The Conclusions of the European Council are politically binding on the Member States of the European Union and have a major influence on the direction of EC and EU business. The process of preparing the Conclusions is secretive with Parliament having no opportunity to scrutinise the Conclusions before the Prime Minister commits the UK to them. Whilst the Council of Ministers sometimes has conclusions and sometimes does not ( there are different Council of Ministers, each dealing with a separate policy area), the European Scrutiny Committee believes that a clarification of the Conclusions-process is needed and the objective of this report is to inquire into the arrangements for the preparation, consideration and approval of the Conclusions of the European Council and the Council of Ministers. The Committee has set out a number of conclusions and recommendations, including: that the Government should discuss with other Member States the options of improving the process and removing present inefficiencies and eccentricities of the proceedings of the European Council; that the Government should deposit within the scrutiny process in Parliament the draft Conclusions of the European Council; that the Government presses the case with other Member States for establishing criteria to determine when Conclusions of the Council of Ministers are required.