The Council Legal Service

Jean-Claude Piris, Director General of the Legal Service, Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union is made up of the representatives of EU member states at ministerial level, each authorised to commit their government. In the legislative area, the Council adopts EU legislation on the basis of a proposal by the Commission, in many cases acting together with the European Parliament under the ‘co-decision’ procedure. In the sphere of EU common foreign and security policy (CFSP), the Council has sole responsibility, and it has a pre-eminent role in the area of police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters.

EU legislation has primacy over member states’ national laws, and it can be directly applicable without the need for transposition into national legislation. Moreover, the legality of EU legislation is subject to review by the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg. The Council therefore needs an independent Legal Service to help it respect the principles of law on which the EU is based, and to defend the Council in the event of a legal challenge.

Legal service mission statement

1. The Legal Service is the Council’s legal advisor.

2. The Legal Service assists the Council and its preparatory bodies, the Presidency and the General Secretariat, in order to ensure the legality and the drafting quality of Council acts. It contributes, by taking a creative approach as appropriate, to finding legally correct and politically acceptable solutions, in constant co-operation with other services in the Council. For such purpose, it gives opinions in complete impartiality – orally or in writing, at the request of the Council or on its own initiative – on any question of a legal nature.

3. The Legal Service represents the Council in proceedings before the Community courts.

4. The Legal Service performs the tasks of legal-linguistic editing of Council acts in the EU’s official languages and managing the Council’s relations with the European Parliament and the other institutions and bodies, as well as organising the co-decision legislative procedures with the European Parliament.

5. The constant objective of the Legal Service is to provide timely contributions which are distinguished by their full respect for the law, their impartiality and their clarity.

Organisation of the Legal Service

The Council Legal Service is under the responsibility of a Director-General, who is the Council’s Legal Advisor. There are about 50 lawyers working in five separate directorates, with nationals from almost all member states being represented. These lawyers perform the tasks of giving legal advice to the Council and its preparatory bodies, and of representing the Council in litigation before the Community courts. There is also a directorate responsible for inter-institutional relations, as well as a unit for managing the ‘co-decision procedure’ with the European Parliament. Finally, there is as a ‘Legislative Quality’ directorate with some 70 ‘lawyer-linguists’.

The lawyers’ directorates have the following areas of responsibility (see the organisation chart). Directorate I: internal market, energy, research, transport, social affairs, environment, consumer protection, competition and public procurement. Directorate II: agriculture and fisheries, economic and monetary union, VAT and taxation, free movement of capital and structural funds. Directorate III: external relations, including CFSP, development co-operation, trade policy and enlargement. Directorate IV: institutional, budgetary and administrative questions. Directorate V: justice and home affairs.

Opinions of the Legal Service

The advisory role of the Legal Service consists of giving legal opinions, either orally or in writing, to the Council or its preparatory bodies, on any legal or institutional questions which may be raised in the course of the Council’s work. Even if the Legal Service is not asked for an opinion, it is still expected to draw the Council’s attention to legal problems which would not have been noticed otherwise.

Opinions of the Legal Service may be given on questions such as whether the Commission has proposed the correct legal basis in the Treaty for a draft legislative act or international agreement, or whether certain provisions of the draft act comply with general rules of Community law. It also has to check that a proper statement of reasons is provided in the recitals (‘whereas’ clauses) to a measure. These matters (legal basis, rules of Community law, statement of reasons) all constitute grounds for the annulment of a Council act by the Court.

In addition, the Legal Service often has to advise on the application of the Council’s Rules of Procedure, for example, whether a quorum is present, whether the items on the provisional agenda have been included in good time, whether the Council session is to be ‘open’ (re-transmitted to the public), the possibility of adopting Council acts by written procedure, rules on languages, publications in the Official Journal, etc.

The Legal Service also provides advice internally within the Council Secretariat, on administrative and budgetary questions such as the application of the Staff Regulations and building projects, etc.

Last but not least, the Legal Advisor acted as advisor to the inter-governmental conferences in 1991 (Maastricht), 1996 (Amsterdam), 2000 (Nice) and 2003 (a Constitution for Europe).

Opinions and written contributions of the Legal Service are produced as distinct Council documents, and may not be disclosed under the rules on public access to documents (see Article 4(2) of Regulation EC 1049/2001 which provides an exception for legal advice; this has been upheld by the Court in the Turco case T-84/03, as being justified in the public interest for the Council to have independent legal advice).

Cases before the Community courts

Litigation before the European Court of Justice, the Court of First Instance and the Civil Service Tribunal accounts for about one-third of the lawyers’ work-load, although the proportion varies from one sector to another. This task nearly always involves defending the Council against an action for the annulment of a Council act, a declaration of illegality or compensation for damages. Two or sometimes three members of the Legal Service are appointed to represent the Council in each case; they will usually be the lawyer(s) responsible for the subject-area in question and if necessary a lawyer who is fluent in the language of the case.

The Council usually wins the cases brought against it, but if it loses then the Council has to take the necessary measures to comply with the Court’s judgment, eg by re-adopting an annulled act on another legal basis or after re-consulting the European Parliament, or by amending provisions which have been found contrary to Community law.

Inter-institutional relations

The Legal Service’s directorate VI has overall responsibility within the Council Secretariat for handling relations with other EU institutions and bodies, in particular with the European Parliament. This includes preparing draft replies to parliamentary (written and oral) questions. Members of this directorate also attend European Parliament plenary sessions and committee meetings, in order to give the necessary assistance there to the President of the Council and to the Secretary-General/High Representative during their regular appearances, and to report back to the Council.

Management of the ‘co-decision’ procedure

The Legal Service also includes a special unit (the ‘backbone’ in directorate I) which has specific responsibility within the Council Secretariat for managing the ‘co-decision’ procedure. The ‘backbone’ follows the proceedings of the relevant committee(s) within the European Parliament and organises the ‘trialogue’ meetings between the Council presidency and representatives of the European Parliament and the Commission, with a view to obtaining an agreement in the first or second readings. If a meeting of the ‘conciliation committee’ has to be convened, the ‘backbone’ is involved in the drafting of the joint texts eventually agreed.

Legislative quality

The Legal Service has a vital role to play in improving the drafting quality of EU legislation, which should be as clear, simple and precise as possible for its users, whether they be national authorities, businesses or citizens generally. According to an inter-institutional agreement signed in December 1998 on common guidelines for the quality of drafting of Community legislation, the three institutions’ Legal Services (European Parliament, Council and Commission) are enjoined to put forward appropriate drafting suggestions with a view to making EU legislation clearer and more precise. The Council’s Rules of Procedure (Article 22) also stipulate that “the Legal Service shall be responsible for checking the drafting quality of proposals and draft acts at the appropriate stage, as well as for bringing drafting suggestions to the attention of the Council and its bodies”.

The above task is performed in the first place by the lawyers in the Legal Service who follow proposals through the Council and its preparatory bodies, and secondly by the ‘Legislative Quality’ directorate. This directorate, which is staffed by some 70 ‘lawyer-linguists’ (three for each of the EU’s 23 official languages), is responsible for the final editing of draft acts to be adopted by the Council. That involves laying the text out properly, using the right terminology and ensuring the act says exactly the same in all the language versions, each of which is equally authentic.

Conclusion

The Legal Service plays a prominent role in all aspects of the Council’s work, including questions dealt with at the highest level. Thanks to its proven independence and the quality of its work, the Legal Service is highly valued and the Council nearly always follows its advice. On the rare occasions when the Council fails to do so, then the Court of Justice will usually rectify the situation later – even though the members of the Legal Service appointed to defend the Council as its agents will have had to plead in favour of what they had originally advised against!

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Executive

PIRIS Jean-Claude

Director-General

Legal Adviser to the Council

T: +32 2 281-6227

Coordination and Administration unit

 

BLANCHET Thérèse

Head of Unit

T: +32 2 281-8775

Research and documentation

 

MAVRAKOS Christos

Head of Unit

T: +32 2 281-7190

 

Team I

Internal market, industry, telecommunications, tourism, energy, civil protection, research, trans-European networks, transport, social affairs, culture, education, youth, regional policy, environment, harmonisation of food legislation, consumer protection, health, competition rules/public procurement

 

JACQUÉ Jean-Paul

Director

T: +32 2 281-6226

 

HUBER Jürgen

Director

T: +32 2 281-7348

 

GIORGI Maria-Cristina

T: +32 2 281-6459

 

KARLSSON Eva

T: +32 2 281-7983

FLORINDO GIJÓN Fernando

T: +32 2 281-6196

 

MICHOEL Kristien

T: +32 2 281-5702

 

VEIGA Madalena

T: +32 2 281-5329

 

CURMI Gayle

T: +32 2 281-3782

 

LEPPO Johannes

T: +32 2 281-8259

 

Team II

Agriculture, fisheries, economic and monetary union, taxation, free movement of capital, Structural Funds and generally all matters for the Ecofin Council prepared by Coreper II

 

MIDDLETON Timothy

Director

T: +32 2 281-7919

 

COLAERT Anna-Maria

T: +32 2 281-8365

 

SIMS Moyra

T: +32 2 281-7849

 

MOORE Matthew

T: +32 2 281-9680

 

GREGORIO MERINO Alberto de

T: +32 2 281-9353

 

WESTERHOF LÖFFLEROVÁ Andrea

T: +32 2 281-3097

 

JOSEPHIDES Melpo-Menie

T: +32 2 281-3785

 

KUPCOVÁ Zuzana

T: +32 2 281-5742

 

Team III

External relations (including CFSP, development cooperation, ACP, all questions relating to international agreements and relations with international organisations) and enlargement

 

GOSALBO BONO Ricardo

Director

T: +32 2 281-6259

 

VAN HEGELSOM Gert-Jan

T: +32 2 281-5747

 

BISHOP Michael

T: +32 2 281-8303

 

CANGA FANO Diego

T: +32 2 281-9720

 

CZUCZAI Jen

T: +32 2 281-9504

 

HIX Jan Peter

T: +32 2 281-7811

 

MARQUARDT Stephan

T: +32 2 281-8470

 

FINNEGAN Emer

T: +32 2 281-5283

 

MARHIC Gilles

T: +32 2 281-5023

 

CHABOUREAU Eric

T: +32 2 281-5024

 

LIUDVINAVICIUTE-CORDEIRO Rita

T: +32 2 281-3781

 

Team IV

Institutional/Budgetary questions

 

MAGANZA Giorgio

T: +32 2 281-7950

Director

 

ARPIO SANTACRUZ Marta

T: +32 2 281-6183

 

BAUER Martin

T: +32 2 281-8341

 

SIMM Marion

T: +32 2 281-5123

 

DRIESSEN Bart

T: +32 2 281-7398

 

VITRO Alessandro

T: +32 2 281-3783

 

SULCE Inese

T: +32 2 281-3780

 

Team V

Justice and home affairs

 

SCHUTTE Julian

Director

T: +32 2 281-6229

 

PETERSEN Ole

T: +32 2 281-7169

 

KYRIAKOPOULOU Sofia

T: +32 2 281-8221

 

MONTEIRO Jorge

T: +32 2 281-8533

 

ANTON Frédéric

T: +32 2 281-8780

 

BALTA Maria

T: +32 2 281-4969

 

MAHNI Petra

T: +32 2 281-3784

 

SZOSTAK Richard Jeremy

T: +32 2 281-3098

 

Team VI

Inter-institutional relations

 

LOPES-SABINO Amadeu

Director

T: +32 2 281-7109

 

DÍEZ PARRA Ignacio

T: +32 2 281-8313

 

BERGER Hartmut

T: +32 2 281-7305

 

YOLDI ERICE María Camino

T: +32 2 281-7009

 

CAVALLIN Sophie

T: +32 2 281-8134

 

GARABELLO Roberta

T: +32 2 281-6041

 

JANSSEN Micheline

T: +32 2 281-6316

 

FEKETE Csilla

T: +32 2 281-7751

 

JASKOWIAK Joanna

T: +32 2 281-3607

 

Directorship of Legislation

TUTS Geneviève

Director

T: +32 2 281-7474

 

FROHN Rainer

T: +32 2 281-7218

 

GUGGEIS Manuela

T: +32 2 281-8359

 

National Sections

Spanish Section

RAMOS RUANO Germán

T: +32 2 281-7812

 

SUBRA ALFARO José María

T: +32 2 281-6079

 

SOUTO IGLESIA María Dolor

T: +32 2 281-5267

 

Czech section

FALTYS Jan

T: +32 2 281-3989

 

HULKA Stepan

T: +32 2 281-5235

 

PEKAR Radovan

T: +32 2 281-5212

 

Danish section

VILSTRUP Henrik

T: +32 2 281-6587

 

ADSERBALLE Anne Cecilie

T: +32 2 281-9983

 

NIELSEN Susanne

T: +32 2 281-4394

 

German section

KALBE Anna Katharina

T: +32 2 281-8249

 

SAILE Christoph

T: +32 2 281-9506

 

FICHTELMANN Arved

T: +32 2 281-6493

 

Estonian section

JAAGUS Reet

T: +32 2 281-5149

 

STOLFOT Ann

T: +32 2 281-5202

 

SUTT Mari

T: +32 2 281-5204

 

Greek section

ANGELOPOULOS Georgios

T: +32 2 281-7592

 

ZAHARIOU Despina

T: +32 2 281-6608

 

VARFI Aikaterini-Zoi

T: +32 2 281-9760

 

English section

SWANNELL Giles

T: +32 2 281-6678

 

ROBERTSON Colin

T: +32 2 281-8199

 

GRAF Jane Elizabeth

T: +32 2 281-8358

 

O’SULLIVAN Denis

T: +32 2 281-6200

 

French section

VERNIER Marie-Jeanne

T: +32 2 281-7258

 

ROELANDTS Pascal

T: +32 2 281-6800

 

GUICHARD Jérôme

T: +32 2 281-7340

 

Italian section

DELLA TORRE Constantino

T: +32 2 281-7881

 

CASTELLAN Guiliano

T: +32 2 281-5883

 

Latvian section

ANINS Janis

T: +32 2 281-5209

 

EGLITE Ilze

T: +32 2 281-5205

 

LEJASISAKA Leva

T: +32 2 281-5147

 

Lithuanian section

JOKUBAUSKAITE Jurgita

T: +32 2 281-5129

 

PAKSAS Audrius

T: +32 2 281-5229

 

VAICIUKAITE Jurate

T: +32 2 281-5228

 

Hungarian section

FELKAI JANSSEN Zsuzsanna

T: +32 2 281-5227

 

HORVÁTH Krisztina

T: +32 2 281-9751

 

LÖVENBERG Viktoria

T: +32 2 281-5122

 

Maltese section

AGIUS Peter

T: +32 2 281-5236

AQUILINA Joseph

T: +32 2 281-3019

SCHUSTER Tzeitel

T: +32 2 281-5231

 

Dutch section

DAALDER Hessel

T: +32 2 281-7113

 

LUCIDI Antonio

T: +32 2 281-7935

 

VAN DE SCHOOT Carla

T: +32 2 281-8195

 

Polish section

PAWLUSIEWICZ Maciej. J.

T: +32 2 281-5197

 

WOJTOWICZ Ewa

T: +32 2 281-3846

 

ZIELESKIEWICZ Katarzyna

T: +32 2 281-5233

 

Portuguese section

BORGES Paulo

T: +32 2 281-8371

 

LOPES CARDOSO Isabelle

T: +32 2 281-7879

 

SACRAMENTO Maria

T: +32 2 281-6533

 

Slovenian section

BRACIC Ana

T: +32 2 281-5213

 

PEDICEK Matei

T: +32 2 281-5127

 

SENK Polona

T: +32 2 281-5211

 

Slovak section

BRANDNANSKA Beata

T: +32 2 281-3988

 

GLINDOVÁ Nikoleta

T: +32 2 281-3987

 

KAVCOVA Adriana

T: +32 2 281-5198

  

SVANCÁROVÁ Elena

T: +32 2 281-5124

 

Finnish section

BJÖRKLUND Jan-Erik

T: +32 2 281-8487

 

ERNO Heikki

T: +32 2 281-6018

 

RYTÖHONKA Risto

T: +32 2 281-7269

 

KOIVU Virpi

T: +32 2 281-6939

 

Swedish section

MATTSSON Jarl

T: +32 2 281-8638

 

RÄDESTAD Isabelle

T: +32 2 281-6656

 

SEDEROWSKY DESIRE Agneta

T: +32 2 281-6007

 

SJÖGREN Charlott

T: +32 2 281-8576

 

Bulgarian Section

NIKOLOVA Maria Ivanova

T: +32 2 281-3887

 

PARVANOV Peter

T: +32 2 281-3849

 

PETEVA Jenia

T: +32 2 281-3848

 

Romanian Section

CIOBANU-DORDEA Aurel

T: +32 2 281-3889

 

DITU Doina

T: +32 2 281-7594

 

PRUNA Raluca

T: +32 2 281-3847

 

Consolidators/codifiers

GÓMEZ-REINO Sara

T: +32 2 281-8331

 

REINARTZ Kirsti

T: +32 2 281-7593