The Council of the European Union

Pre-reading task. Read the words. Mind the stress. A):

΄summit do΄main,repre΄sentative

΄overall e΄ffect,agri΄cultural

΄compromise am΄bassador ΄teleco,mmuni΄cations

΄presidency ro΄tate res,ponsi΄bility

΄guideline c o΄mmittee inter,govern΄mental

΄populous con΄sumer,agri΄cultural

΄deputy co΄ordinate,Amster΄dam

B) Complete the word building table.

NounorVerb Adjective	Verb Noun
environment	to attend
to depend	to rotate
economic	employment
competitiveness	to resolve
energy	to conclude
agriculture	to approve
Europe	to develop
policy	to coordinate
permanent	to introduce
population	to promote
mistaken	to assist
to relate	to relate

C)

VerborNoun Person	Negative suffixes
ambassador	to settle
to preside	responsibility
ministry	to approve
council	agreement

1. Check to see if you know the meanings of these key words for discussion:

agenda [ə΄dЗendə] (pl.) agendum (sing.) legislative agenda on the agenda hidden agenda	програма роботи, план заходів; порядок денний;   порядок денний законодавчого органу; на порядку денному; скриті наміри; таємний план;
to attend[ə΄tend] to attend а lecture (school, a meeting, etc.)	відвідувати, бути присутнім; відвідувати (школу, зустріч);
configuration [kən,figə΄rei∫ən]	конфігурація, форма, структура;
external [i/əks΄tə:n(ə)l] the external debt of the state	зовнішній, закордонний; зовнішній борг держави;
consumer [kən΄sju:mə] consumer commodities	споживач; клієнт; споживчі товари;
fishery	рибальство;
youth [΄ju: θ]	молодь; юність;
guideline [΄gaidlain] guidelines for setting out priorities	керівництво, вказівка; керівництво для встановлення першочерговості;
summit [΄sΛmit] = summit conference, summit meeting at a summit to hold a summit	зустріч на вищому рівні (зустріч глав уряду);   підчас переговорів на вищому рівні; проводити переговори на вищому рівні;
overall[΄əuv(ə)ro:l] overall cost overall assessment	повний, загальний; всеосяжний, всеохоплюючий; повна вартість; загальна оцінка;
domain [dəu΄mein] domain of law public domain   domain of study	територія, область, район, зона; сфера дії права, сфера правозастосування; державна власність, громадська власність; загальне надбання; галузь вивчення;
in effect[i΄fekt]	в дійсності, насправді;
ambassador [æm΄bæsədə] Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary roving ambassador	посол; надзвичайний та повноважний посол;   посол з особливих доручень;
to handle [΄hændl]   to handle legal matter Handle with care!	розглядати, обговорювати; справлятися; справлятися, управляти, контролювати; розглядати судову справу; Обережно! (надпис на упаковці)
to rotate [rou΄teit] to rotate crops	змінюватися по черзі, чергувати культури;
smooth[΄smu:∂] the smooth course of his life	рівний, гладкий; мирна течія життя;
deputy [΄depjuti] special deputy deputy sheriff	заступник, помічник; депутат, представник; представник з обмеженими повноваженнями; помічник шерифа;
charge [΄t∫a:dЗ] to take charge of to take charge of a company to be in charge of a sales department	керівництво, відповідальність; взяти на себе піклування; здійснювати контроль; очолити компанію; керувати відділом продаж;
to chair to chairs a meeting	очолювати, головувати; головувати на зборах;
to broker	бути посередником.

2. Read and translate the text

The Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union (informally known as the Council of Ministers or just the Council) is the EU’s main decision-making body. Like the European Parliament, the Council was set up by the founding treaties in the 1950s. It represents the member states, and its meetings are attended by one minister from each of the EU’s national governments. Which ministers attend which meeting depends on what subject is on the agenda. If, for example, the Council is to discuss environmental issues, the meeting will be attended by the Environmental Minister from each EU country and it will be known as the ‘Environmental Council.’

The EU’s relations with the rest of world are dealt with by the ‘General Affairs and External Relations Council.’ But this Council configuration also has wider responsibility for general policy issues, so its meetings are attended by whichever Minister or State Secretary each government chooses. Altogether there are nine different Council configurations:

• General Affairs and External Relations
• Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN)
• Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
• Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs
• Competitiveness
• Transport, Telecommunications and Energy
• Agriculture and Fisheries
• Environment
• Education, Youth and Culture

Up to four times a year the presidents and/or prime ministers of the member states, together with the President of the European Commission meet as the ‘European Council.’ These ‘summit’ meetings set overall EU policy and resolve issues that could not be settled at a lower level (i.e. by the ministers at normal Council meetings).

The Council has six key responsibilities:

1. To pass European laws – jointly with the European Parliament in many policy areas.

2. To coordinate the broad economic policies of the member states.

3. To conclude international agreements between the EU and other countries or international organizations.

4. To approve the EU’s budget, jointly with the European Parliament.

5. To develop the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) based on guidelines set by the European Council.

6. To coordinate cooperation between the national courts and police forces in criminal matters.

Most of these responsibilities relate to the ‘Community’ domain – i.e. areas of action where the member states have decided to pool their sovereignty and delegate decision-making powers to the EU institutions. This domain is the ‘first pillar’ of the European Union. However, the last two responsibilities relate largely to areas in which member states have not delegated their powers but are simply working together. This is called ‘intergovernmental cooperation’ and it covers the second and the third ‘pillars’ of the European Union which originally consisted of Justice and Home Affairs, however owing to changes introduced by the Amsterdam and Nice [ni:s] treaties, it currently only consists of Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters.

In Brussels, each EU member state has a permanent team (‘representation) that represents it and defends its national interests at EU level. The head of each representation is, in effect, his or her country’s ambassador to the EU. These ambassadors (known as ‘permanent representatives’) meet weekly within the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER). The role of this committee is to prepare the work of the Council, with the exception of most agricultural issues, which are handled by the Special Committee on Agriculture.

The Presidency of the Council rotates every six month. In other words, each EU country in turn takes charge of the Council agenda and chairs all the meetings for a six-month period, promoting legislative and political decisions and brokering compromises between the member states.

The Presidency is assisted by the General Secretariat, which prepares and ensures the smooth functioning of the Council’s work at all levels. The Secretary-General is assisted by a Deputy Secretary-General in charge of managing the General Secretariat.

Decisions in the Council are taken by vote. The bigger the country’s population, the more votes it has, but the numbers are weighted in favour of the less populous countries.

The European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe, an international organisation independent from the EU.

The three pillars

1. The first or 'Community' pillar concerns economic, social and environmental policies.

2. The second or 'Common Foreign and Security Policy' (CFSP) pillar concerns foreign policy and military matters.

3. The third or 'Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters' (PJCC) pillar concerns co-operation in the fight against crime. This pillar was originally named 'Justice and Home Affairs'.

 

 

3. Give the Ukrainian equivalents to the following words and phrases.

The main decision-making body; to be attended by one minister from each of the EU’s national governments; general policy issues; General Affairs and External Relations Council; to set overall EU policy; to be settled at a lower level; to pass laws jointly; to coordinate the broad economic policies; based on guidelines set by the European Council; to relate to the ‘Community’ domain; agricultural issues; to take charge of the Council agenda in turn; to promote legislative and political decisions; to ensure the smooth functioning

4. Find the English equivalents to the following words and phrases.

Питання на порядку денному; установчі договори; конкурентноздатність; обговорювати питання навколишнього середовища; вирішувати питання; тобто; ключові повноваження; заключати міжнародні угоди; «перший стовп» Європейського Союзу; міжурядове співробітництво; захищати свої національні інтереси на рівні ЄС; очолювати всі зустрічі протягом шестимісячного періоду; бути посередником у досягненні компромісів між державами членами.

5. Match the definition in the right column to the word in the left.

1.summit	a. a minister representing the Government of his country in a foreign country;
2. agenda	b. advice from smb in authority on policy;
3. domain	c. to preside over;
4. populous	d. list of things to be done, business to be discussed, e.g. by a committee;
5. ambassador	e. question that arises for discussion;
6. to chair	f. discussion between heads of States;
7. guideline	g. prices that compare favourably with those of other firms;
8. issue	h. thickly populated;
9. competitiveness	ii. i. (fig.)field of or province of thought, knowledge, activity

6. Fill in the gaps with the suitable word. A:

Competitiveness; Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters; charge; handles; Justice and Home Affairs; rotates; broker; agenda (2); chairs; pillar

1. That's our 'hidden' …….., plain and simple. 2. A lawyer …….. all my affairs. 3. The office of chairman ………. 4. Inspector Thornton was in …… of the murder case. 5. The president …… meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an orderly fashion. 6. A …… is a party that mediates between a buyer and a seller. 7. ………. is a comparative concept of the ability and performance of a firm, sub-sector or country to sell and supply goods and/or services in a given market. 8. Supranationalism is strongest in the first ……... 9. An ……. is a list of meeting activities in the order in which they are to be taken up, beginning with the call to order and ending with adjournment (перерва). 10. …………., formerly …………., is the third of the three pillars of the European Union, focusing on co-operation in law enforcement and combating racism.

B: Fill in the appropriate proposition or adverb where necessary.

1. They met … the summit … Geneva. 2. I don't know if I can handle … the job. 3. This ward of the hospital is …. the charge … Dr. Green. 4. The company has a responsibility … financial performance … its shareholders. 5. The presidents or prime ministers … the member states attend the summit meetings … … four times … a year. 6. The ministers resolve issues that can not be settled … a lower level, for example, … normal Council meetings. 7. Most … the Council’s responsibilities relate … the ‘Community’ pillar. 8. The head … each representation is the country’s ambassador … the EU. 9. … parliamentary procedure, an agenda is not binding …. an assembly unless its own rules make it so, or unless it has been adopted … the agenda … the meeting … majority vote … the start … the meeting. 10. Presidency … the Council … the European Union (commonly referred … … presidency … the European Union) is the responsibility … the functioning of the Council … the European Union which is rotated ……. European Union member states every six months.

7. Decide if the following statements are true or false. Correct those, which are false. Use the text and your own knowledge.

1. The Council of the European Union is a body holding legislative and executive powers and is thus the main decision making body of the Union. 2. The Council meets in various forms depending upon the topic but essentially it is one national minister per state. 3. The EU is often described as being divided into two areas of responsibility, called pillars. 4. In these various forms the Council shares the legislative and budgetary power of the Parliament, and also led cooperation in the second and third pillars: the Common Foreign and Security Policy along with Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters. 5. The primary purpose of the Council is to act as one of the two chambers of the Union's legislative branch, the other chamber being the European Commission. 6. The Council is headed by a rotating presidency, with every member state taking the helm of the EU for a period of 2 years during which that country's president chairs meetings of the European Council and the Council of Ministers. 7. The Council usually meets once a year at European Summits. 8. The member state holding the presidency typically uses it to drive a particular policy agenda such as economic reform, reform of the EU itself, enlargement or furthering European integration. 7. The European Council is another name of the Council of Europe.

8. Answer the questions.

1. What is the main role of the Council of the European Union? 2. What officials attend the meetings of the Council of the European Union? 3. What are the Council configurations? 4. Who attends the European Council? 5. What are the key responsibilities of the Council of the European Union? 6. What is the ‘first pillar’ of the Council of the European Union? 7. What are the second and third pillars of the Council of the European Union? 8. Who represents and defends their national interests at EU level? 9. What is the term of office of the Presidency of the Council? 10. What is the function of the General Secretariat? 11. Who is in charge of managing the General Secretariat? 12. What is the procedure of vote at the Council of the European Union?

9. Translate into English.

Рада Європейського Союзу — інституція Європейського Союзу, (Рада або Рада міністрів) головний орган ухвалювання рішень в Європейському Союзі. До її складу входять по одному міністрові від кожної країни Союзу. Залежно від порядку денного, збираються міністри закордонних справ (Рада з загальних справ та зовнішніх відносин), економіки й фінансів, сільського господарства тощо — загалом 9 конфігурацій Ради. Кількість засідань протягом року залежить від масштабів та інтенсивності законодавчого процесу в ЄС. Деякі конфігурації Ради збираються раз на місяць; інші — раз на півроку. Попри те, що склад Ради міністрів змінюється, це єдина інституція.

Керівництво в Раді здійснює країна-президент, яка змінюється що півроку (президентство Європейського Союзу). Над підготуванням рішень Ради працюють близько 250 робочих груп і комітетів; вони виконують технічну роботу і передають документи в Комітет постійних представників, який здійснює політичну підготовку рішень. Організаційну роботу виконує генеральний секретаріат на чолі з генеральним секретарем Ради.

Рішення в Раді ухвалюються голосуванням міністрів з держав-членів. Залежно від питання, що розглядається, застосовується один з трьох видів голосування: проста більшість (для процедурних питань); кваліфікована більшість (коли кожна країна має визначену «вагу» голосу) — застосовується за розгляду питань внутрішнього ринку, економічних справ і торгівлі; одностайне рішення — застосовується, зокрема, за розгляду питань про вступ нових членів, оподаткування, правосуддя та внутрішніх справ.

10. Additional Text. Translate into English in writing.