Council

16.12

Title. Generally write the Council; use Council of the European Union only in formal contexts or to distinguish from other councils (see below) where required.

For rules of procedure, see OJ L 304, 10.12.1993 (amended OJ L 31, 10.2.1995).

For more information, see the Council's website.

16.13

General Secretariat. The Council has a General Secretariat (FR: Secrétariat général) headed by a Secretary-General, and working parties (groupes de travail) (cf. 16.2). Titles of WPs are in the Council Glossary.

16.14

Referring to Council meetings (FR: sessions):

the Council meeting of 22 May (one day)

the Council meeting of 22 and 23 May (two days)

the Council meeting of 22/23 May (overnight)

the Council meeting of 22 to 24 May (three days)

Meetings lasting more than one day have sittings (FR: séances) referred to by date: the Council sitting of 22 May.

16.15

Meetings are also identified by the policy area covered and are normally attended by the national ministers holding the corresponding portfolio, though other matters may also be discussed. Ways of translating le Conseil agricole, etc.:

the Council meeting on agriculture

the Council meeting (agriculture)

the Council meeting of Agriculture Ministers

In context, simply the Council or Council meeting is often sufficient. Add meeting (usually omitted in other languages) unless the Council is making a pronouncement (The Council on transport adopted ...).

16.16

The chair. The chair at Council meetings is taken by the minister whose country currently holds the Presidency (FR: présidence). His/her name appears above The President on any Community legislation adopted at the meeting. Avoid the President of the Council in reports on the meeting, however, and write either the minister presiding or his/her name adding (President). The Presidency changes every six months on 1 January and 1 July.

16.17

Make clear the distinction between the Council and the following institutions:

the European Council, the summit of Heads of State or Government normally held twice a year

the ACP-EEC Council of Ministers under the Lomé Convention;

the Council of Europe, a non-Community body based in Strasbourg

16.18

European Political Cooperation. European Political Cooperation (EPC, familiarly Poco) is the name given to meetings on foreign affairs originally outside the framework of the Treaties but institutionalised by Article 30 SEA.

16.19

Title. Refer to the European Parliament simply as Parliament (no definite article) unless confusion with national parliaments is possible. The abbreviation EP is used by Parliament itself but write out 'Parliament' if you can. Do not use Assembly (the official Treaty designation of the European Parliament prior to the Single European Act).

The first direct elections were in 1979; elections are every five years.

For rules of procedure, see Parliament publication of same name, 12th edition, November 1996.

For more information, see Parliament's website.

16.20

Sessions. Parliamentary sessions (FR: sessions) run from one year to the next, e.g. the 1990/91 session. These are divided into part-sessions, e.g. part-session from 18 to 22 January 1993 (FR: séances du 18 au 22 janvier).

16.21

Sitting. Each day's sitting (FR: séance) during a part-session is referred to by the day on which it commences, whether or not it goes on past midnight.

16.22

The Secretariat. This is occasionally referred to as the General Secretariat to avoid possible confusion with other secretariats, but is usually simply called the Secretariat. It is headed by the Secretary-General.

16.23

The Bureau (le Bureau). This consists of the President and Vice-Presidents of Parliament. The Cabinet du Président is the President's Office.

16.24

MEPs. Members are identified in English by the letters MEP (not EMP or Euro-MP!) after their name. For a full list of MEPs with their national party affiliations, see the Electronic Directory of the European Institutions.

16.25

English titles of committees are appended to the list of MEPs. Note that there is a Committee on Budgets as well as a Committee on Budgetary Control.

16.26

Written questions. Answers should be headed Answer given by (Commission Member's name) on behalf of the Commission, followed by the date of the answer. The MEP putting the question is referred to as the Honourable Member, other MEPs by name (do not capitalise names throughout as in French). For OJ style in footnotes see 15.6.

16.27

Rainbow editions. The verbatim reports in the languages actually used by speakers are called “rainbow” editions. Full translations are issued as annexes to the OJ and are called Reports of Proceedings. The correct form of reference follows the pattern:

Debates of the European Parliament, OJ Annex 1-303 (September 1983)

16.28

Glossaries. Parliament's terminology bureau is a prolific producer of glossaries, all of which are in Eurodicautom. These include one on election terms and one on Parliament's own rules of procedure.