ZAGREB, September 23, 2018 – Croatia’s ministers show up at 56% of meetings in the Council of the European Union, whereas the attendance rate across the 28 EU member-states is 76%, and the best performers are Romania and Portugal, while only Slovakia, Poland and Slovenia have lower ministerial attendance rates than Croatia, according to findings of a survey conducted by the Danish think-tank EUROPA.
This association has examined all the lists of participants of all meetings of the Council of European Union from June 2015 to 1 August 2018, and the Council of EU is one of the most important institutions within the EU. It consists of ministers of EU member-states and together with the European Parliament, the Council is engaged in adoption of laws.
According to the old dictum, “The Commission proposes, and the Council disposes”. The Council meets in 10 different configurations of 28 national ministers (one per state). The precise membership of these configurations varies according to the topic under consideration; for example, when discussing agricultural policy the Council is formed by the 28 national ministers whose portfolio includes this policy area (with the related European Commissioners contributing but not voting)
The think tank notes that it is not always ministers that show up at meetings in the Council of the European Union. and the average ministerial participation across the 28 EU member states is at 76 %. The member-states can be represented at those meetings by state-secretaries, deputy ministers or ambassadors.
According to the survey, Romanian and Portuguese ministers attended over 90% of the meetings in the said period, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Finland and Belgium follow with attendance rates between 90% and 85%. The United Kingdom and Malta are also close to them, and a few more member-states are with attendance rate of their respective ministers within the range from 85% to 80%.
On the other hand, Slovakia and Poland have the ministerial participation rate of 52%, which means that at almost every second meeting of the Council of EU, those two countries were represented by lower office-holders. Slovenia’s rate stands at about 54%
The level of participation varies substantially across Council configurations.
