The Permanent Representatives Committee, generally known by its
French acronym "COREPER", is an institution central
to the European Union and its decision-making mechanism. It consists
of the Permanent Representatives of the Member States to whom
the Treaty entrusts the responsibility for preparing the work
of the European Union Council of Ministers and for carrying out
particular tasks assigned to it by the Council.
COREPER began to operate immediately after the 1957 Rome Treaty,
although its first regulation dates back only to 1965. Progressive
extension of its activity led to its division into two distinct
bodies:
• COREPER I, made up of the Deputy Permanent
Representatives, usually meets twice weekly - on Wednesdays and
Fridays - and has the task of examining the results achieved by
the various working groups, on the basis of which it prepares
proposals presented to the Council of Ministers. COREPER I, in
fact, has responsibility for the preliminary examination of everything
that will be included in the agendas of the following technical
Councils: "Competitiveness", "Transport, Telecommunications
and Energy", Agriculture and Fisheries", Environment",
"Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumers" and
"Education, Youth and Culture".
In addition to the Deputy Permanent Representatives of the Member
States, members of the Commission and of the Council Secretariat
participate in COREPER I.
When COREPER I accepts a proposal unanimously, it is put on the
agenda of the relevant Council as "Point A" and adopted
without debate. In the case, on the other hand, of disagreement,
it is identified as "Point B", and becomes the subject
of discussion and debate at the political level.
•COREPER II, made up of the Permanent
Representatives, deals with preparations for the Council of Foreign
Ministers (General Affairs and External Relations), the Council
of Ministers of Finance (ECOFIN and Budget) and the Council of
Ministers of Justice and of the Interior (Justice and Home Affairs).
COREPER II approves, without discussion, all legislative proposals
already agreed upon in the various working groups, filtered through
COREPER's preparatory groups ("Antici" for COREPER II
and "Mertens" for COREPER I). In cases in which there
remain unresolved questions, COREPER discusses the proposals and,
if the questions are resolved, sends the proposals to the Ministers
for adoption. If no consensus is reached at the COREPER level,
the Ministers then re-examine the question.
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