European Council, Council of the EU and Council of Europe: the differences

Three bodies share the word "Council", and only two of them belong to the EU. Two are EU institutions under Article 13(1) TEU: the European Council and the Council (its full name is the Council of the European Union; europa.eu notes it is informally known as "the Council"). The third, the Council of Europe, is an international organisation outside the EU Treaties. Test questions trade on the similar names, so this page puts all three side by side.

The three bodies side by side

If you remember one line: leaders steer, ministers legislate, and the Strasbourg Council is not the EU.

The European Council under Article 15 TEU

• Members. The Heads of State or Government, together with its President and the President of the Commission. The High Representative "shall take part in its work" but is not listed as a member (Art 15(2) TEU).
• Meetings. Twice every six months, convened by its President, who can also call special meetings (Art 15(3) TEU). europa.eu describes the meetings as usually quarterly summits.
• Decisions. By consensus unless the Treaties provide otherwise (Art 15(4) TEU). When it does vote, its President and the President of the Commission do not take part (Art 235(1) TFEU), and it acts by simple majority on procedural questions and its Rules of Procedure (Art 235(3) TFEU).
• Its President. Elected by the European Council by qualified majority for two and a half years, renewable once. The same procedure can end the term for an impediment or serious misconduct (Art 15(5) TEU). The President reports to Parliament after each meeting and may not hold a national office (Art 15(6) TEU). europa.eu names António Costa as President.
• Support. It is assisted by the General Secretariat of the Council (Art 235(4) TFEU).

"Does not legislate" does not mean "takes no decisions". The European Council elects its own President, proposes the candidate for Commission President and appoints the Commission, both by qualified majority (Art 17(7) TEU), and appoints the High Representative (Art 18(1) TEU) and the ECB Executive Board (Art 283(2) TFEU). It also adopts the list of Council configurations and the decision on the Council presidency by qualified majority (Art 236 TFEU). For qualified-majority votes it uses the same thresholds as the Council (Art 235(1) TFEU).

The Council of the European Union under Article 16 TEU

• Members. One minister per Member State, with authority to commit the government (Art 16(2) TEU). Who attends depends on the subject.
• Voting. Qualified majority is the default (Art 16(3) TEU): at least 55 % of members, at least fifteen of them, representing at least 65 % of the population (Art 16(4) TEU). Simple majority means a majority of its component members (Art 238(1) TFEU). How qualified majority is calculated has its own page.
• Configurations. Ten, under Council Decision 2009/878/EU as amended in 2010: General affairs; Foreign affairs; Economic and financial affairs; Justice and home affairs; Employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs; Competitiveness (internal market, industry, research and space); Transport, telecommunications and energy; Agriculture and fisheries; Environment; Education, youth, culture and sport. The first two are set by the Treaty itself (Art 16(6) TEU).
• Presidency. Held by Member States "on the basis of equal rotation", except for Foreign Affairs (Art 16(9) TEU). Under Council Decision (EU) 2016/1316, Cyprus holds it from January to June 2026 and Ireland from July to December 2026.
• Preparation. The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) prepares the Council's work (Art 16(7) TEU; Art 240(1) TFEU). The glossary gives the English, French and German names of each Council term.
• Openness. The Council meets in public when it deliberates and votes on a draft legislative act (Art 16(8) TEU).

Together with Parliament, the Council adopts EU legislation. The steps are in the ordinary legislative procedure; the institution in full is on the Council hub.

The Council of Europe: outside the EU

This paragraph is for orientation only, since the Council of Europe is not part of the EU syllabus. According to its own site, it has 46 member states, including all members of the European Union, and its headquarters are in Strasbourg. All its member states have signed the European Convention on Human Rights, whose application is overseen by the European Court of Human Rights.

How the confusion is used in wrong options

We estimate, from the way the test is built from Treaty sentences, that the three names will mostly appear as swapped actors in otherwise correct statements. Typical false statements to watch for:

• "The European Council adopts legislative acts jointly with Parliament." False: that is the Council (Art 16(1) TEU); the European Council does not exercise legislative functions.
• "The European Council acts by qualified majority unless the Treaties provide otherwise." False: its default is consensus; qualified majority is the Council's default.
• "The President of the European Council chairs the Foreign Affairs Council." False: the High Representative does (Art 18(3) TEU).
• "The Council of Europe is one of the seven EU institutions." False: Article 13(1) TEU does not list it.
• "The President of the European Council is elected for five years." False: two and a half years, renewable once.

Worked example (our own question)

Under Article 15(2) TEU, which of the following is NOT a member of the European Council? (a) The Heads of State or Government of the Member States; (b) The President of the European Council; (c) The President of the Commission; (d) The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Answer: (d). The European Council "shall consist of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, together with its President and the President of the Commission. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy shall take part in its work." Taking part is not membership. For more NOT questions, the free test has them in the real format.