Structure

Ministerial
meetings

Since 2007, the EPP has organised EPP Ministerial Meetings prior to the meetings of the Council of the EU.  These Ministerial Meetings are an offshoot of the EPP Summit and bring together EPP ministers attending the Council who are often joined by Commissioners and MEPs of the respective fields.

Functions

  • The aim of the Ministerial Meetings is to discuss and harmonise the positions of EPP ministers towards the full meeting of the Council;
  • Drafting declarations and resolutions that have been later approved by the EPP Congress and promoted as a whole in the Council.

Meetings

  • Foreign Affairs, chaired by David McAllister, EPP Vice-President, MEP (DE) and Simon Coveney, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IE).
  • Defence, chaired by Nikolaos Panagiotopolous, Minister of Defence (GR).
  • General Affairs, chaired by Karoline Edtstadler, Federal Minister of State for European Affairs (AT).
  • ECOFIN, chaired by Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission (LV), and Paschal Donohoe, Minister of Finance (EI).
  • Interior, chaired by Annelies Verlinden, Minister for Interior, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal (BE), and Esteban Gonzales Pons, MEP (ES)
  • Justice, chaired by Helen McEntee, Minister for Justice (EI).
  • Agriculture, chaired by Elisabeth Köstinger, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Regions and Tourism (AT).
  • Energy, chaired by Konstantinos Skrekas, Minister of the Environment and Energy (GR) and Cristian Silviu Bușoi, MEP, Chair of European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (RO).
  • Health, chaired by Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety (CY), and Peter Liese, MEP (DE).
  • Trade, chaired by Leo Varadkar, Deputy Prime Minister (IE).
  • EPSCO, chaired by Karien van Gennip, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment (NL).

Council
of the EU

The Council of the European Union is the organ in charge of adopting major European decisions and acts normally along with the European Parliament, making it like that, a true law-maker of the EU.

Composition

It Is composed of a representative from each member country of the branch or field under consideration; generally a Minister or a Secretary of State. Although the Council is a single body, it meets in different configurations according to the issues being discussed. There are currently ten configurations which are:
  • General Affairs;
  • Foreign Affairs;
  • Economic and Financial Affairs;
  • Justice and Home Affairs;
  • Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs;
  • Competitiveness;
  • Transport, Telecommunications and Energy;
  • Agriculture and Fisheries and Environment;
  • Education, Youth, Culture and Sport.
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Congress