North Atlantic Council

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North Atlantic Council
Coat of arms or logo
History
Founded4 April 1949; 73 years ago (1949-04-04)
Leadership
Deputy Secretary-General
Seats
Meeting place
Isaac Herzog in an official visit to the European Union in Brussels, January 2023 (GPOHZ0 3).jpeg
NATO headquarters
Brussels, Belgium
Website
http://www.nato.int/

The North Atlantic Council (NAC) is the principal political decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), consisting of permanent representatives of its member countries.[1] It was established by Article 9 of the North Atlantic Treaty, and it is the only body in NATO that derives its authority explicitly from the treaty.

Powers and duties[edit]

The North Atlantic Treaty gave the NAC the power to set up subsidiary bodies for various policy functions, including a defense committee to implement other parts of the treaty. Since 1952, the NAC has been in permanent session.[2] The NAC can be held at the Permanent Representative Level (PermReps), or can be composed of member states' Ministers of State, Defense, or Heads of Government. The NAC has the same powers regardless of the formation under which it meets. The NAC meets twice a week: every Tuesday, for an informal lunch discussion; and every Wednesday for a decision-taking session. Usually, meetings occur amongst the Permanent Representatives who are the senior permanent member of each delegation and is generally a senior civil servant or an experienced ambassador (and holding that diplomatic rank). The list of Permanent Representatives may be found on the NATO website.[3]

The 30 members of NATO have diplomatic missions to the organization through embassies in Belgium. The meetings of the NAC are chaired by the Secretary General and, when decisions have to be made, action is agreed upon on the basis of unanimity and common accord. There is no voting or decision by majority. Each nation represented at the NAC table or on any of its subordinate committees retains complete sovereignty and responsibility for its own decisions.[4]

An overview of NATO's military command structure (NCS):

Liaison:       Provides advice and support to the NAC
Political strategic level:
North Atlantic Council
Secretary General of NATO
Brussels, BE
International Staff
Brussels, BE
Military strategic level:
Coat of arms of the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.svg
Golden star.svgGolden star.svgGolden star.svgGolden star.svg
Chair of the NATO Military Committee

Brussels, BE
Strategic commands:
Coat of arms of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.svg
Golden star.svgGolden star.svgGolden star.svgGolden star.svg
SACEUR
(ACO, SHAPE)
Mons, BE
Emblem of Allied Command Transformation.svg
Golden star.svgGolden star.svgGolden star.svgGolden star.svg
SACT
(ACT, HQ SACT)
Norfolk, US
Tactical commands:Transformational commands:
Allied Air Command AIRCOM Ramstein, DEJoint Warfare Centre JWC Stavanger, NO
Allied Maritime Command MARCOM Northwood, GBJoint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre JALLC Lisbon, PT
Allied Land Command LANDCOM İzmir, TRJoint Force Training Centre JFTC Bydgoszcz, PL
Misc.:
JSEC Ulm, DE
Operational commands:NATO Communication and Information Systems Group CIS GP Mons, BECoat of arms of Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO.svg STRIKFORNATO Oeiras, PT
Coat of arms of Joint Force Command Norfolk.jpg JFC-NF Norfolk, Virginia, USAllied Joint Force Command Naples JFC-NP Naples, ITAllied Joint Force Command Brunssum JFC-BS Brunssum, NL
Coat of arms of the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.svg Response Force:
MNC NE (V1).svg MNC-NE Szczecin, PLInsigne incognitum.svg MND-SE Bucharest, RO


Composition[edit]

Each member nation is normally represented on the North Atlantic Council by an Ambassador or Permanent Representative supported by a national delegation composed of advisers and officials who represent their country on different NATO committees.

Member Representative Member Representative Member Representative
Albania

Republic of Albania
Shqipëria
Blank man placeholder.svg
Visho Ajazi Lika
Belgium

Kingdom of Belgium
België/Belgique/Belgien[a]
Blank woman placeholder.svg
Ariadne Petridis
Bulgaria

Republic of Bulgaria
България/Bǎlgariya
Blank man placeholder.svg
Dragomir Zakov
Canada

Canada
Canada
Blank man placeholder.svg
David Angell
Croatia

Republic of Croatia
Hrvatska
Blank man placeholder.svg
Mario Nobilo
Czech Republic

Czech Republic
Česko
Informal meeting of defence ministers (FAC). Arrivals Jakub Landovský (36908879062).jpg
Jakub Landovský
Denmark

Kingdom of Denmark
Danmark
Liselotte Kjaersgaard Plesner (cropped).jpg
Liselotte Plesner
Estonia

Republic of Estonia
Eesti
Jüri Luik 2017-06-09 (cropped).jpg
Jüri Luik
France

French Republic
France
Blank woman placeholder.svg
Muriel Domenach
Germany

Federal Republic of Germany
Deutschland
Blank man placeholder.svg
Rüdiger König
Greece

Hellenic Republic
Ελλάδα/Elláda
Blank man placeholder.svg
Spiros Lambridis
Hungary

Hungary
Magyarország
Blank man placeholder.svg
Zoltán Nagy
Iceland

Iceland
Ísland
Blank man placeholder.svg
Hermann Ingólfsson
Italy

Italian Republic
Italia
Blank man placeholder.svg
Francesco M. Talò
Latvia

Republic of Latvia
Latvija
Latvia Statement to RC-4 (32129690538).jpg
Edgars Skuja
Lithuania

Republic of Lithuania
Lietuva
MatulionisDeividas.JPG
Deividas Matulionis
Luxembourg

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Lëtzebuerg/Luxembourg/Luxemburg
Blank man placeholder.svg
Stephan Frédéric Müller
Montenegro

Montenegro
Црна Гора/Crna Gora
Blank woman placeholder.svg
Dubravka Lalović
Netherlands

Kingdom of the Netherlands
Nederland
Blank woman placeholder.svg
Marisa Gerards
North Macedonia

Republic of North Maecedonia
Северна Македонија/Severna Makedonija
Blank man placeholder.svg
Dane Taleski
Norway

Kingdom of Norway
Norge/Noreg/Norga
Øystein Bø 2016 (DoD).JPG
Øystein Bø
Poland

Republic of Poland
Polska
Tomasz Szatkowski.jpg
Tomasz Szatkowski
Portugal

Portuguese Republic
Portugal
Blank man placeholder.svg
Pedro Costa Pereira
Romania

Romania
România
Blank man placeholder.svg
Dan Neculăescu
Slovakia

Slovak Republic
Slovensko
Blank man placeholder.svg
Peter Bátor
Slovenia

Republic of Slovenia
Slovenija
Blank man placeholder.svg
Erik Kopač
Spain

Kingdom of Spain
España
Blank man placeholder.svg
Miguel Ángel Fernández-Palacios
Turkey

Republic of Turkey
Türkiye
Blank man placeholder.svg
Basat Öztürk
United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United Kingdom
David Quarrey.jpg
David Quarrey
United States

United States of America
United States of America
Julianne Smith, NATO Ambassador.jpg
Julianne Smith

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Short names used within EU institutions.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The North Atlantic Council". NATO.
  2. ^ "REORGANIZATION OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION".
  3. ^ "nato.int: "NATO Permanent Representatives"".
  4. ^ "North Atlantic Council".

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]