Openness and transparency at the European Council and the Council of the European Union 2020.
Date: 2020-04-23
Institutions: General Secretariat of the Council
Subjects: Council of the European Union, EU law, European Council, access to EU information, dissemination of EU information, transparency in decision-making

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY
at the European Council and the Council of the European Union

2020

Council of the
European Union

CONTENTS

Who we are

The European Council, 3

The Council of the European Union, 4

The Council Presidency, 5

The General Secretariat of the Council, 6
—
The Europa building, 7

Open communication

Online resources, 8

Live engagement, 9

Transparent 
decision-making

A Europe closer to its citizens, 10

Online access: documents, 11

Online access: meetings, 12

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY AT THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

As European Union (EU) policies 
ultimately shape many aspects 
of the lives of around 445 million 
citizens, it is crucial that EU 
decisions be taken as openly and 
as closely as possible to them.

Since many of these decisions  
are legally binding for EU 
Member States and citizens, 
people need to be able to access 
clear information on how and why 
European legislation is adopted.

3

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY  //  WHO WE ARE

The European 
Council 

The European Council  
is the EU institution that  
sets the general direction  
and priorities of the Union.  
It represents the highest 
level of political cooperation 
between the Member States. 

Your Prime Minister, 
President or Chancellor meets 
in Brussels with the other 
national leaders, along with 
the President of the European 
Council and the President  
of the Commission, at least 
once every two to three 
months.

The President of the 
European Council, Charles 
Michel, chairs the meetings  
of the European Council  
and drives forward its work.

Flags of the EU Member States in the Europa building.

4

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY  //  WHO WE ARE

The Council 
of the 
European 
Union 

The Council of the European 
Union – also known  
as the Council – is a key EU 
decision-maker. 

It consists of the representatives  
of the governments of the EU 
Member States. 

Your national ministers 
and experts from national 
ministries come together  
in Brussels to adopt EU laws 
and the EU budget, together 
with the European Parliament.

Economic and Financial Affairs Council.

5

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY  //  WHO WE ARE

The Council 
Presidency 

The Council Presidency rotates 
among the EU Member States, 
changing every six months. 

It organises and chairs 
meetings of the Council  
and draws up compromises  
to facilitate decision-making.

Croatia currently holds  
the Council Presidency until 
the end of June 2020. It will  
be followed by Germany  
and in 2021 by Portugal  
and then Slovenia.

Dec

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2020

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a – 1st semester                                                                                   

Jun

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2019

  Romania  

  Finland 

2020

  Croatia  

  Germany 

2021

  Portugal  

  Slovenia  

2022

  France 

  Czech Republic

2023

  Sweden 

  Spain

 
 
 
 
 
6

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY  //  WHO WE ARE

The General 
Secretariat 
of the Council 

The General Secretariat 
of the Council supports  
the work of both the European 
Council and the Council, 
mainly by providing policy 
and legal advice, translation 
into 24 languages and 
logistical support for the 
organisation of meetings.

It is based in Brussels with 
around 3 000 staff members 
recruited from all over the EU.

Buildings of the European Council and the Council of the European Union.

7

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY  //  WHO WE ARE

Europa building

The Europa building is the main 
seat of the European Council 
and the Council of the EU.  
Located in the EU district  
of Brussels, it is a cube-shaped 
structure with a lantern-shaped 
space at its heart. 

The facade, a patchwork  
of restored window frames,  
is a reminder of the EU motto 
‘United in diversity’: every 
window frame is different,  
but they are all made  
of the same wood (oak).

For further information please 
visit the Council website.

Room S3
Room S3, located on the 
third floor of the Europa 
building, is the iconic 
room where EU leaders 
meet during European 
Councils. 

 
8

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY  //  OPEN COMMUNICATION

OPEN COMMUNICATION

Online resources 

Through the Council website, we communicate 
proactively on the way in which decisions are made 
throughout their various stages in the European 
Council and the Council of the EU. 

Most of the pages on the Council website are 
available in all the EU languages.

You can also sign up for our email alert service. 
This enables you to create your own personalised 
subscription so that the content of your choice 
is delivered directly to your mailbox.

The Council’s decision-making process explained.

 → Press releases and meeting 
information from the Council 
of the EU, the European 
Council and the Eurogroup 

 → Information on the presidents 
of the European Council  
and of the Eurogroup  
and their activities, statements  
and speeches 

 → Streaming of public 

discussions on EU legislation, 
press statements by ministers 
and heads of state, and press 
conferences 

 → A wide range of Council 

publications on EU policies, 
information and guides  
on EU procedures, as well 
as clarification of different 
aspects of EU legislation 

 → The results of Council voting 

on EU legislation and  
a voting calculator that  
you can use to simulate  
the outcome of a vote (also 
available as an application  
for your mobile devices) 

 → The latest developments in 

and background information 
on major EU initiatives 
under discussion in the 
Council 

 → Access to the Council library 
resources and the Council 
archives for documents 
dating back more than  
30 years

 → Ask questions you may 

have about the work of the 
Council and the European 
Council in any of the 24 official 
EU languages. Our dedicated 
service will reply to you,  
in your (EU) native language, 
within 15 working days.

 
 
 
 
 
9

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY  //  OPEN COMMUNICATION

Live engagement 

 → We also aim to engage  
with persons or groups 
impacted by or interested  
in our activities.  

 → These include citizens, the 

media, schools and academia, 
policy-makers from all levels  
of government (EU, national, 
regional, local), civil society 
and other interest groups.

The Visitors’ Centre

Step inside the iconic Europa building 
and learn about the work of the Council  
at the Visitors’ Centre.

EU Open Day

Join the thousands of visitors who 
come to visit us every May for the 
EU Open Day.

Simulation game

Step into the shoes of national 
ministers for a role-playing game:  
present your position and negotiate 
with the other EU countries.

A group of students visiting the Europa Building.

 
 
 
10

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY  //  TRANSPARENT DECISION-MAKING

TRANSPARENT  
DECISION-MAKING

We provide information on EU laws and 
how decisions are taken in the Council  
as openly and as quickly as possible. 

The rotating Presidency of the Council  
of the EU also plays a key role in ensuring 
the openness and transparency of the 
Council’s work.

The trio of the Romanian, Finnish and Croatian 
presidencies is committed to making meetings 
between interest groups and their Permanent 
Representatives and Deputy Permanent 
Representatives to the EU conditional on the 
registration of such interest groups  
in the EU Transparency Register. 

This commitment covers their term of office  
as Presidency of the Council and the six months 
preceding this term.

For more information about the meetings of the 
Croatian Permanent Representative and Deputy 
Permanent Representative, please consult the 
webpage of the Permanent Representation  
of Croatia to the EU.

Logo of the Croatian Presidency.

A Europe closer  
to its citizens 

‘Inclusion of citizens, dialogue  
with civil society organizations  
and transparency of the institutions  
of the European Union are crucial  
components in strengthening  
its democratic legitimacy.’

Programme of the Croatian Presidency  
of the Council of the EU

11

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY  //  TRANSPARENT DECISION-MAKING

Online access:    
documents 

Official Council documents 
related to EU legislation are 
available in the Council’s 
public register of documents.

About 80 % of these 
documents are immediately 
accessible online. You may 
apply for access to any  
of the remaining 20 %.  
These documents are made 
public, subject to exceptions 
laid down under the EU rules 
on transparency.

The Council has a policy on 
open data. Information is free 
to use and re-use, provided 
the source is acknowledged.
Data sets are available  
on the EU Open Data Portal.

How to find Council documents.

12

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY  //  TRANSPARENT DECISION-MAKING

Online access: 
meetings 

The Council always meets  
in public when discussing 
draft legislation. You can 
follow live sessions  
of Council debates  
and votes on legislative  
acts (in all EU languages).

You can follow live or 
recorded briefings given by 
your political leaders and their 
public statements made  
at the Council. 

You can consult or download 
the conclusions of European 
Council meetings from our 
website, in any of the 
EU languages.

You can download the 
agendas of all Council 
meetings and of the 
Committee of Permanent 
Representatives (Coreper) – 
which prepares the Council’s 
work.

The rules of procedure  
of the European Council 
and the Council set out 
basic rules for meetings, 
including voting rules, which 
sessions should be public, 
when documents should be 
published, etc.

More information on the 
activities and work of the 
Council is available here.

Environment Council, public session, Thursday, 5 March 2020.

Council of the
European Union

Rue de la Loi • Wetstraat 175
1048 Bruxelles • Brussel
Belgique • België
Tel. +32 (0)2 281 61 11
—
www.consilium.europa.eu
—

/eucouncil

Cover, pages 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9:
Europa building: © Philippe Samyn  
and Partners architects and engineers  
– lead and design partner, 
Studio Valle Progettazioni architects,  
Buro Happold engineers;  
Colour compositions:  
© Georges Meurant, 2016.

Photo on page 6: 
© Quentin Olbrechts.

For use or reproduction of photos or 
other material that is not under the EU 
copyright, permission must be sought 
directly from the copyright holder. 

This publication is produced by the 
General Secretariat of the Council and  
is intended for information purposes  
only. It does not involve the responsibility 
of the EU institutions or the member 
states.

Although we make every effort to ensure 
that links in this publication are accurate 
and up to date, the EU institutions cannot 
take responsibility for links failing to work 
properly.

For further information on the European 
Council and the Council, see the website:
www.consilium.europa.eu or contact  
the Public Information Service of the 
General Secretariat of the Council: 

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175, 
1048 Bruxelles/Brussel, 
Belgique/België
 — 
www.consilium.europa.eu/infopublic

More information on the European Union  
is available on www.europa.eu.

Brussels: General Secretariat of the Council  
of the European Union, 2020

© European Union, 2020

Reproduction is authorised provided  
the source is acknowledged.

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