European Council

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European Council A governing body of the EU, it was established by the Paris summit in 1974. It is composed of the heads of government of the EU member states (and the French President in the case of France), and has met at least three times a year to discuss common issues. In the first decade, it had no legal basis for its existence, and throughout it has been criticized as undemocratic and intransparent. Its decisions are made behind closed doors, by members who are elected on account of their national, not their European policies. Nevertheless, because of its membership, the European Council has developed into one of the pivotal institutions of the EU, since its decisions could be directly implemented by the national governments of the member states. It was formally recognized by the Single European Act, and has been given further recognition by the Treaty of Maastricht.

http://ue.eu.int

European Council institution of the European Union (EU) responsible for defining the EU's general political direction and priorities. It is composed of an elected president (who serves a two-and-a-half-year term), the heads of government of the EU nations, and the president of the European Commission ; the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also takes part in its work, and the government heads and Commission president may be assisted by government ministers and a Commission member, respectively, in specialized discussions. It meets at least twice every six months.

Meetings of the European Council have from its beginnings often emphasized political as well as economic cooperation among EU nations; for example, the impetus for the move to have the members of the European Parliament elected directly by universal suffrage came out of an agreement reached at the first meeting of the European Council in 1974. The council was given legal definition by the Single European Act (1987) and became an official instituion of the EU with the ratification (2009) of the Lisbon Treaty.