European Council

The European Council brings together the heads of state or government of every EU country, the Commission President and the European Council President, who chairs the meetings. The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (UK’s Catherine Ashton) also takes part. European Council meetings are essentially summits where EU leaders meet to decide on broad political priorities and major initiatives. Typically, there are around 4 meetings a year.

Its role is twofold – setting the EU's general political direction and priorities, and dealing with complex or sensitive issues that cannot be resolved at a lower level of intergovernmental cooperation.

Though influential in setting the EU political agenda, it has no powers to pass laws.

Herman Van Rompuy is the President of the European Council. His term of office began on 1 December 2009 and runs until 31 May 2012

There are at least 3 institutions that have the words Europe and Council in their title. This can be very confusing, but try not to confuse the European Council that is under discussion here with the Council of the European Union, which is a different decision-making part of the EU (it is easier to call this institution the Council of Ministers instead). There is also something called the Council of Europe which is not an EU institution at all. The Council of Europe covers virtually the entire European continent, with its 47 member countries. It seeks to develop common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals.

No wonder people find this confusing!