The General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, also known as Council Secretariat, assists the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the ...

and the

President of the European Council The president of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council on the world stage. This institution comprises the college of heads of state or government of EU member states as well as ...

. The General Secretariat is headed by the

Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union The Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union heads the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. In April 2015, the Council appointed the Danish diplomat Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen as Secretary-General of the Council f ...

. The Secretariat is divided into seven directorates-general, each administered by a

director-general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...

. The Secretariat is based in Brussels, in the

Europa building The Europa building is the seat of the European Council and Council of the European Union, located on the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat in the European Quarter of Brussels, Belgium. Its defining feature is the multi-storey "lantern-shaped" constr ...

. The respective secretariats of the Schengen Agreement and of now-defunct Western European Union and

European Political Cooperation __NOTOC__ The European Political Co-operation (EPC) was introduced in 1970 and was the synonym for European Union foreign policy coordination until it was superseded by the Common Foreign and Security Policy in the Maastricht Treaty of Novembe ...

have along the years been integrated with the Council Secretariat. The current Secretary-General is Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, who was appointed on 1 July 2015. He succeeded

Uwe Corsepius Uwe Corsepius (born 9 August 1960) is a German diplomat, and former Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union. He was succeeded by Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen. Early life and education Uwe Corsepius was born in Berlin, Germany. In 19 ...

Tasks

*It "shall be closely and continually involved in organising, coordinating and ensuring the coherence of the Council's work and implementation of its annual programme". This involves 'traditional tasks', such as planning, convening and organizing the meetings (around 100 sessions of the Council, and more than 3500 meetings of working parties and other gatherings every year, e.g. extraordinary Council meetings or EU meetings with other states), arranging rooms and translation, making the minutes, acting as the Council's registrar and memory by keeping archives, and being a depositary for international agreements."An Introduction to the Council of the European Union", European Communities, 2008, p. 16. * It acts as a legal adviser and political counsellor to the EU Presidency. It advises the Presidency, especially in working out the compromises on which Council decisions and other acts will be based. Members of the Secretariat's Legal Service are on hand at all important meetings to advise on issues raised in the discussions and to clarify the legal aspects of certain procedures. The Legal Service also represents the Council before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the

General Court (European Union) The General Court, informally known as the European General Court (EGC), is a constituent court of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It hears actions taken against the institutions of the European Union by individuals and member sta ...

and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal. *The Council Secretariat also plays an important role in the EU's intergovernmental conferences (IGC), because it provides the IGC Secretariat. Apart from legal advice, it also tries to be an honest broker among member states. Close observer have argued that the Council Secretariat, together with the Presidency, is the most important actor in the IGC.

Organisation

The organisation of the General Secretariat is decided by a simple majority of votes by the Council.Art. 240(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union The Secretary-General is also appointed by the Council. It currently consists of 7 directorates-general, the Legal Service, 5 departments under the Secretary-General (e.g. internal audit, general political questions) and has around 3200 employees.

Directorates-general

* Directorate-General ORG - Organisational Development and Services * Directorate-General LIFE - Agriculture, Fisheries, Social Affairs and Health * Directorate-General RELEX - Foreign Affairs, Enlargement and Civil Protection * Directorate-General JAI - Justice and Home Affairs * Directorate-General TREE - Environment, Education, Transport and Energy * Directorate-General COMM - Communication and Document Management * Directorate-General ECOMP - Economic Affairs and Competitiveness The following services are headed by a Deputy Director-General: * GIP - General and Institutional Policy * LING - Translation Service * SMART - Digital Services

References

External links

*Council website: http://www.consilium.europa.eu –

Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europe * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Clif ...

PRADO - The Council of the European Union Public Register of Travel- and ID Documents Online

General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union
*Main CFSP bodies in the Council Secretariat

{{DEFAULTSORT:General Secretariat Of The Council Of The European Union Council of the European Union

Tasks

Organisation

Directorates-general

See also

References

Further reading

External links