Foreign Affairs Council

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.

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.

The EU command and control (C2) structure is directed by political bodies composed of member states' representatives, and generally requires unanimous decisions.