Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union forms (along with the European Parliament) the legislative arm of the European Union (EU). It contains ministers of the governments of each of the member-states of the EU.

Relative weight of votes from different countries according to the Treaty of Nice (Source: Spiegel Online):

Country	population (mio.)	votes	population / vote	rel. influence
Malta	0,4	3	133333	21.20
Luxembourg	0,4	4	100000	28.27
Cyprus	0,8	4	200000	14.13
Estonia	1,4	4	350000	8.07
Slowenia	2,0	4	500000	5.65
Latvia	2,4	4	600000	4.71
Ireland	3,7	7	528571	5.34
Lituania	3,7	7	528571	5.34
Finland	5,2	7	742857	3.80
Denemark	5,3	7	757143	3.73
Slowakia	5,4	7	771429	3.66
Austria	8,1	10	810000	3.49
Sweden	8,9	10	890000	3.17
Portugal	9,9	12	825000	3.42
Hungary	10,0	12	833333	3.39
Belgium	10,2	12	850000	3.32
Czech Republic	10,3	12	858333	3.29
Greece	10,6	12	883333	3.20
Netherlands	15,8	13	1215385	2.32
Poland	38,6	27	1429630	1.97
Spain	39,4	27	1459259	1.93
Italy	57,7	29	1989655	1.42
France	59,1	29	2037931	1.38
United Kingdom	59,4	29	2048276	1.38
Germany	82,0	29	2827586	1.00

It is to be distinguished from the Council of Europe, which is a completely separate international organization, and the European Council, which is a separate (though closely related) EU institution. The Council of the European Union is sometimes referred to in official European Union documents simply as the Council, and it is often informally referred to as the Council of Ministers.

The Council is assisted by COREPER, which consists of representatives of the member-state at the level of diplomats or high-level civil servants. COREPER generally prepares the Council agenda, and negotiates minor and non-controversial matters, leaving controversial issues for discussion by the Council.

While legally speaking the Council is a single entity, it is in practice divided into several different councils, each dealing with a different functional area. The General Affairs Council is the most important of these, containing Foreign Ministers. Each council contains a different type of minister: e.g. the Agriculture Council contains Agriculture Ministers, and so on.

The Council has a President and a Secretary-General. The President of the Council is the Foreign Minister of the state currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union; while the Secretary-General is a civil servant, the head of the Council Secretariat. The Secretary-General also serves as the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

The countries of the EU hold different numbers of votes in the Council. The number of votes depends on the size of their population, but growth of votes is weaker then growth of population. This concept is aimed at balancing the voice of big countries with the voice of small countries. (see table).