In December 1974 the heads of states of the EC created the European Council, in March 1975 the first meeting was held in Dublin. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, integration 2/2025 is dedicated to this key European institution. The themed issue is based on an interdisciplinary symposium, which was held in November 2024 just prior to the anniversary of the European Council, organized and conducted by the Institut für Europäische Politik, the Centre for Turkey and EU Studies of the University Cologne and the Geschwister-Scholl-Institute of Political Science of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich.
With the free-content article, the editors Lucas Schramm and Wolfgang Wessels introduce the themed issue. They address the role of the European Council within the multilevel system of the EU, its paradoxes, deficits and challenges.
Hartmut Kaelble elaborates the central periods in the development of the European Council from a historical perspective. Christian Calliess takes on a juridical perspective: He analyses the ambivalent role of the European Council between lacking legislative competences and its competitive relation to other EU-institutions.
In various EU policies the Council plays a predominant role: for instance, in enlargement, the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework and the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Analyses regarding these policies are made by Barbara Lippert, Peter Becker and Mathias Jopp in this issue.
In his forum section, Herman Van Rompuy, former president of the European Council, shares insight from the political practice, in which the European Council often acted as supreme crisis manager and is regarded as institution that consolidates intergovernmental and supranational perspectives.
Tobias Hofelich and Klara Stecker report from the symposium regarding the 50th anniversary of the European Council held in November 2024.
50 years of the European Council – reflections on a key institution of the European Union
Lucas Schramm and Wolfgang Wessels
The European Council is one of, if not, the key institution of the European Union (EU). Founded about 50 years ago, in December 1974, it comprises the Heads of State or Government of the member states, thus linking the national and European levels. In recent years, the European Council has primarily acted as a crisis manager. Furthermore, it takes important decisions in various policy areas and regularly expands the EU’s competences. At the same time, due to its internal consensus requirement, the European Council is vulnerable to blockades and relies on other EU institutions for the implementation of its decisions.
The European Council between 1974 and 2024: periods of change
Hartmut Kaelble
This article is a proposal to distinguish major periods in the history of the European Council since its founding in 1974: the period before, starting with the European Coal and Steel Community (1951–1974); then its informal incubation period (1974–1986) with the European Council still outside the treaties; thereafter the period of the five treaty reforms (1986–2007), the heyday of the European Council; finally, the period of crisis (2008–2024) in which the competitive cooperation between the European Council and the European Commission has been essential.
50 years of the European Council – “Intergovernmentalisation” of the European Union?
Christian Calliess
With the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Council became an institution of the European Union (EU) that is fully integrated into the institutional framework. In this way, the originally intergovernmental institution was linked to the supranational decision-making centre of the EU. This is associated with shifts in the institutional power structure, which are to be resolved by the legal role ascribed to it as the political governing body of the member states in the EU, which is explicitly not permitted to act as a legislator. Nevertheless, the European Council competes with the Commission as a political driving force for integration and challenges the Council and the European Parliament as a “shadow legislator”. In order to reflect on the ambivalent position of the European Council, this article will examine the organisation, decision-making procedure and responsibilities of the European Council.
Reign and rule – the European Council and the enlargement of the European Union
Barbara Lippert
The decision to admit new members to the European Communities or the European Union (EU) has always been a power reserved to the member states. Since its creation in 1974, the European Council has been used by the Heads of State or Government to discuss key political positions on enlargement and to decide on the start and end of accession negotiations. In addition to the involvement of the European Council enshrined in Art. 49 of the Treaty on European Union, the European Council deter-mines the course of enlargement policy through its various roles and functions. At the same time, other EU institutions and the Council’s own working methods place limits on the European Council’s ability to act. The new threat situation in Europe with the Russian war against Ukraine and the resulting geopolitical challenges for the EU also challenge the European Council as the EU’s centre of political power.
A machine for political consensus with legislative consequences: The European Council as the indispensable driving force behind the European Union's budget negotiations
Peter Becker
The European Council has played a prominent role in the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework (MFF) of the European Union (EU) in six rounds so far. The European Council dominates the MFF negotiations and largely determines their outcome. It has become the key dealmaker and the most crucial venue for the MFF negotiations in the EU, as only the Heads of State or Government are in a position to quickly agree on binding, comprehensive and cross-policy solutions for the negotiations. However, this special role of the European Council goes far beyond the role assigned to it by the Lisbon Treaty and creates tensions and friction with the EU‘s budgetary legislators, the Council and the European Parliament.
The European Council and the Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union: a balancing act between unanimity and efficiency
Mathias Jopp
This contribution analyses the role of the European Council in the foreign and security policy of the European Union (EU) as both the architect of the system of external action and the provider of guidelines for policies in trade, enlargement, defence or diplomacy. On top of this, it represents the indispensable centre of gravity of all crisis management decisions in response to serious internal and external challenges facing the EU. However, increasing global disorder is revealing growing tensions among member states, which in the future will require a high degree of flexibility and creativity from the European Council in order to maintain Europe’s capacity to act while balancing unanimity and efficiency.
The European Council – considerations from practice
Herman Van Rompuy
The European Council and its President have, in many ways, a sui generis character. The President is more than a chairperson during international summits but has less power than a Head of State in a presidential system. His task is to steer the work of the European Council, ensure continuity and forge consensus among national leaders. Reconciling national interests for the sake of common European interests has always been of great importance. It is even more so in times of manifold crises for the European Union. The European Council, as the Union’s supreme crisis manager, is where intergovernmental and supranational perspectives must converge. After all, if the European Council fails then the Union fails.
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