Abstract
In 1998, the European Council was not a community institution yet. It was an intergovernmental institution made up of the Heads of States and Governments of the Member States and of the President of the Commission. Its fundamental role was and still is to define the general political direction and priorities of the European Union and also to express common positions about foreign relations. Considering this, the questions I am going to address in the brief analysis are: In what context did the Vienna European Council take place? What concrete outcomes did it bring? And what implications did it have for ESDP?
