The Council of Ministers, Second Edition

by Hayes-Renshaw, Fiona; Wallace, Helen

• ISBN13: 9780333948668
• ISBN10: 0333948661
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-10-21
• Publisher: Red Globe Pr

Summary

A systematically revised new edition of the definitive text on the EU's main legislative and negotiating body taking full account of the current process of reform of the Council and the likely impact of EU enlargement.

Author Biography

Fiona Haynes-Renshaw is Visiting Professor, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium.

Helen Wallace is Director, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, Italy.

Table of Contents

List of Tables, Figures and Boxes	xiii
Preface	xv
List of Abbreviations	xviii
Introduction	1	(32)
What is the Council?	4	(3)
Both executive and legislature	4	(1)
Both European and national	5	(1)
Both multi-issue and sectoral	5	(1)
Both a forum for negotiation and a forum for decision	6	(1)
Legal definitions and basic decision rules	7	(7)
Treaty-based formal rules	7	(6)
Other formal and informal rules	13	(1)
Who constitutes the Council?	14	(1)
What does the Council do?	15	(2)
How does the Council work?	17	(8)
Devices to oil the Council machine	25	(1)
With whom does the Council interact?	26	(1)
To whom is the Council responsible?	27	(1)
Looking behind the scenes and into the corridors	28	(1)
Change and reform	29	(4)
PART I WHO DOES WHAT?
National Representatives Decide: the Ministers in Council	33	(35)
Composition	33	(1)
Sectoral differentiation	34	(12)
General Affairs and External Relations (GAERC)	36	(6)
Economic and Financial Affairs and Budget (Ecofin)	42	(2)
Agriculture and Fisheries (Agfish)	44	(1)
Competitiveness (Comp)	44	(1)
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)	45	(1)
Other configurations	45	(1)
Other groupings	46	(1)
Frequency and intensity of meetings	47	(1)
Organization of meetings	48	(4)
Agendas, texts and minutes	52	(2)
Voting and the relative power of member states	54	(4)
Language, atmosphere and special devices	58	(3)
The consequences of multilingualism	58	(2)
Opportunities for frank discussion	60	(1)
Output and speed	61	(2)
Coordination between Councils	63	(3)
Subsidiarity and transparency	66	(2)
Officials Prepare the Ground: the Preparatory Bodies	68	(33)
The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper)	72	(10)
Origins and development	73	(1)
Composition	73	(3)
Functions and working methods	76	(6)
The Political and Security Committee (COPS)	82	(4)
Origins and development	82	(1)
Composition	83	(1)
Functions and working methods	84	(2)
The Article 36 Committee (CATS)	86	(2)
Origins and development	86	(1)
Composition	86	(1)
Functions and working methods	87	(1)
The Economic and Financial Committee (EFC)	88	(2)
Origins and development	88	(1)
Composition	88	(1)
Functions and working methods	89	(1)
The Article 133 Committee	90	(4)
Origins and development	90	(1)
Composition	91	(1)
Functions and working methods	92	(2)
The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA)	94	(2)
Origins and development	94	(1)
Composition	94	(1)
Functions and working methods	95	(1)
The working parties	96	(5)
Origins and development	96	(1)
Composition	97	(2)
Functions and working methods	99	(2)
Bureaucrats Organize and Advise: the Council Secretariat	101	(32)
Origins and development	101	(2)
Structure of the Secretariat	103	(8)
The Secretary-General (SG) and the Deputy Secretary-General (DSG)	104	(2)
The Directorates-General (DGs)	106	(1)
Other units	107	(2)
Personnel policy	109	(2)
Functions of the Secretariat	111	(6)
The Secretary-General (SG) and the Deputy Secretary-General (DSG)	111	(1)
The Legal Service	112	(1)
The Directorates--General (DGs)	113	(4)
Working methods	117	(10)
Production of documents	118	(1)
Linguistic regime	118	(5)
Transparency	123	(4)
Relations with other institutions and bodies	127	(4)
The European Parliament (EP)	129	(1)
The Commission	129	(1)
The member states and the presidency	130	(1)
Evolution -- past and future	131	(2)
Taking Turns at the Wheel: the Presidency	133	(32)
Origins and development	134	(2)
The operating rules	136	(4)
System of rotation	136	(4)
Rules regarding the tasks of the presidency	140	(1)
The main functions of the Council presidency	140	(14)
Business manager	141	(4)
Manager of foreign policy	145	(2)
Promoter of initiatives	147	(2)
Package-broker	149	(2)
Liaison point	151	(1)
Collective representative	152	(2)
Strengths and weaknesses of the presidency	154	(3)
Proposals for reform	157	(8)
PART II WITH WHOM?
Overlapping Competences: the Council and the European Council	165	(21)
Origins and development	166	(4)
Acquiring a legal basis and role	166	(1)
Composition	167	(2)
Number and location of meetings	169	(1)
Functions and forms	170	(5)
Providing strategic guidelines and political impetus	170	(1)
Shaping foreign policy	170	(1)
Decision-making on Community matters	171	(1)
Extra-treaty decision-making	171	(1)
Amending the treaties	172	(1)
Engaging in open coordination (the Lisbon process)	172	(3)
Preparation, proceedings and follow-up	175	(8)
Preparation	175	(5)
Proceedings	180	(2)
Follow-up	182	(1)
Reforming the European Council	183	(3)
Competition and Cooperation: the Council and the Commission	186	(21)
The incentives to cooperate	186	(1)
The balance tilts towards the Council	187	(2)
The elements of competition	189	(2)
Implicit and explicit models of governance	191	(1)
An erratic tandem	192	(1)
The Commission within the Council	192	(2)
Member governments in dialogue with the Commission	194	(4)
The Council presidency, the Council Secretariat and the Commission	198	(2)
Different phases of the relationship	200	(7)
Agenda-setting	200	(1)
Pre-negotiation of proposals	201	(1)
Gathering feedback	201	(1)
Negotiation	202	(1)
Implementation of decisions	203	(2)
Representing agreed policy to third parties	205	(2)
An Evolving Partnership: the Council and the European Parliament	207	(21)
Relationship and attitudes	208	(9)
Relevant changes in the EP's powers	208	(2)
The effect on the Council	210	(3)
New dynamics	213	(4)
Contacts between the Council and the EP	217	(3)
Influencing the Council	220	(6)
Subjective interpretations	221	(1)
Objective interpretations	221	(3)
Quantity of influence	224	(1)
Quality of influence	225	(1)
A stable tandem for the future?	226	(2)
Not Just Governments: the Council and the Member States	228	(31)
Communicating with the Council	229	(18)
Government departments	230	(4)
The permanent representations (permreps)	234	(5)
National parliaments	239	(3)
Other national interlocutors	242	(2)
Idiosyncrasies of particular countries	244	(3)
The Council and domestic policy-making and actors	247	(3)
Domestic politics and the work of the Council	250	(9)
Policy stances	250	(2)
Pace and rhythm	252	(2)
Sensitivity of the issues	254	(5)
PART III HOW?
Less Often than Expected: Voting in the Council	259	(39)
Voting rules	259	(18)
Inhibitions on voting and the Luxembourg compromise	263	(5)
The shift to majority voting	268	(3)
The prospect of enlargement and new policy developments	271	(1)
The loannina compromise	271	(2)
Enlargement as a continuing preoccupation	273	(4)
Voting in practice	277	(18)
An overview	278	(1)
The hard evidence	279	(12)
Problems of inclusion and exclusion	291	(3)
Relative power	294	(1)
Conclusions	295	(3)
Compromise and Consensus: Negotiation and Bargaining in the Council	298	(23)
The negotiating process	298	(6)
General features of negotiation	299	(1)
Single versus recurrent negotiations	300	(1)
Numbers, scope and layers	301	(2)
Compromise and consensus	303	(1)
The European Union as a distinctive negotiating forum	304	(9)
Key features	304	(2)
First-wave analyses	306	(2)
Second-wave analyses in response to varied practice	308	(3)
Domestic political factors	311	(2)
The wider analytical literature	313	(8)
Strategic preferences and power	314	(3)
Ideas, persuasion, socialization and operating norms	317	(1)
Institutional processes and techniques	318	(1)
Challenges of contemporary governance	319	(2)
Conclusions	321	(25)
The evolving functions of the Council	322	(5)
The Council as legislature	323	(1)
The Council as executive	324	(2)
The Council's steering function	326	(1)
The Council as forum	327	(1)
Images and reality: the core characteristics of the Council	327	(5)
The institutional triangle	328	(1)
Sectoral organization	329	(1)
A bureaucratic method	329	(1)
A consensual bias	330	(1)
Socialization and engrenage	330	(1)
Multiple rationales	331	(1)
The institutional performance of the Council	332	(11)
Productivity	333	(3)
Efficiency	336	(5)
Legitimacy	341	(2)
The balance sheet of reform	343	(3)
Appendix 1: Chronology of the Evolution of the Council	346	(6)
Appendix 2: Sources of Information on the Council	352	(2)
Appendix 3: Areas Covered by the Council's Internal Rules of Procedure (CRPs)	354	(2)
Appendix 4: Chronology of the Evolution of the Council Secretariat	356	(2)
Appendix 5: Chronology of the Council Presidency Rotation Systems, 1952--2006	358	(1)
Appendix 6: Chronology of European Council Meetings, 1990--2005	359	(3)
Appendix 7: The Seville Annexes Regarding the Council and the European Council (Seville European Council, 21--22 June 2002)	362	(5)
Appendix 8: Statistical Data on Voting in the Council	367	(2)
Bibliography	369	(12)
Index	381