceLawrence Gonzi		Malta	&1Prime Minister	European People's Party National: Nationalist Party (PN)	02004-05-011 May 2004 (in office since 23 March 2004; note that Malta has been a member state of the EU from 1st of May 2004)	2008	2013?	3	0.08%
	Rutte, MarkMark Rutte		Netherlands	&1Prime Minister	European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party National: People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)	02010-10-1414 October 2010	2010	2012	13	3.31%
	Tusk, DonaldDonald Tusk		Poland	&1President of the Council of Ministers[a 3]	European People's Party National: Civic Platform (PO)	02007-11-1616 November 2007	2011	2015?	27	7.60%
	Passos Coelho, PedroPedro Passos Coelho		Portugal	&1Prime Minister	European People's Party National: Social Democratic Party (PSD)	02011-06-2121 June 2011	2011	2015?	12	2.12%
	Băsescu, TraianTraian Băsescu		Romania	&1President	European People's Party[a 5] National: Officially independent[a 6]	02007-05-2323 May 2007 (also in office: 2004-2007; note that Romania has been a member state of the EU from 1st of January 2007)	2009	2014?	14	4.26%
	Fico, RobertRobert Fico		Slovakia	&1President of the Government[a 3]	Party of European Socialists National: Direction – Social Democracy (Smer)	02012-04-044 April 2012 (also in office: 2006-2010)	2012	2016?	7	1.08%
	Janša, JanezJanez Janša		Slovenia	&1President of the Government[a 3]	European People's Party National: Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS)	02012-02-1010 February 2012 (also in office: 2004-2008)	2011	2015?	4	0.41%
	Rajoy, MarianoMariano Rajoy		Spain	&1President of the Government[a 3]	European People's Party National: People's Party (PP)	02011-12-2121 December 2011	2011	2015?	27	9.18%
	Reinfeldt, FredrikFredrik Reinfeldt		Sweden	&1Minister of State[a 3]	European People's Party National: Moderate Party (Moderaterna)	02006-10-066 October 2006	2010	2014?	10	1.87%
	Cameron, DavidDavid Cameron		United Kingdom	&1Prime Minister	Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists National: Conservative Party	02010-05-1111 May 2010	2010	2015?	29	12.43%
	Barroso, José ManuelJosé Manuel Barroso		Commission Non voting representation	&0President	European People's Party National: Social Democratic Party (PSD)	02004-11-2323 November 2004	2009	2014	–	–