Foreign Affairs Council

A meeting of the FAC during the signing of the joint notification on the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in 2017, featuring both foreign and defence ministers.

The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is a configuration of the Council of the European Union that convenes once a month.[1] Meetings bring together the foreign ministers of the member states. Ministers responsible for European affairs, defence, development or trade also participate depending on the items on agenda. The configuration is unique in that is chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) rather than the member state holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union. There is one exception, when the FAC meets in the configuration of ministers responsible for trade (FAC/Trade), with the presiding member state's minister chairing the meeting.

At its sessions, the FAC deals with the whole of the EU's external action, including Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), foreign trade and development cooperation. A priority in recent years for the FAC, in cooperation with the European Commission, has been to ensure coherence in the EU's external action across the range of instruments at the EU's disposal.

  1. ^ Gegout, Catherine (2010-01-01). European Foreign and Security Policy: States, Power, Institutions and American Hegemony. University of Toronto Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-4426-1034-7.