Council Working Party

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A Council working party or working party is a preparatory body of the Council of the European Union. The more than 150 working parties are tasked with the first examination of legislative proposals by the European Commission and play a role during the trilogue meetings at the end of the legislative procedure of the European Union.

Working parties are made up of civil servants of the Member States, the European Commission and the General Secretariat of the Council and chaired by the Member State, which currently holds the rotating Council presidency.

Scholars argue that working parties informally make the majority of Council decisions.