Work of the British-Irish Council
The Members of the British-Irish Council co-operate on bringing work forward in areas of mutual interest, including the Misuse of Drugs, Environment, Knowledge Economy, Social Inclusion, e-Health, Tourism, Transport, Minority and Lesser-Used Languages, and Demography.

Objectives
The purpose of the British-Irish Council (BIC) is to promote the harmonious and mutually beneficial development of the totality of relationships among the peoples of Ireland and the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The Council normally operates by consensus and Members aim to co-operate on matters of mutual interest. This means that Members of the Council work together to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Members of the BIC may agree common policies or common actions, although individual Members may opt not to participate in such common policies or common actions.

Priority Areas of Work of the Council
At its first summit in London in December 1999, the Council agreed a number of priority areas of work. Two further areas (Tourism and Telemedicine) were agreed at the second summit in Dublin in November 2001 and the area of Minority and Lesser-Used Languages was agreed at the third Summit in Jersey in June 2002. Demography was adopted as a priority work area at the London Summit in June 2006. Members have taken the lead in areas of work as follows:

Future Areas of Work

Members can take the lead in more than one area of work, and at its first summit, the Council agreed several other areas, in addition to those listed above, which would be of particular interest to Members. The list includes:
• Agricultural issues;
• Regional issues;
• Sporting activity;
• Energy issues;
• Cultural issues;
• Education issues;
• Approaches to EU issues;
• Prison and probation issues.
This is not an exhaustive list. Members continue to consider other areas of work which are not listed here.

Multilateral and Bilateral Areas of Co-operation

It is open to two or more Members to develop bilateral and multilateral arrangements between them. While such arrangements are already in place with regard to many issues between Members, the Agreement suggests such arrangements could include, subject to the agreement of the Members concerned, mechanisms to enable consultation, co-operation and joint decision making on matters of mutual interest; and mechanisms to implement any joint decisions they may reach. These arrangements will not require the prior approval of the BIC as a whole and will operate independently of it. The development of such arrangements and progress made in work carried out under them, may be reported for information to the BIC as a whole.

Meetings

The BIC meets in different formats, including at summit level and in specific sectoral format, with each side represented by the appropriate Minister(s), or their equivalents, to pursue the BIC’s approved work programme. Officials from BIC Members meet to prepare the meetings in advance. The Council can also meet in an appropriate format to consider cross-sectoral matters.

Summit meetings

To date the Council has met seven times at summit level, in London in December 1999, in Dublin in November 2001, in Jersey in June 2002, in Scotland in November 2002, in Wales in November 2003  in Guernsey in 2004, in the Isle of Man in 2005 in and in London in June 2006.

Summit meetings generally focus on a particular theme within one of the priority areas of work. Administrations with the lead in other priority areas of work report on developments in those areas to the summit meetings, and the summits also review developments in the overall work and discuss and approve new sectoral areas.

Sectoral Meetings

Specific sectoral meetings focusing on particular areas of policy which the Council has agreed to consider also take place, at both Ministerial and official level. 17 Ministerial meetings have taken place to date. In addition, numerous meetings at official level and seminars on various topics have been taking place on an ongoing basis. Further details of these meetings, including decisions taken, and lists of attendees, are available at the Communiqués section of the site.

Secretariat

The Secretariat for the BIC is provided by the British and Irish Governments. It is staffed by British and Irish officials, based in the Ministry of Justice in the U.K. and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland. The Secretariat works in co-ordination with officials of each of the other Members. Contact the Secretariat  

Funding

The expenses of the Secretariat and other administrative support for the BIC are met by the British and Irish governments. BIC members, as agreed between them, provide financial support as required for its activities in sectoral areas.