Summary
Jan Werts
Onstuitbare opmars van de Europese Raad verdient correctie
Jan Werts explains how the original occasional EU Summit has become the strategic driving force of the European Union. He casts light on how the regular meeting of the Heads of State or Government operates, its role vis-à-vis the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament and how the European Council will change even further with the intended appointment of a full-time President. As a journalist, the author has reported the great majority of these summits. He earlier wrote a dissertation on this subject. The author argues that in most cases the European Council can only succeed after a thorough preparation of its meetings by the Council of Ministers/Coreper and the Commission. The arrival of the European Council on the scene of basic European institutions therefore means a strengthening rather than a weakening of the Community Method. Since the Council operates as a legislative cum executive body at the Union's highest level, a 'Provisional European Government' has come to manifest itself.