Working groups under the Council
There are 300 working groups answerable to the Council of Ministers. They hold 3000-3500 meetings each year and adopt 70% of all EU laws. Fifteen per cent are adopted in COREPER.
Only 15% of laws are actually dealt with in meetings of the Council of Ministers, at which the ministers themselves may be present.
The working groups consist of officials from the embassies of the EU Member States and from the ministries and departments of the national governments. The agendas, reports and working documents are usually secret and are not disclosed either to the national parliaments or to the European Parliament. For example, the Danish officials are formally instructed by the Danish minister. T
he German Bundestag has been given access to internal EU documents through a writtenm agreement between the government and the Bundestag.
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See also Comitology
