Just the Facts | What is the Council of the European Union?

The European Union has four key decision-making bodies: the European Commission, the European Parliament, Council of the European Union, and the European Council. The Council of the European Union is the voice of member state governments at the EU level, and alongside the European Parliament, is responsible for negotiating and adopting new EU legislation. This Just the Facts explains what the Council of the European Union is, how it interacts with the other EU institutions, and the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which Ireland will hold from 1 July to 31 December 2026.

What is the Council of the European Union? 

The Council of the European Union (EU), informally known as ‘the Council’, is the voice of EU member state governments, where ministers meet to negotiate and adopt EU laws, agreements, budget, and policies proposed by the European Commission.   

The Council meets in ten different configurations, in which national governments send their minister(s) responsible for that policy area. For example, meetings of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council are attended by finance ministers and chaired by the minister from the country holding the presidency. The exception to this is the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), which is chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, currently Kaja Kallas.  

The frequency of meetings depends on each configuration. For example, the FAC meets at least once a month, whereas others, such as the Justice and Home Affairs Council, will meet every couple of months. There are around 70 to 80 Council meetings each year, and they are usually held in Brussels, except for those in April, June, and October, which are held in Luxembourg due to historical arrangements as one of the founding members of the EU.  

The Council of the EU differs from the European Council, which is composed of the heads of state or government of the 27 EU Member States.   The European Council defines the overall political direction of the European Union and plays an important role in ensuring cooperation among EU member states and third countries but does not negotiate or adopt EU legislation.   

How does the Council of the EU work? 

There are three levels to the Council’s work: working parties/committees, permanent representatives, and ministers.  

The preparation for Council meetings begins with working parties. There are over 150 specialised working parties and committees across the Council’s policy areas, composed of experts from national governments who examine proposals in detail, discussing them line by line.  

The outcomes of the working parties are given to the Permanent Representatives Committee, known as Coreper, which is composed of ambassadors, known as Permanent Representatives, who represent each member state.   Each EU member state has a mission in Brussels, known as a Permanent Representation, commonly referred to as a ‘Perm Rep.’ The Permanent Representation of Ireland to the EU is the state’s largest diplomatic mission, with civil servants from almost all Government Departments working to promote and represent Ireland in the EU.    

The role of Coreper is to coordinate and prepare the work for meetings of the Council, where the permanent representatives meet to try and reach agreement on proposals to be adopted by the Council, under the direction of their national governments. It meets weekly in two formations: Coreper I and Coreper II.   

Coreper I is composed of deputy permanent representatives and prepares the work for six configurations: competitiveness; education, youth, culture, and sport; employment, social policy, health, and consumer affairs; environment; transport, telecommunications, and energy; agriculture and fisheries.  

Coreper II is composed of permanent representatives and prepares the work for the remaining four configurations: economic and financial affairs, foreign affairs, general affairs, justice, and home affairs. 

If agreement is reached at the working party level, the proposal will appear on Part I of the Coreper agenda; otherwise, it will be listed in Part II for further discussion amongst the permanent/ deputy permanent representatives.  

If Coreper has successfully finalised discussions, it will be listed as an ‘A’ item on the Council agenda, which means that ministers can adopt it without the need for further debate. If agreement cannot be reached at Coreper, the proposal will be passed up the Council for discussion as a ‘B’ item, alongside politically sensitive items and items left over from previous Council meetings. 

How does the Council of the EU vote? 

For the Council to vote on legislation, a majority of members must be present. Voting on a piece of legislation can take place eight weeks after a draft has been sent to each national parliament to decide whether it complies with the principle of subsidiary i.e. whether action is best achieved at the member state or EU level, which safeguards member states’ decision-making in areas that the EU does not have exclusive competence.  

Most EU legislation is adopted by the Council by qualified majority voting, as part of the ordinary legislative procedure. This means that 55% of member states representing at least 65% of the EU’s population vote in favour. In some circumstances, the Council also votes by simple majority, in which 14 out of the 27 member states vote in favour, or by unanimous vote, in which all member states vote in favour. The FAC, for instance, would generally have to vote by unanimity given the sensitive nature of foreign affairs and security issues. 

How does the Council of the EU interact with the other EU institutions?  

The European Commission sets the EU’s overall legislative agenda and is the only EU institution that can propose new legislation.  

The majority of new legislation is adopted through the ordinary legislative procedure, in which the co-legislators – the Council and the Parliament – jointly adopt legislation following a proposal from the European Commission, with up to three readings to reach agreement.   

This process can be lengthy, so tripartite dialogues, known as trilogues, are often used to build consensus among the three institutions to speed up the legislative process and reach an agreement sooner.  Trilogues are an informal process and may be organised at any stage of the legislative procedure; however, all final decisions must be taken by formal procedures. However, there have been calls from civil society and the European Ombudsman for greater transparency about the use of trilogues, given their informal nature and lack of publicly accessible information about their discussions.  

Presidency of the Council of the European Union 

Unlike the European Commission and the European Parliament, the Council does not have an elected president. Instead, the presidency rotates among the member states, with each taking on a six-month term chairing the Council and preparatory bodies and steering negotiations on key EU policy files. The Presidency of the Council is responsible for managing the Council’s relationship and engagement with the European Commission and the European Parliament.  

Presidencies are organised into ‘trios,’ in which member states are grouped into threes and work to ensure consistency across their presidencies. Cyprus will hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU for the first half of 2026, from 1 January, marking its second EU Presidency. Cyprus is part of a trio of presidencies with Poland and Denmark, which held their presidencies in 2025.  

While the European Commission is the only EU institution that can propose new legislation, member states will set a theme for their presidency and establish a set of priorities which will guide their work programme for the six months which they believe to be of value and relevant to the Union as a whole. Additionally, the member state holding the presidency is expected to function as a neutral and honest broker while chairing meetings. There is also a strong cultural dimension to presidencies, with many events and exhibitions taking place in parallel to the legislative aspect of the presidency.  

Ireland will assume the Presidency of the Council of the EU for the eighth time on 1 July 2026, taking over from Cyprus, and beginning a new trio with Lithuania and Greece. During the presidency, Ireland will host more than 230 presidency events, chair dozens of Council meetings and hold more than 170 preparatory meetings. During this period, Ireland will also be responsible for hosting the European Political Community, which will be the largest international meeting Ireland has ever hosted at that level. The European Political Community fosters political cooperation, dialogue and security across the continent. It usually meets twice a year, with host countries alternating between a non-EU country and an EU member state (hosting the Council presidency).