The European Council

Emina Ribo, Carola Ponjevic, Christine Hartinger


First versions

The European Council The European Council, one of the several institutions of the European Union, plays an important role when it comes to setting a general political direction. It became an official body of the European Union in 2009, when the Treaty of Lisbon came into force. As (The following sentence doesn’t connect to the previous one. What does the E.C do? → meet when other countries can not find solutions)  the EU is often confronted with difficulties, which cannot be solved by the individual member states, the heads of state or government of every EU country (good knowledge of the MNN’s - it’s not capitalised since it doesn’t refer to a specific title) meet and decide on a general political direction as well as on the EU’s priorities (what kind of priorities? economic or social ones; priorities for a specific year?). The decisions are made by consensus (It is not clear what you mean. I would instead rewrite the sentence and mention what consensus actually is: “The process of making decisions is based on the consensus principle”. → connects to the next sentence too) This means that a concept or an idea has to be accepted by every voter or by the qualified majority depending on the nature of the treaty. In addition, (avoid linking words, connect instead to the previous sentence by writing “People who take part in the voting are..) the Commission President, the European Council President and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (= you obviously have studied the MNN very well, great!) take part, but (It works but I’d use “however”; higher register) they are not allowed to vote. The meetings (doesn’t connect so well to the previous sentence, I would mention the voting: The meeting, in which these votings take place, are usually being held every six months in Brussels) take place twice every 6 (MNN!! number 1-10 in words!!) months usually (I think the word order is a bit misplaced here; it’s probably better to start with: The meetings usually take place twice every…) in Brussels. However, the president (MNN!! You refer to a specific president → capital letters), Herman van Rompuy, can convene (Well chosen vocabulary) a special meeting if needed. No conclusion sentence! Summarise! Why is the European Council so important? Link it to the introduction sentence! [180 words]

The European Council The most influential body of the EU is the European Council. This institution is composed of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States (you successfully avoided MNN’s:)), the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the President of the European Commission and Herman Van Rompuy, who is the current President of the European Council. The President is elected for two and a half years and can be re-elected once. He is responsible for coordinating the work of the European Council and ensures that decisions are put into practice. The European Council, which meets at least four times a year, focuses on setting the general political direction of the European Union, sets priorities and debates sensitive issues (good collocation). For such a highly significant institution it is inevitable to have a certain decision-making process. If the Treaties do not provide otherwise, the European Council decides by consensus (This way is ok, because you mentioned what it is → decision-making process). In some cases they reach decision by unanimity, which means that every Head of State or Government needs to agree (on what? → on the decision; it is not clear what you mean here). If someone does not approve, the change (I would add “proposed change” → It’s clearer what you mean) cannot come into force. Other matters are decided on by qualified majority though. The presidents (MNN → You refer to specific presidents, namely the one from these states) themselves are not allowed to participate in this voting. Although the European Council is not a legislative body, thus not allowed to pass laws, it is still the mainstay of the European Union setting all of its directions.

Our version (by Emina Ribo, Carola Ponjevic, Christine Hartinger)

The most influential body of the EU is the European Council. It became an official body of the European Union in 2009, when the Treaty of Lisbon came into force. This institution is composed of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the President of the European Commission and Herman Van Rompuy, who is the current President of the European Council. The President is elected for two and a half years and can be re-elected once. He is responsible for coordinating the work of the European Council and ensures that decisions are put into practice. The European Council, which meets at least four times a year, focuses on setting the general political direction of the European Union, sets priorities and debates sensitive issues. The decision-making within the Council follows a certain rule: If the Treaties do not provide otherwise, the European Council decides by consensus. This means that a concept or an idea has to be accepted by every voter or by the qualified majority depending on the nature of the Treaty. If someone does not approve, the proposed change cannot come into force. The Presidents themselves are not allowed to participate in this voting. Although the European Council is not a legislative body, thus not allowed to pass laws, it is still the mainstay of the European Union setting all of its directions.

Our final version The most influential body of the EU is the European Council. It became an official body of the European Union in 2009, when the Treaty of Lisbon came into force. This institution is composed of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the President of the European Commission and the current President of the European Council. The President is elected for two and a half years and can be re-elected once. He is responsible for coordinating the work of the European Council and ensures that decisions are put into practice. The European Council, which meets at least four times a year, focuses on setting the general political direction of the European Union, sets priorities and debates sensitive issues. The decision-making within the Council follows a certain rule: If the Treaties do not provide otherwise, the European Council decides by consensus. This means that a concept or an idea has to be accepted by every voter depending on the nature of the Treaty. If someone does not approve, the proposed change cannot come into force. The Presidents themselves are not allowed to participate in this voting. Although the European Council is not a legislative body, thus not allowed to pass laws, it is still the mainstay of the European Union setting all of its directions.