General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union

• It "shall be closely and continually involved in organising, coordinating and ensuring the coherence of the Council's work and implementation of its annual programme".[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=CELEX:02004D0338-20060101 Council Decision of 22 March 2004 adopting the Council's Rules of Procedure] This involves 'traditional tasks', such as planning, convening and organizing the meetings (around 100 sessions of the Council, and more than 3500 meetings of working parties and other gatherings every year, e.g. extraordinary Council meetings or EU meetings with other states), arranging rooms and translation, making the minutes, acting as the Council's registrar and memory by keeping archives, and being a depositary for international agreements."An Introduction to the Council of the European Union", European Communities, 2008, p. 16.
• It acts as a legal adviser and political counsellor to the EU Presidency. It advises the Presidency, especially in working out the compromises on which Council decisions and other acts will be based. Members of the Secretariat's Legal Service are on hand at all important meetings to advise on issues raised in the discussions and to clarify the legal aspects of certain procedures. The Legal Service also represents the Council before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the General Court (European Union) and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal.
• The Council Secretariat also plays an important role in the EU's intergovernmental conferences (IGC), because it provides the IGC Secretariat. Apart from legal advice, it also tries to be an honest broker among member states. Close observers have argued that the Council Secretariat, together with the Presidency, is the most important actor in the IGC.{{harvp|Gray|Stubb|2001}}

The organisation of the General Secretariat is decided by a simple majority of votes by the Council.Art. 240(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union The Secretary-General is also appointed by the Council.

It currently consists of 7 directorates-general, the Legal Service, 5 departments under the Secretary-General (e.g. internal audit, general political questions) and has around 3200 employees.{{Citation needed|date=May 2016}}

• Directorate-General ORG - Organisational Development and Services
• Directorate-General LIFE - Agriculture, Fisheries, Social Affairs and Health
• Directorate-General RELEX - Foreign Affairs, Enlargement and Civil Protection
• Directorate-General JAI - Justice and Home Affairs
• Directorate-General TREE - Environment, Education, Transport and Energy
• Directorate-General COMM - Communication and Document Management
• Directorate-General ECOMP - Economic Affairs and Competitiveness
• Directorate-General GIP - Directorate-general for General and Institutional Policy

The following services are headed by a Deputy Director-General:

• LING - Translation Service
• SMART - Digital Services

• Common Foreign and Security Policy
• High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
• History of the European Union
• Intergovernmental Conference
• President of the European Parliament
• Secretariat-General of the European Commission

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• {{Cite journal | last = Beach | first = Derek | title = The unseen hand in treaty reform negotiations: the role and influence of the Council Secretariat | journal = Journal of European Public Policy | volume = 11 | issue = 3 | pages = 408–439 | doi = 10.1080/rjpp13501760410001100279 | date = January 2004 | s2cid = 154396629 }}
• {{Cite journal | last = Christiansen | first = Thomas | title = Out of the shadows: The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers | journal = The Journal of Legislative Studies | volume = 8 | issue = 4 | pages = 80–97 | doi = 10.1080/13572330200870006 | date = December 2002 | s2cid = 154144953 }}
• {{Cite journal | last1 = Duke | first1 = Simon | last2 = Vanhoonacker | first2 = Sophie | title = Administrative Governance in the CFSP: development and practice | journal = European Foreign Affairs Review | volume = 11 | issue = 2 | pages = 163–182 | date = 2006 | doi = 10.54648/EERR2006015 | s2cid = 154472022 | url = http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/abstract.php?id=EERR2006015 }}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Gray |first1=Mark |last2=Stubb |first2=Alexander |title=Keynote article: the Treaty of Nice – negotiating a poisoned chalice? |journal=Journal of Common Market Studies | volume = 39 | issue = S1 | pages = 5–23 | doi = 10.1111/1468-5965.39.s1.2 | date = September 2001 }}
• {{cite book | last1 = Hayes-Renshaw | first1 = Fiona | last2 = Wallace | first2 = Helen | title = The Council of Ministers | publisher = St. Martin's Press | location = New York | year = 1997 | isbn = 9780312164119 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/councilofministe00haye }}
• {{cite book | last = Westlake | first = Martin | title = The Council of the European Union | publisher = Cartermill Stockton | location = London New York | year = 1995 | isbn = 9781561591411 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/councilofeuropea00west }}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/european-union_157/eu-in-the-world_1491/common-foreign-and-security-policy_5463/operation-of-the-cfsp_5467/the-main-bodies-specific-to-the-cfsp_5472/the-general-secretariat-of-the-council_8755.html |url-access= |title=The main bodies specific to the CFSP: The General Secretariat of the Council |year=2008 |publisher=French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926212644/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/european-union_157/eu-in-the-world_1491/common-foreign-and-security-policy_5463/operation-of-the-cfsp_5467/the-main-bodies-specific-to-the-cfsp_5472/the-general-secretariat-of-the-council_8755.html |archive-date=2011-09-26 }}

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{{Sister project links|Council of the European Union}}

• {{official|http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/general-secretariat/}}
• [http://www.consilium.europa.eu/prado PRADO - The Council of the European Union Public Register of Authentic identity and travel Documents Online], operated by the Secretariat

{{Council of the European Union}}

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Category:Council of the European Union

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