COREPER, from French Comité des représentants permanents, is the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union, made up of the head or deputy head of mission from the EU member states in Brussels.

COREPER's defined role is to prepare the agenda for the ministerial Council of the European Union meetings; it may also take some procedural decisions. It oversees and coordinates the work of some 250 committees and working parties made up of civil servants from the member states who work on issues at the technical level to be discussed later by COREPER and the Council.

The COREPER is chaired by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Article 240 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union lays down the legal basis of COREPER.

There are in fact two committees within the COREPER:

Coreper I, comprising the Deputy Permanent Representatives, prepares the ground for the following Council configurations:

Coreper II, comprising the Permanent Representatives, prepares for the other configurations:

Representatives of the Council Secretariat from the relevant Directorates and from the Legal Directorate are also present.