Darbas:

Council is the main forum in which this ‘inter-governmental co-operation’ takes place.

To enable it to respond more effectively to international crises, the European Union has created a ‘Rapid Reaction Force’. This is not a European army: the personnel remain members of their national armed forces and under national command, and their role is limited to carrying out humanitarian, rescue, peacekeeping and other crisis management tasks. In 2003, for example, the EU conducted a military operation (code name Artemis) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in 2004 it began a peacekeeping operation (code name Althea) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Council is assisted in such operations by:
• the Political and Security Committee (PSC);
• the European Union Military Committee (EUMC);
• and the European Union Military Staff (EUMS), composed of military experts seconded to the Council Secretariat by the member states.
6. Freedom, security and justice
EU citizens are free to live and work in whichever EU country they choose, so they should have equal access to civil justice everywhere in the European Union. National courts therefore need to work together to ensure, for example, that a court judgement delivered in one EU country in a divorce or child custody5 case is recognised in all other EU countries.
Freedom of movement within the EU is of great benefit to law-abiding citizens, but it is also exploited by international criminals and terrorists. To tackle cross-border crime requires cross-border co-operation between the national courts, police forces, customs officers and immigration services of all EU countries.
________________________________________________________________________________
Conclude1 – padaryti išvadą, nuspręsti
Taxation2 – apmkestinimas, mokesčio dydis
Consular3- konsulo, konsulinis
Gain4 – įgyjimas, laimėjimas, pasiekimas, išlošimas
Custody5 - globa


They have to ensure, for example:
• that the EU’s external borders are effectively policed;
• that customs officers and police exchange information on the movements of suspected drugs traffickers or people smugglers1;
• that asylum seekers are assessed and treated in the same way throughout the EU, so as to prevent ‘asylum shopping’.
Issues such as these are dealt with by the Justice and Home Affairs Council – i.e. the Ministers for Justice and of the Interior. The aim is to create a single ‘area of freedom, security and justice’ within the EU’s borders.
How is the Council's work organised?
COREPER
In Brussels, each EU member state has a permanent2 team (‘representation’) that represents it and defends its national interest at EU level. The head of each representation is, in effect, his or her country’s ambassador to the EU.
These ambassadors (known as ‘permanent representatives’) meet weekly within the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER). The role of this committee is to prepare the work of the Council, with the exception of most agricultural issues, which are handled by the Special Committee on Agriculture. COREPER is assisted by a number of working groups, made up of officials from the national administrations.
The Council Presidency3
The Presidency of the Council rotates every six months. In other words, each EU country in turn takes charge of the Council agenda and chairs all the meetings for a six-month period, promoting legislative and political decisions and brokering compromises between the member states.If, for example, the Environment Council is scheduled to meet during the second half of 2006 it will be chaired by the Finnish Minister for the Environment, since Finland holds the Council Presidency at that time.

The General Secretariat
The Presidency is assisted by the General Secretariat, which prepares and ensures the smooth4 functioning of the Council's work at all levels.

In 2004, Mr Javier Solana was re-appointed Secretary-General of the Council. He is also High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and in this capacity he helps coordinate the EU’s action on the world stage. Under the new constitutional treaty5, the High Representative would be replaced by an EU Foreign Affairs Minister.
________________________________________________________________________________
Smuggler1 –kontrabandininkas, kontrabandos laivas
Permanant2 – nuolatinis, pastovus, permanentinis,įprastas
Presidency3 – prezidentystė, prezidentavimas
Smooth4 – lygus, plynas, glotnus
Treaty5 – sutartis, susitarimas

The Secretary-General is assisted by a Deputy Secretary-General in charge of managing the General Secretariat.
How many votes per country?
Decisions in the Council are taken by vote. The bigger the country’s population, the more votes it has, but the numbers are weighted in favour of the less populous1 countries:

Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom 29
Spain and Poland 27
Netherlands 13
Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary and Portugal 12
Austria and Sweden 10
Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Finland 7
Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia 4
Malta 3
TOTAL 321


"Qualified majority voting"
In some particularly2 sensitive areas such as Common Foreign and Security Policy, taxation, asylum3 and immigration policy, Council decisions have to be unanimous. In other words, each member state has the power of veto in these areas.

On most