The General Council consists of the ECB’s President and Vice-President, and the respective governors of the ESCB's 27 national central banks.
The other members of the ECB Executive Board, the President of the Council of the EU and one member of the European Commission may take part in General Council meetings, but without the right to vote.
The General Council takes charge of the tasks carried out by the European Monetary Institute (EMI), which the ECB continues to perform at Stage three of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), while there are still Member States that have not adopted the euro. These tasks include: reporting on the progress made towards convergence by non-participating Member States and advising on all the necessary preparations for irrevocably fixing the exchange rates of their respective currencies. In addition, the General Council collaborates in certain ESCB activities, such as advising and compiling statistical data.
