Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

The Council of Ministers

here the supranational and the intergovernmental sit uneasily together

‘a unique blend of the intergovernmental and supranational’ (Hayes-Renshaw 2002 :67)

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

What is the Council of Ministers? A - The Council of Ministers represents the member states. The Council meets in different formations according to the agenda, for example: foreign affairs, finance, agriculture. It

makes its decisions, depending on the issue, either by unanimity or by Qualified Majority Voting (QMV). The

Council of Ministers enacts EU laws jointly with the European Parliament

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

Ministers

COREPER II (ambassadors)_COREPER I (deputy ambassadors)

Working groups: 180 as of early2001; these are civil servants travelling from

National capitals or based in Perm Rep in Brussels

HeadsOf Govt.Or State

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

Council of Ministers

• Head quarters,Council Secretariat, Brussels– civil servants are supported

by the Council secretariat

– 2,465 people, 316 A-grade officials

– drafts 6-month legislative program, provides legal advice, briefs government ministers

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

Who are the Council of Ministers

• ‘representatives of each member state at ministerial level authorized to commit the government of that member state’

• 20+ Councils

• strict hierarchy of councils based on political and economic importance, ECOFIN and General Affairs Council (Foreign Affairs) at the top

                                              

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

Who prepares COM meetings

• COREPER - a committee of the member states’ most senior civil servants

• Due to workload, COREPER I and COREPER II

• its existence, functions, little known outside Brussels

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

Role of the Council of Ministerswhat does the COM do?

• it makes decisions which eventually become law in the EU

• in an increasing number of cases this decision-making role of the COM is shared with the European Parliament.

• it negotiates - difficult items often become part of a package deal that accumulates during a number of Council meetings - ‘linkage diplomacy’

• ‘ it represents the interests of the member states’

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

COM - how are decision made

• Unanimity - all 15 Member States agree to the proposal

• Simple Majority: • Qualified Majority Voting: here votes are

weighted crudely according to each country’s size; – Coalition building between a different mix of

states occurs all the time

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

Vote Weighting in EU and potential EU members

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

current new population

Germany

Britain

France

Italy

Spain

Netherlands

Greece

Belgium

Portugal

Sw eden

Austria

Denmark

Finland

Ireland

Luxembourg

Poland

Romania

CzechRepublicHungary

Bulgaria

Slovakia

Lithuania

Latvia

Slovenia

Estonia

Cyprus

Malta

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

                                    

                             

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

Problems facing the Council

• lack of transparency, openness, excessive secretiveness– attempts to make Council meetings public not

embraced with any enthusiasm; some public ministerial debates, broadcast but with a small audience;

– access to documents has improved; no substantive accounts of bargaining and negotiating

– Amsterdam Treaty - Article 255 TEC, a transparency clause included

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

Ministers - attitudes to EU business?

• 2001 - ECOFIN, McCreevy response to criticism of his budget

– McCreevy, No to Nice, a healthy development..

• in words of a Commission official ‘Ministers [holding] their own press conferences, have a disgraceful habit of presenting the outcome as a victory of their national delegations against the Commission. That’s not the best attitude to adopt if your want to create a European spirit’ Le Monde Oct. 13, 1992, p.2

Charlie McCreevy Minister for Finance, Ireland

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

COM - New developments

• Treaty changes in the 90s– Amsterdam - appointment of the High

Representative (Javier Solana)– Nice Treaty - changes in weighting of votes to

accommodate potential new Central and East European states, QMV extended further

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

the High Representative

• Javier Solana - the first incumbent

• in the Amsterdam Treaty Article created this position

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

Final points

• efficiency and effectiveness

• competition for institutional performance

• negotiation is endemic

• diffuse power relationships

• national politics versus transnational governance– (source: Hayes-Renshaw & Wallace, 1995)

Ms Joan Morrison, M.Phil

Challenges for the future

• Continued tensions between intergovernmental and supranational elements

• Enlargement