Council Abbreviations

The term ‘Council’ can cause confusion. There is talk of a European Council , a Council of the European Union and, outside the EU context, a Council of Europe . The presidency of the European Council and the Council of the European Union changes. Every six months, a different Member State (in a predetermined order) chairs the Council. Every two and a half years, the European Council elects its President by qualified majority.

Council refers to meetings or bodies of people that come together for consultation or to establish rules or advice.

Council, from the Latin consilĭum, is the opinion or opinion that is issued or received to do (or not do) something. Advice is a judgment, belief, or inquiry regarding an action or fact. For example: “I want to start my own company, but I need your advice”, “Thank you, the advice you gave me was very successful”, “Why do you ask me for advice if you do the opposite of what I suggest later?” .

The Council (generally written with an initial capital letter) is a collegiate body or administrative body whose function is to inform the government or authorities on certain matters. There are councils that are in charge of managing or directing a certain public organization or a sector of it.

However, throughout history there have been and there are many organizations that are framed within what would be defined as council:
• Council of State. It is an entity within the administration and government of a country that has the basic function of carrying out its participation in the most important political or economic matters, for example. In your case, what you do is offer your opinion about them.
• Council of war. This is established within what would be the military field and basically we could say that it is a court where certain superiors of that are in charge of settling a question regarding an action carried out by colleagues and subordinates. In other words, it is a question of determining whether the accused have committed a crime, classified as such in the corresponding code of military justice.
• Council of the Inquisition. One of the most fearsome organs in history is, without a doubt, that one, which was created by the Holy Office to settle the guilt or not of the people who were accused of heresy, witchcraft… The origin is found in the XV century of the one who was also known by the name of Council of the Supreme and General Inquisition.
• Minister council. In the case of Spain, we can determine that this is the name given to the weekly meeting that the President of the Government holds with all the ministers to address the most important issues that affect the country.

The United Nations Security Council is a UN body that must maintain peace between countries and guarantee security. This body has the power to issue resolutions and compel UN members to comply with them: therefore, it is more than a scope for consultation.

Fifteen nations (five permanent and ten temporary) are part of the United Nations Security Council. The permanent members are the United States, China, the United Kingdom, France and Russia.

The Council of the European Union, for its part, is an EU institution with legislative and budgetary functions. It works in conjunction with the European Parliament and the European Commission. It is important not to confuse it with the European Council and the Council of Europe.

A council (written in C), finally, is a deliberative body or asamblearia meeting.

List of Acronyms Related to Council