COREPER Role and Council Legislative Powers

COREPER: Role and Composition

COREPER: This is regulated in Art. 16.7 of the TEU. It is a committee of representatives of the governments of the member states, responsible for preparing advice for the Council. The Council benefits from a homogeneous COREPER. Operating under the Treaty, COREPER prepares the work of the Council and may carry out other tasks. Therefore it has two functions: a preparatory function and other tasks. The main role of COREPER is the preparatory function, which is indispensable. It arranges all the legal-technical advice and leaves only the political decision on the issues. Among these other functions, COREPER can perform decision-making functions as well, but only in procedural matters. COREPER consists of the heads of permanent missions of the 27 states to the Union; they are, in turn, COREPER members.

Council Powers and Classifications

Powers of the Council: They can be classified as:

• Funciones no legislativas (non-legislative functions)
• Funciones legislativas (legislative functions)
• Regulatory functions in the field of external legislation
• Advisory relations function

The Council is the organ with the highest legislative role in the Union, though it is not the only body involved in legislation. Its work is influenced by the work of the Commission, which is the body that normally opens the legislative process.

Legislative Procedures

There is an ordinary legislative procedure and many special procedures. The ordinary legislative procedure opens with a proposal from the Commission: the Commission makes a proposal for a regulation, directive or decision. For this procedure, the proposed act must be approved by the Council and the European Parliament.

Special Procedures and Historical Context

Until the 1990s only the Council was involved; since the 1990s that is no longer the case. There are also several special procedures that are difficult to systematize in the treaty because the treaty uses a case-based system. Most are characterized by a preponderance of the Council in decision making when adopting legislative acts. Most of the special procedures are proposed by the Council. Finally, there may be delegation by the Parliament and the Council to a committee.

Non-Legislative Regulatory Function

Definition and policy coordination. This function essentially fulfills the following five tasks:

1. The Council is the body that oversees the state's economy and the Union (la economía del Estado y la unión).
2. The Council oversees the budgets (presupuestos).
3. The Council coordinates the employment strategy (estrategia para el empleo).
4. The Council coordinates most of the policies that are not exclusive to the Union.
5. The Council may sometimes adopt non-legislative acts.