The Council is primarily a legislative body. It shares legislative competence with the European Commission and the European Parliament in matters relating to the European Community (first pillar of the EU Treaty), with the Commission having the right of initiative to propose legislation and Parliament participating at various stages in the decision-making process.
It has an even stronger role as legislative and executive organ in the common foreign and security policy (second pillar) and in police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (third pillar), in keeping with the intergovernmental nature of cooperation in these areas. The powers of the Commission and Parliament in such matters are less developed.
The Council, together with Parliament, is also the budgetary authority. It has executive and supervisory powers vis-à-vis the Commission in particular and is the institution with prime responsibility for shaping the European Union's foreign relations: it concludes agreements with countries outside the EU and with international organizations, and it decides – with the consent of the European Parliament – on the admittance of new members. It has a decisive role together with the European Council as regards common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and represents the EU in CFSP matters on the international stage.
The Council consists of one representative of each Member State at ministerial level, authorized to commit the government of that Member State. State secretaries are also accepted as Council members, as are regional representatives in the case of federally organized countries, to the extent that they are authorized to commit the federal state as a whole.
The Council meets in different formations. The General Affairs and External Relations Council has a coordinating and initiating role in respect of the other eight Council configurations (Agriculture, Environment, Transport, etc).
The Presidency of the Council is held by the Member States in turn for a period of six months. The Presidency does not only chair the Council of Ministers in its various policy formations, but also chairs the numerous preparatory committees and working groups, as well as the European Council. Furthermore, the President-in-Office of the Council is responsible for calling Council meetings, preparing the agenda, signing legal acts, relations with the European Parliament and representing the Council to the outside world.
The Council is assisted by a General Secretariat, which is currently headed by Javier Solana, the Secretary-General and High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
The Council's work is prepared by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), which in turn is supported by numerous working groups comprising representatives of the national governments.
