The Council of the European Union - Third Edition

Written and edited by a group of senior EU officials and practitioners, this is an authoritative and comprehensive account of arguably the European Union’s most powerful institution, the Council of the European Union - otherwise known as the Council of Ministers. “This book, which I warmly commend, describes in an accessible way how the Council has evolved and how it really works. It brings together a range of intellectual and academic talent, but all of its contributors are also, in one way or another, practitioners. It is therefore a work of considerable authority”. Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, in the foreword "This book is authoritative and comprehensive. It is also rich in detail. It is essential reading for courses and research on EU decision making and on the institutions of the EU" Journal of Legislative Studies "This invaluable book enables us to penetrate the workings of what for the public at large is a fairly mysterious European institution" Agence Europe, European Library "The definitive work on the EU Council of Ministers" The Bulletin

1. What is the Council? 2. Where it meets and what it speaks 3. The ground rules 4. The General Affairs Council 5. The Economic and Financial Affairs Council 6. The Justice and Home Affairs Council 7. The Agriculture and Fisheries Council 8. "Variable geometry" in the Council 9. The European Council 10. Intergovernmental conferences 11. The Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) 12. Other Council preparatory bodies 13. The national negotiator in Council preparatory bodies 14. The formal framework - voting and decision-making 15. Negotiations, coalitions and the resolution of inter-state conflicts 16. Negotiating a package deal - the example of Agenda 2000 17. The coordination of European policy by member states 18. The presidency 19. The general secretariat of the Council 20. Transparency in the Council 21. The Council and the challenge of enlargement 22. The Council in perspective Appendices Bibliography