The Council is in charge of the general coordination of European Union activities. As such, it is on an equal footing with the European Parliament (codecision procedure) in terms of legislative function. 

The Council of the European Union should not be confused with: 

The European Council which brings together the heads of state and government of the European Union member states and the President of the Commission.

The Council of Europe which is an organisation external to the European Union and ensures application of the European Convention on Human Rights (oriented towards education, culture and especially defending human rights).When the Commission makes a proposal and it passes through a first reading of the European Parliament, the text can be adopted by the Council if it accepts the potential amendments made by Parliament. If not, the text goes to second reading by Parliament before being passed to Council again.  Notwithstanding the exceptions allowed for by the treaties, a text cannot therefore be adopted if there is disagreement between the Council and the European Parliament. In cases where there is persistent disagreement, the act is examined by a conciliation committee. 

The Council is also one of the two branches with budgetary authority. It decides on and modifies the European budget with the Parliament. The Parliament has a deciding role in the adoption procedure of the annual budget (it can reject it if the majority of its members vote for rejection or it can adopt it despite rejection by Council - if a majority of its members and 3/5 of the vote agree – within 14 days of the decision being made by Council. 

The Council also ensures the implementation function of Union law (comitology), to enable application of European legal acts in the member states.  The Council also has approval powers (organisation of Parliament, appointing the ombudsman etc.), nominating powers (special representative etc.) and the power to adopt recommendations for member states (in cases of serious breach etc.). Lastly, it submits reports to the European Council (on economic policies, employment policies etc.).
 

Rotation of the presidency

The Council Presidency organises and chairs meetings, develops compromises, gives conclusions and monitors the coherence and continuity of the decision-making process. 

Since entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the Presidency of the Council of the EU is different to the Presidency of the European Council. With the exception of the Foreign Affairs Council (which is chaired by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy), the Presidency of the Council of the EU is led by a group of three member states with each taking a turn of six months in accordance with a pre-established rota.
 

Composition

The purpose of the General Affairs Council (now distinct from the Foreign Affairs Council) is to ensure coherence and continuity of the work of the other Council configurations.

Depending on the subject being dealt with, ministerial representatives of the member states come together in specialised configurations. With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the Council now has 10 configurations: "Agriculture and fisheries", "Competitiveness", "Cooperation in the fields of Justice and Home Affairs", "Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs", "Transport, Telecommunications and Energy", "General Affairs", "Foreign Affairs", "Economic and Financial Affairs and Education", "Youth and Culture", and "Environment".

The representatives are authorised to enlist their government, including on subjects that are not relevant to their competency. In practice, this means that a Minister for Foreign Affairs can vote on a text related to agriculture without having taken part in the negotiations on the text.
 
The Commission can participate in Council meetings in order to explain its proposals or to express its position on a potential amendment. 

Organisation

The Council holds about one hundred official sessions every year during which it adopts regulations, directives, recommendations and opinions.

Each member state is present in Brussels through its Permanent Representation, led by an ambassador. The representatives meet every week as the "Permanent Representative Committee" (COREPER) to prepare the work for the Council.

Specialised working groups, made up of national experts, present their reports to COREPER and suggest compromises. They study the different proposals and the planned texts, taking into account points of agreement and disagreement.

The General Secretariat of the Council ensures the preparation and functioning of this work. It also keeps the Council’s acts and archives. Its legal service assists the Council and its working groups. 

Voting arrangements

Unless an exception is stated in the treaties, the Council rules by qualified majority.
 
Between December 1st 2009 and November 1st 2014, the qualified majority is achieved when a text (proposed by the Commission) receives 255 votes out of 345 representing at least 50% of the member states (2/3 of the member states if the text was not proposed by the Commission). Furthermore, if a member of the Council or the European Council requests it, the vote must also represent at least 62% of the EU population.  The rules in place between 2009 and 2014 are identical to the provisions for qualified majority under the Nice Treaty. During negotiations on the Lisbon Treaty, Poland obtained a transition period (for the period 2009-2014) for putting in place the new voting system.
 
According to this system of distribution of votes, the number of votes given to each member state depends in part on its population. So, while Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom each have 29 votes, Malta has 3 votes.
 

From 2014 (taking into account the transitional provisions until March 31st 2017), the qualified majority rules will change to implement a new system of double majority. According to the new rules in the Lisbon Treaty applied from 2014, a text must receive 55% of the votes of member states (i.e. 15 of the 27) representing at least 65% of the population of the Union in order to be adopted. A minority block must include at least four member states.
 
The Lisbon Treaty extends the field where qualified majority is to be applied (immigration and asylum, energy, space etc.). Foreign affairs, defence, taxation and even social security remain subject to unanimous vote.

Headquarters and place of work

The Council meets in Brussels or Luxembourg on the instruction of its president. Initiative can come from the president, a member of the Council, the Commission or the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
 
The frequency of sessions varies according to the function of the particular configuration. All debates held in Council on legislative matters are now public.

Useful websites

Lisbon Treaty - Europa
Rules of procedure of the Council of the European Union - Europa
Website of the Council of the European Union

 18/12/09