Competences of the European Council

We already know that the primary function of the council is to decide the general political guidelines of the European Union. But how can we address this function from a legal point of view? More exactly what are the legal powers of the European Council and how are they exerted? The answers to these questions can be found in the Treaty on European Union(2007). From the TEU we can summarize the following about the competences of the European Council:

• Institutional Power - The European Council provides the Union with ‘the necessary impetus for its development’ and defines its ‘general political directions and priorities’ (Article 15(1) TEU). It also decides by qualified majority on the formation of the Council and the calendar of rotating presidencies.
• Foreign and security policy matters - The European Council defines the principles of, and general guidelines for, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and decides on common strategies for its implementation (Article 26 TEU). It decides unanimously whether to recommend to the Member States to move towards a progressive framing of a common Union defence policy, under Article 42(2) TEU. If a Member State intends to oppose the adoption of a decision for important reasons of national policy, the Council may decide by qualified majority to refer the matter to the European Council for a unanimous decision (Article 31(2) TEU). The same procedure may apply if Member States decide to establish enhanced cooperation in this field (Article 20 TEU).
• Economic governance and multiannual financial framework - Since 2009, the sovereign debt crisis has made the European Council and the euro summits the prime actors in tackling the fallout from the global banking crisis. Several Member States have received financial aid packages through ad hoc or temporary agreements decided by the Heads of State or Government and later ratified in the Member States. The European Council is also involved in the negotiation of the multiannual financial framework (MFF), where it plays a pivotal role in reaching a political agreement on the key political issues in the MFF regulation, such as expenditure limits, spending programmes and financing (resources).
• Reinforced cooperations - At the request of a member of the Council, the European Council decides whether to accept reinforced cooperation of at least 9 members in any area outside the exclusive EU competences that cannot be reached by the whole of the EU countries, this is normally done so that group of countries can progress on that area at a different rhythm than the others (Article 20 TEU).

Another interesting point to state is that the European Council is an independent institution and it doesn't need the initiative of the Parliament or Commission in order to function. Below we can see an organization chart of the EU institutions:

Main source for this article: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_1.3.6.html