ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the organisational components of the Council structure and the formal and informal division of labour between different levels and units that has developed. The Council of Ministers is where ministers and national officials meet to negotiate and decide on the bulk of the European Unions (EU's) day-to-day businesses. The European Council has become the default crisis manager of the EU, handling events such as the constitutional crisis of 2005 and the economic crisis of 2008 and onwards. It is clearly intergovernmental, although the new presidency introduced by the Lisbon Treaty has implied more of supranational coordination. The chapter focuses on the relative power between member states, institutional actors and bureaucrats. Lisbon Treaty, which made qualified majority voting (QMV) the default rule, includes 113 articles where QMV applies. The main rationale for "pooling sovereignty" by allowing for QMV is to increase the decision-making effectiveness. This chapter concludes by reflecting over the effectiveness, transparency and legitimacy of the Councils.
