Council Statement, Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council meeting, Luxembourg, 21 October 2010

The Council has taken note of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the Commission signed by the two Institutions on 20 October 2010. The Council, which was not party to the negotiating of the framework agreement, points out that compliance with the founding Treaties of the Union, in the terms in which they have been ratified by the Member States, is the fundamental principle governing the existence and the functioning of the Union. The Treaties define exhaustively the respective powers conferred on the Institutions (Article 13(2) TEU). Those powers may not be modified or supplemented by the Institutions themselves either unilaterally or by agreement between them.