General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union

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Logo of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union
The Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Council

The General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union ( Council Secretariat for short ) was set up to support the Council of the European Union , its President , the European Council and its President . The General Secretariat is headed by a General Secretary who is appointed by the Council by a qualified majority for a period of office to be determined on a case-by-case basis . This office is currently held by Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, a Danish diplomat.

The Council Secretariat in the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels (Belgium) employs around 2500 people. Its tasks include coordinating the work of the Council and the European Council, in particular ensuring coherence in the implementation of the respective Presidency programs. This ranges from practical organization, such as the provision of interpreting services and the preparation of minutes, to legal and political advice to the Council Presidency, which changes every six months . Even with the Intergovernmental Conferences with which the EU Member States possible reforms of the EU Treaty to prepare, the Council Secretariat plays an important role in advising the Member States and the logging of results.

history

The Council Secretariat was set up by the ECSC Treaty to support the ECSC Council of Ministers (later the Council of the European Union ) and its President . At first it only fulfilled purely organizational functions; later, however, the Secretariats for European Political Cooperation , the Schengen Agreement and the Western European Union were integrated into it, so that the General Secretariat gained in importance.

The Council Secretariat also has a special function in the common foreign and security policy created by the Maastricht Treaty , since the member states have given the European Commission hardly any supranational powers in this policy area. For this reason, the office of High Representative for the CFSP created by the Amsterdam Treaty in 1999 was linked to the office of Secretary General.

However, as of December 1, 2009, the two offices were separated again by the Treaty of Lisbon . An independent European External Action Service will be set up to coordinate the CFSP, made up of staff from the EU Member States, the delegations of the European Commission and the Council Secretariat.

List of General Secretaries

Surname origin Taking office Term expires
Christian Calmes LuxembourgLuxembourg Luxembourg September 9, 1952 June 14, 1973
Nicolas Hommel LuxembourgLuxembourg Luxembourg July 1, 1973 October 7, 1980
Niels Ersbøll DenmarkDenmark Denmark October 8, 1980 August 31, 1994
Jürgen Trumpf GermanyGermany Germany September 1, 1994 October 17, 1999
Javier Solana SpainSpain Spain October 18, 1999 November 30, 2009
Pierre de Boissieu FranceFrance France December 1, 2009 June 26, 2011
Uwe Corsepius GermanyGermany Germany June 26, 2011 June 30, 2015
Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen DenmarkDenmark Denmark July 1, 2015 June 30, 2025

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article 23 of the Council's rules of procedure
  2. ^ The Secretary General of the Council
  3. ↑ Official Journal
  4. ↑ EU top position for Merkel advisor Corsepius. Die Welt , December 11, 2009, accessed October 23, 2010 .
  5. ↑ Appointment of Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen as the new Secretary General of the Council. Council of the EU , March 19, 2015, accessed on July 20, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Decision (EU) 2020/618 of the Council of April 30, 2020