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| WG FINDER ACCTR ACP-CE African, Caribbean & Pacific Countries and the EC ADD AG AGRI Agriculture AGRISTR ART 36 Police and legal cooperation in criminal affairs ASILE ASIM BUDG Budget CAB CABFINAL CADREFIN CAGRE General Affairs & External Relations Council CAP Agriculture & Fisheries Council CATS CE-OLP CHIMIE CIREA Asylum, Refugee and Migration WG CIREFI CIVCOM Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management WG CNS COARM COASI COD CODEC COEST COHOM Human Rights WG COMAG COMEM COMEP COMER COMIX COMP Competition COMPET CONCL CONOP CONSOM Consumer Affairs CONUN COPEN WG on cooperation enacted in criminal matters COPOL COR CORDROGUE COREPER COSDP COTER Working Party on Terrorism COWEB CRIMORG Organized Crime WG CSC CULT Culture DAC DC DEVGEN General Development DROIPEN Criminal Law DRS DUBLIN CONV ECO ECOFIN Economic & Financial Council ECRE European Council on Refugees and Exiles EDUC EJC EJN ELARG Enlargement ENER Energy ENFOCUSTOM ENFOPOL ENV ENVI Environment EPSCO EUJUST LEX WG on the codification of legal acts EURODAC EUROJUST EUROPOL EUSEC-RDC EVAL FAUXDOC FIN Finance FISC FORETS Forestry FRONT FST GHD Horizontal Group on Drugs ICC International Criminal Court WG IND Industry ISL JAI Justice & Home Affairs Council JEUN JURINFO JUS(T)CIV Civil Law WG JUSTPEN Penal Law WG LIMITE MA MED Mediterranean WG MI MIGR NIS OC OJ/CONS ONU United Nations WG OR PE PECHE Fisheries PECOS CEE-Countries PE-QE EP Questions PE-RE EP-Relations PESC PI POLGEN POLREG Regional Policy PROCIV PTOM PTS RECH Research RELEX External Relations REV SAN Health SCHENGEN SCH-EVAL SCIFA SIRENE SIRIS SIS SIS-TECH SOC Social Policy SPG STUP TAXUD Tax & Customs Union TELECOM TEXT TRANS TTE TU TWG Terrorism Working Group UD UEM UE-RHJ USA VISA WTO WTO-Relations |
| Presidencies 1985-2006 1985 Italy Luxembourg 1986 Netherlands United Kingdom 1987 Belgium Denmark 1988 Germany Greece 1989 France Spain 1990 Ireland Italy 1991 Luxembourg Netherlands 1992 Portugal United Kingdom 1993 Denmark Belgium 1994 Greece Germany 1995 France Spain 1996 Italy Ireland 1997 Netherlands Luxembourg 1998 United Kingdom Austria 1999 Germany Finland 2000 Portugal France 2001 Sweden Belgium 2002 Spain Denmark 2003 Greece Italy 2004 Ireland Netherlands 2005 Luxembourg United Kingdom 2006 Austria Finland |
| Council working practices and jargon The Council of Ministers comprises the representatives of each of the 25 member states at Ministerial level, chaired by the President in Office. The work of the Council is prepared by the two Corepers - the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper II), and the Committee of Deputy Permanent Representatives (Coreper I). Antici Group The Antici Group (named after its Italian founder) is made up of assistants to the Permanent Representatives and a Commission representative, a member of the Secretary-General's Private Office and a member of the Council Legal Service. The Group is responsible for deciding on the organization of Coreper II proceedings. The meeting, which usually takes place on the afternoon before Coreper, is chaired by the Presidency 'Antici'. Members of Antici also take notes of the discussions by Heads of Government at European Councils. Mertens Group The Mertens Group fulfills the same role as Antici for Coreper I (Deputies). It was established in 1993. A Points Also known as 'A Items', these are items of business and decisions which the Council of Ministers adopts without discussion because they have already been prepared by working groups, Coreper, and in some cases another Council. They may cover issues unrelated to the Council itself e.g. Health and Safety 'A' points can be passed by the Fisheries Council. This is because the Council is indivisible. B Points These are the agenda items which the Council will discuss. 'Starred B points' are ones where a vote may be taken. 'False B points' are agenda items which would otherwise be 'A points' except that one or more delegations wishes to make a statement in the meeting. |
| PREPARATION - SCIC |
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