Council of the European Communities

Council of the European Union
Bulgarian: Съвет на Европейския съюз Croatian: Vijeće Europske unije Czech: Rada Evropské unie Danish: Rådet for Den Europæiske Union Dutch: Raad van de Europese Unie Estonian: Euroopa Liidu Nõukogu Finnish: Euroopan unionin neuvosto French: Conseil de l'Union européenne German: Rat der Europäischen Union Greek: Συμβούλιο της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης Hungarian: Az Európai Unió Tanácsa Irish: Comhairle an Aontais Eorpaigh Italian: Consiglio dell’Unione europea Latvian: Eiropas Savienības Padome Lithuanian: Europos Sąjungos Taryba Maltese: Kunsill tal-Unjoni Ewropea Polish: Rada Unii Europejskiej Portuguese: Conselho da União Europeia Romanian: Consiliul Uniunii Europene Slovak: Rada Európskej únie Slovene: Svet Evropske unije Spanish: Consejo de la Unión Europea Swedish: Europeiska unionens råd
Leadership
Presidency	Estonia Since 1 July 2017
Secretary General	Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen Since 1 July 2015
Structure
Seats	28 (varying representatives of 28 states)
Political groups	No official division by political parties
Elections
Voting system	Qualified majority or unanimity
Meeting place
Europa building: Brussels, Belgium
Website
consilium.europa.eu

The Council of the European Union (often still referred to as the Council of Ministers, or sometimes just called the Council (Latin: Consilium)) is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) as listed in the Treaty on European Union. It is part of the essentially bicameral EU legislature (the other legislative body being the European Parliament) and represents the executive governments of the EU's member states. It is based in the Europa building in Brussels.

The Council meets in 10 different configurations of 28 national ministers (one per state). The precise membership of these configurations varies according to the topic under consideration; for example, when discussing agricultural policy the Council is formed by the 28 national ministers whose portfolio includes this policy area (with the related European Commissioners contributing but not voting).

The Presidency of the Council rotates every six months among the governments of EU member states, with the relevant ministers of the respective country holding the Presidency at any given time ensuring the smooth running of the meetings and setting the daily agenda. The continuity between presidencies is provided by an arrangement under which three successive presidencies, known as Presidency trios, share common political programmes. The Foreign Affairs Council (national foreign ministers) is however chaired by the Union's High Representative.