The General Affairs Council is a configuration of the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

and meets once a month. Meetings bring together the Foreign Ministers of the Member States. Ministers responsible for European Affairs also participate depending on the items on agenda. Ministers of several other domains can be present as well, it can be cross-ministries as well. It was created in 2009 by the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...

by splitting it from the "General Affairs and External Relations Council" with the other part becoming the

Foreign Affairs Council The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is a configuration of the Council of the European Union that convenes once a month. Meetings bring together the foreign ministers of the member states. Ministers responsible for European affairs, defence, developm ...

. The General and Foreign Councils are the only two Councils mentioned in the

EU treaties The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union (EU) member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures ...

. The General Affairs Council deals with dossiers that affect more than one of the EU's policies, such as negotiations on

EU enlargement The European Union (EU) has expanded a number of times throughout its history by way of the accession of new member states to the Union. To join the EU, a state needs to fulfil economic and political conditions called the Copenhagen criteria ( ...

, preparation of the EU's multi-annual budgetary perspective or institutional and administrative issues. It co-ordinates preparation for and follow-up to meetings of the European Council. It also exercises a role in co-ordinating work on different policy areas carried out by the Councils other configurations, and handles any dossier entrusted to it by the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the ...

Composition

Configurations

External links

About the General Affairs Council

Press releases of the General Affairs Council

The General Affairs Council: The Key to Political Influence of Rotating Presidencies by Piotr Maciej Kaczyński, Andrew Byrne
{{EU-stub Council of the European Union