The Council of the European Union (Informally, the Council of Ministers or just the Council; Consilium is a Latin-language compromise) is one of the two legislative institutions of the European Union (EU), the other being the European Parliament. This Council should be distinguished from the European Council, which is comprised of EU heads of state or government, and the Council of Europe, which is a non-EU organisation of 47 states dealing with human rights.

The Council, together with the Parliament, form the highest legislative body within the Union, but only within the competencies of the European Community. It is composed of twenty-seven national ministers (one per state). However the exact membership depends upon the topic being discussed, for example; when discussing the agricultural policy the twenty-seven national agriculture ministers form the Council. The ministers are accountable to their national electorates and together serve the second largest democratic electorate in the world (492 million). The Union's law is limited to specific policy areas, however it does override national law. As the Union operates on supranational and intergovernmental platforms, in some areas the Council is superior to the Parliament, having only to consult to get assent from the body. In many areas, however, the Union uses the legislative process of codecision procedure, in which the two bodies are equal in power.

The Council does not have a single president in the traditional sense, but the role is rotated between each member state every 6 months (known as the "Presidency"), with the minister from that state then able to set the agenda. Another powerful position is the Secretary General who is also the representative of the Union's foreign policy.