The Federation General Council was a subset of the full Federation Council, created for purposes where the Federation governing body needed to gather quickly and efficiently. In the General Council, a single representative was selected from a block of member states, grouped either by region or by other commonality. This General Council, which as of the mid 23rd century was made up of less than 250 representatives, and led by a Council President and a Speaker of the Council. The General Council met more frequently than the full Council, and also allowed Federation citizens, at the request of their planetary embassies, to address the General Council to air general concerns.

In 2269, Spock received credentials from Vulcan Ambassador to United Earth Sytok to address the Federation General Council, where he argued that the planet Talin IV was a de facto member of the Federation, and where he introduced Talin Seerl ti'La and Orr ni'Li as the planet's ambassadors. (TOS novel: Prime Directive)

The depiction of the composition and operation of the Federation Council in Prime Directive differs markedly from that of other novels, including Articles of the Federation.