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It is to be distinguished from the Council of Europe, which is a completely separate international organization. It should also be distinguished from the European Council, which is a separate but closely related institution, composed of the heads of state or government of the member states in the European Union, and the President of the European Commission.
The Council has a President and a Secretary-General. The President of the Council is the Foreign Minister of the state currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union; while the Secretary-General is a civil servant, the head of the Council Secretariat. The Secretary-General also serves as the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy ( CFSP).
The Council is assisted by COREPER, which consists of representatives of the member-state at the level of diplomats or high-level civil servants. COREPER generally prepares the Council agenda, and negotiates minor and non-controversial matters, leaving controversial issues for discussion by the Council.
Legally speaking, the Council is a single entity, but it is in practice divided into several different councils, each dealing with a different functional area. Each council contains a different type of ministers.
There are currently nine formations:
The Council votes either by unanimity or by Qualified Majority Voting. The voting system used for a given decision depends on the policy area to which that decision belongs; according to the Treaties, some subjects require unanimity, while others require only a qualified majority.
Even in those areas which require a qualified majority, the Council is required to try to reach a unanimous decision where possible.
Countries of the EU hold different numbers of votes in the Council. The number of votes held by each country is based indirectly on the size of the country's population, but with proportionally heavier weighting towards smaller countries. This concept is aimed at balancing the voice of big countries with the voice of small countries.
On November 1 2004, modified voting weights from the Treaty of Nice came into effect (this date was revised by the Treaty of Accession 2003The Treaty of Accession 2003 was the agreement between the European Union and ten countries ( Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia), concerning these countries' accession into the EU. At the same t from the original intention of January 1January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Here a calendar year refers to the order in which the months are displayed, January to December. The first day of the medieval Julian year was usually a day other, 20052005 is a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). It has been designated: The World Year of Physics The International Year of Microcredit The International Year for Sport and Physical Education The United States Year of Foreign). This Treaty also provides for qualified majority votes to require a 'double majority' of both population and number of countries.
Further revisions to voting weights are made in the proposed constitutional treaty which was signed in October 29October 29 is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 63 days remaining. Events 437 Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II, Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantino, 2004.
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