It does not take votes, nordoes it apply the rules of unanimity orqualified majority, unlike the Councilcomposed of the ministers of the 15.The Treaties do not in general dictaterules for decisionmaking in the European Council, and it is rare thatthey enable it to adopt formal acts.The European Council primarilymakes political decisions, notlegislative ones, although since the Treaties of Maastricht (1993) and Amsterdam (1999) came into force ithas been able to adopt legislativedecisions as well.
Eurooppa-neuvostoon ennen kaikkea poliittisiapäätöksiätekevä elin, jossa ei tehdä oikeudellisiapäätöksiä, vaikka se Maastrichtin (1993)ja Amsterdamin (1999) sopimustenvoimaantulon jälkeen joutuukin niitätekemään.