The Council of Ministers plays a major role in EU governance. However, it has not Received sufficient analytical attention because of the difficulties encountered by researchers in obtaining precise information about its activities. Using the Agriculture Council as our focus, we draw upon detailed interviews conducted with over twenty-five Council officials and representatives from member state Agriculture Ministries over the period 1995–2000. Conceptualising the EU polity in the context of multilevel governance, we apply new institutionalist perspectives from political science to argue that the Agriculture Council's operation is founded upon a search for consensus and concordance. On this basis we scrutinise the Council's decisionmaking structure, the tactical and strategic dimensions of decisionmaking within it, and the attitudinal environment in which this occurs.
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