4. General Description of the Council of Ministers
About the Council of Ministers briefly:
Constitution: 28 national ministers and representatives of the member states, the exact number of participants depending on the subject discussed;
Decision making process: simple majority (working questions), qualified majority (document ratification);
Order of speech: in alphabetical order, written to the Chairman or by raising the country placard (it is given to every participant during the simulation game).
Council of the EU or Council of Ministers is the main institutional body of the EU that represents national interests of its members on the European level. Throughout the history of the EU this institution was modified several times. Nowadays it is called both “Council of Europe” and “Council of Ministers”.
The framework of this institution puts the representatives of European countries in the rank of Ministries. In the current EU Council of Ministers gathers ministers of different branches, but often the general Council of Ministers sit is composed of Foreign Ministers of member states of the EU (during the simulation game at the Forum each participant will play a role of one country’s foreign minister)
Motivation of ministers
Ministers are the representatives of the states. Their duty is to ensure that all the terms of the decisions and documents elaborated correspond to the interests of their states.
During discussions the ministers are focused on:
the interests of their own state;
cost neutrality of the national budget;
compliance with the interests of security in a broad sense for their citizens;
success of national companies or TNK that have branches or production on the territory of their state;
success of international projects in which their countries take part.
The Foreign Affairs Council is a configuration of the Council of the European Union and it meets once in a month. Meetings bring together the Foreign Ministers of the Member States. Ministers responsible for European Affairs, Defence, Development or Trade also participate depending on the items of agenda.
It was created in 2009 by the Treaty of Lisbon by splitting it from the "General Affairs and External Relations Council" with the other part becoming the General Affairs Council. The General and Foreign Councils are the only two Councils mentioned in the EU treaties.
At its sessions, the Council deals with the whole of the EU's external actions, including Common Foreign and Security Policy, Common Security and Defence Policy, foreign trade and development cooperation. A priority in recent years for the Council, in cooperation with the European Commission, has been to ensure coherence in the EU's external action across the range of instruments at the EU's disposal.
The Foreign Affairs Council's meetings are chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The High Representative is assisted by the European External Action Service (EEAS) and by the General Secretariat of the Council (GSC).