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The Council of the European Union is the principal decision-making institution of the European Union (EU). It is often informally called the Council of Ministers or just the Council, the name used in the treaties; it is also called Consilium as a Latin-language compromise. Within the competencies of the Community pillar, it is the more powerful of the two legislative chambers, the other being the European Parliament. This Council should not be confused with the European Council (an assembly of EU heads of state or government) nor confused with the Council of Europe (a non-EU organisation of 47 states). The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers (one per state). However the exact membership depends upon the topic being discussed, for example; when discussing the agricultural policy the twenty-seven national agriculture ministers form the Council. The Union's law is limited to specific policy areas, however it does override national law. As the Union operates on supranational and intergovernmental platforms, in some areas the Council is superior to the Parliament, having only to consult to get assent from the body. In many areas, however, the Union uses the legislative process of codecision procedure, in which the two bodies are equal in power. The Council does not have a single president in the traditional sense, but the role is rotated between each member state every 6 months (known as the "Presidency"), with the minister from that state then able to set the agenda. Another powerful position is the Secretary General who is also the representative of the Union's foreign policy. In this video you have general views of the Council at work, specially during an European Summit. The European Council (referred to as a European Summit) is the highest political body of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the Union's member states along with the President of the European Commission. Its meeting is chaired by the member from the member state currently holding Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

• Reference: 97190
• Shoot date: 11-06-2009
• Standard: PAL
• Country: Belgium
• Town: Brussels
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• Type: Feature story
• Aspect ratio: 16:9
• Duration: 00:17:05
• Video shoot start time: 00:00:00
• Video shoot end time: 00:00:00

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• Contact video provider:

  Audiovisual service presse.audiovisuel@consilium.europa.eu

• Copyright restrictions: This media is free for use in editorial broadcast, webcast, print, online & radio reports.