A Political and Economic Dictionary of Western Europe, First Edition
The European Council is the biannual summit meeting of the European Union (EU). It brings together the heads of government or state of all EU member states to map out the strategic direction for the EU and to agree on important matters such as institutional reform, enlargement, and foreign, security and defence policy. The European Council began as an informal set of meetings in the early 1970s and was later incorporated into the institutional system by the Single European Act.
It was strengthened by the Treaty on European Union when it was given responsibility for the two intergovernmental pillars of the EU: Common Foreign and Security Policy and Justice and Home Affairs (now Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters).
European Council summits are hosted by the member state which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. Additional meetings are held throughout the year in Brussels, Belgium. In recent years anti-globalization protesters have held demonstrations at EU summit meetings. The Constitutional Treaty drafted by the European Convention proposed that the six-month rotating presidency of the European Commission be changed to a European Council chairmanship whose incumbent would be chosen by the heads of government for a two-and-a-half-year term.
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