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Council members are politically accountable to their national parliaments.
The European Council brings together the Heads of State or Government of the fifteen Member States of the European Union and the President of the European Commission. The European Council is not legally an institution of the European Union. Nevertheless it plays a vital role in all European Union fields of activity whether it be by giving impetus to the Union or defining general political guidelines, or by coordinating, arbitrating or disentangling difficult questions. The Council of Europe is an international organisation in its own right. Its headquarters are in Strasbourg.