Council Working Party
Introduction


A **Council working party** or **working party** is a preparatory body of the [Council of the European Union](/wiki/Council_of_the_European_Union "Council of the European Union"). The more than 150 working parties are tasked with the first examination of legislative proposals by the [European Commission](/wiki/European_Commission "European Commission") and play a role during the [trilogue meetings](/wiki/Trilogue_meeting "Trilogue meeting") at the end of the [legislative procedure of the European Union](/wiki/Legislative_procedure_of_the_European_Union "Legislative procedure of the European Union").

Working parties are made up of [civil servants](/wiki/Civil_service "Civil service") of the [Member States](/wiki/Member_state_of_the_European_Union "Member state of the European Union"), the European Commission and the [General Secretariat of the Council](/wiki/General_Secretariat_of_the_Council_of_the_European_Union "General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union") and chaired by the Member State, which currently holds the rotating [Council presidency](/wiki/Presidency_of_the_Council_of_the_European_Union "Presidency of the Council of the European Union").

Scholars argue that working parties informally make the majority of Council decisions.


Do working parties have any real power to block or modify legislation?