The Council is the principal decision and law making body of the European Union. The most important councils meet monthly.
National ministers attend their relevant councils and vote upon proposed legislation.
The Maastricht Treaty establishes both a European System of Central Banks and a European Central Bank to be set up as soon as the decision is taken to proceed to stage III of Economic and Monetary Union. The ECB, which is part of the ESCB, will be managed by a Governing Council composed of central bank governors and a president, who will be appointed by the participating member states after consultation with the European Parliament and the Governing Council. The ECB will have the exclusive right to authorise the issue of ECU banknotes and coins. The second most important division of the Council of Ministers after the Foreign Affairs Council. It meets on average once a month to discuss the macroeconomic situation in the member states, co-ordinate the Union's position in international financial institutions and adopt legislation in respect of tax harmonisation, financial liberalisation and the financing of the Union.