Council of the European Union

National ministers from each EU country meet in the Council to discuss, amend and adopt laws and coordinate policies. They are empowered to initiate action by their government on points agreed at meetings.

Together with the European Parliament, it is the main decision-making body of the EU. It is the institution responsible for adopting the EU budget along with the European Parliament.

There is an “Outermost Regions” working group which meets to discuss the European Commission’s proposals, that are based on article 349 TFEU. So far, the involvement of the three Member States has resulted in the following references in the Council’s conclusions concerning the outermost regions:

• Presidency conclusions of Cologne European Council – 1999
• Presidency conclusions of Santa Maria da Feira – 2000
• Presidency conclusions of Lisbon European Council – 2000
• Presidency conclusions of Nice European Council – 2000
• Presidency conclusions of Seville European Council – 2002
• Presidency conclusions of Brussels European Council – 2004
• Presidency conclusions of Lisbon European Council – 2007
• Presidency conclusions of Brussels European Council – 2009