european-union community-law eu-law tfeu european-council
What TFEU or other EU law provision provides for the veto power of any head of state or government in the European Council?
<p>Simple question, I am looking for the law citation.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What TFEU or other EU law provision provides for the veto power of a head of state in the European Council?</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Terminology</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:european_council" rel="nofollow noreferrer">European Council</a>
<ul>
<li>is composed mainly of the <strong>national leaders</strong> (heads of state [4] or government [23]) of the 27 member states.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>The European Council’s role is to provide the impetus, general political directions and priorities for the EU’s development (Article 15 of the Treaty on European Union — TEU), ...<br />
...<br />
It does not carry out any legislative function. However, it defines the strategic guidelines for legislative and operational planning within the area of freedom, security and justice (Article 68 TFEU).</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/eu_council.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Council of the European Union (simply called ‘the Council’)</a>
<ul>
<li>sometimes also called: <em>Council of Ministers</em></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>The Council meets in 10 configurations, bringing together the <strong>relevant ministers</strong> from the Member States<br />
...<br />
The Council, together with the European Parliament, carries out legislative and budgetary functions. It is also the lead institution for decision-making on the common foreign and security policy (CFSP). Member States coordinate their economic policies within the Council.</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>when they can't agree, then it is often referred to the <em>European Council</em></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/qualified_majority.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Qualified majority</a></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>Under the ordinary legislative procedure, the Council acts by <em>Qualified majority</em>, in codecision with the Parliament.</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/unanimity.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Unanimity</a>
<ul>
<li>is the term that is used (not <em>veto</em>)</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>Unanimity, where all EU Member States have to agree, is one of the voting rules applicable to the Council. The Council has to vote unanimously on a number of policy areas which the Member States consider to be sensitive.<br />
The policy areas where the Council acts unanimously are <strong>exhaustively listed by the Treaties</strong>.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>For both the ‘the Council' and the 'European Council', <strong>Qualified majority</strong> is the default and <strong>Unanimity</strong> the exception.</p>
<p>The cases of <em>Unanimity</em> are mostly meantioned (using that term) within an Article sub-paragraph and lists the sub-paragraphs that are effected.</p>
<p>A major exception is <strong>Article 238(2)</strong>, where only  <strong>Foreign Affairs and Security Policy</strong> is listed.</p>
<p>I have added a link of those cases that I could find below.</p>
<p>Assume the list is not compleate.</p>
<p><strong>Notes</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li>The <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:4301854" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)</a> is the main source where the  <em>Unanimities</em> are being defined.</li>
<li>The abbreviation 'TEU' is used for the original 1992 article numbers <strong>or</strong> when the number has not changed, otherwise 'TFEU' is used.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><strong>Sources</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:eu_institutions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">European Union institutions</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/european_parliament.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">European Parliament</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum:ai0010" rel="nofollow noreferrer">summary</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:european_council" rel="nofollow noreferrer">European Council</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum:ai0014" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rules of Procedure</a></li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/qualified_majority.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Qualified majority</a></li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/unanimity.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Unanimity</a></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>A limited number of policy areas considered to be sensitive remain subject to unanimity voting:</p>
<ul>
<li>taxation;
<ul>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016M223" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 223(2) TFEU</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>social security or social protection;
<ul>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016M153" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 153(2) TFEU</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>the accession of new EU Member States;
<ul>
<li><em>not found</em></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)
<ul>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016M046" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 46(6) TFEU</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>operational police cooperation between Member States
<ul>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016M087" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 87(3) TFEU</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/eu_council.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Council of the European Union (simply called ‘the Council’)</a>
<ul>
<li>sometimes also called: <em>Council of Ministers</em></li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum:a22000" rel="nofollow noreferrer">summary: Article 16 (TEU) and 237-243 (TFEU)</a></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Voting</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li>For certain sensitive matters, such as foreign policy and taxation, the Council decides by unanimity.
<ul>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016E238" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 238(2) TFEU</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/european_commission.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">European Commission</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum:ai0006" rel="nofollow noreferrer">summary</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/eu_court_justice.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Court of Justice of the European Union</a></li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/european_central_bank.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">European Central Bank</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum:o10001" rel="nofollow noreferrer">summary</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/european_court_auditors.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Court of Auditors</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum:o10006" rel="nofollow noreferrer">summary</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/treaties.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">European Union Treaties</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:ai0033" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lisbon Treaty, 2007/9</a></li>
<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:4301854" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)</a>
<ul>
<li>Treaty on European Union (TEU), 1992
<ul>
<li>renamed 2007</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016ME/TXT" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union of 13 December 2007 — consolidated version</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016M016" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 16 TEU</a></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<ol start="4">
<li>As from 1 November 2014, a qualified majority shall be defined as at least 55 % of the members of the Council, comprising at least fifteen of them and representing Member States comprising at least 65 % of the population of the Union.<br />
A blocking minority must include at least four Council members, failing which the qualified majority shall be deemed attained.<br />
The other arrangements governing the qualified majority are laid down in <strong>Article 238(2)</strong> of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016M046" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 46 TFEU</a></li>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016M087" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 87 TFEU</a></li>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016M153" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 153 TFEU</a></li>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016M223" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 223 TFEU</a></li>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016E235" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 235 TFEU</a></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li>...<br />
...<br />
Abstentions by members present in person or represented shall <strong>not</strong> prevent the adoption by the <strong>European Council</strong> of acts which require unanimity.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:12016E238" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 238 TFEU</a></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<ol start="2">
<li>By way of derogation from <strong>Article 16(4)</strong> of the Treaty on European Union, as from 1 November 2014 and subject to the provisions laid down in the Protocol on transitional provisions, <strong>where the Council does not act on a proposal from the Commission or from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy</strong>, the qualified majority shall be defined as at least 72 % of the members of the Council, representing Member States comprising at least 65 % of the population of the Union.
...</li>
<li>Abstentions by Members present in person or represented shall <strong>not</strong> prevent the adoption by <strong>the Council</strong> of acts which require unanimity.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
