[MUSIC] The European Council is the major European political institution and it can be seen as the assembly of the kings of Europe. By kings I mean heads of national states and governments.
But even though some European countries, seven in fact, are actually headed by kings and queens, it is usually the heads of governments and not the heads of states who attend the European Council. Thus, countries like France, having its president Hollande, by the way an HEC alumnus, attending the European Council represents a very small minority. By the way, are you aware of the national differences in the organization of our European democracies? This is generally what is defined as system of government. Let's take a quiz together. Among the following countries, which are European monarchies? Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, and Spain. Well, the right answer is the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium. The European Council, therefore, gathers the most powerful and important political leaders present in the different national scenes. While these tend to be very imposing on their views on the rest, generally the less influential countries, the reality is that alliances among countries is the most frequent dynamic within the European Council. When it is time to define new political objectives or reformulate existing European policies, like tackling the economic crisis or take a position on an impending international crisis, the French president, the British prime minister, the German chancellor, and all of the other heads of government, meet within the European Council in Brussels. However, before the leaders show up, generally in Brussels, their ambassadors and officials have spent weeks negotiating a whole host of issues. They look into details, whether to launch a new political initiative, Trying to come up to an agreed position on more pressing matters, like talking the Euro Zone crisis or more forward, our climate change agenda. The European Council elects a permanent president. You may want to think about him or her as a sort of king of the kings of Europe. Well, in reality, the actual president acts as a mere referee, being in charge of setting up the agenda of the European Council and ensuring its continuity. But you should also consider that a permanent president of the EU council is a new player in the European scene, having been created by the Lisbon Treaty only in 2009. This position has only been attributed to one person so far, and its apparently weak role, may turn into a greater power, depending on the personality of the next council president. In general, the European Council works by consensus. However, for very important decisions, such as sanctions against Syria, or the suspension of the voting rights of a European member state, unanimity is required. The presidents of the European Council and the commission and the high representatives for foreign affairs and security policy do not have a vote. They attend, but they do not vote. Generally, it is the big players who tend to run the show. They get what they want, and their decisions determine the evolution of the European game. To sum up, the European council role is two-fold: setting the European general political direction and priorities, and dealing with complex or sensitive issues that cannot be resolved at the lower level of inter-governmental cooperation. Although influential in setting the European political agenda, it has no power to pass laws. The European Council emerges therefore as the first and foremost political institution of the European union.