ARTICLE J.8 1. The European Council shall define the principles of and general guidelines for the common foreign and security policy. 2. The Council shall take the decisions necessary for defining and implementing the common foreign and security policy on the basis of the general guidelines adopted by the European Council. It shall ensure the unity, consistency and effectiveness of action by the Union. The Council shall act unanimously, except for procedural questions and in the case referred to in Article J.3(2). 3. Any Member State or the Commission may refer to the Council any question relating to the common foreign policy and may submit proposals to the Council. 4. In cases requiring a rapid decision, the Presidency, of its own motion, or at the request of the Commission or a Member State, shall convene an extraordinary Council meeting within forty-eight hours or, in an emergency, within a shorter period. 5. Without prejudice to Article 151 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, a Political Committee consisting of Political Directors shall monitor the international situation in the areas covered by common foreign and security policy and contribute to the definition of policies by delivering opinions to the Council at the request of the Council or on its own initiative. It shall also monitor the implementation of agreed policies, without prejudice to the responsibility of the Presidency and the Commission. ARTICLE J.9 The Commission shall be fully associated with the work carried out in the common foreign and security policy field. ARTICLE J.10 On the occasion of any review of the security provisions under Article J.4, the Conference which is convened to that effect shall also examine whether any other amendments need to be made to provisions relating to the common foreign and security policy. ARTICLE J.11 1. The provisions referred to in Articles 137, 138, 139 to 142, 146, 147, 150 to 153, 157 to 163 and 217 of the Treaty establishing the European Community shall apply to the provisions relating to the areas referred to in this Title. 2. Administrative expenditure which the provisions relating to the areas referred to in this Title entail for the institutions shall be charged to the budget of the European Communities. The Council may also: - either decide unanimously that operational expenditure to which the implementation of those provisions gives rise is to be charged to the budget of the European Communities; in that event, the budgetary procedure laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Community shall be applicable; - or determine that such expenditure shall be charged to the Member States, where appropriate in accordance with a scale to be decided. TITLE6 PROVISIONS ON COOPERATION IN THE FIELDS OF JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS ARTICLE K Co-operation in the fields of justice and home affairs shall be governed by the following provisions.