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The European Union legislative procedure describes the way the European Union creates and enacts legislation across the community.
Roles of the institutions
The three main institutions of the European Union each have a role to play in the legislative procedure.
- The European Commission proposes and drafts legislation, but it cannot decide on laws. As the executive arm of the Union, it is also responsible for implementing some measures once they have been passed.
- The Council of Ministers and the European Parliament jointly form the legislative arm of the Union. They are responsible for formulating and adopting all European laws, with the power jointly to accept, amend or reject proposals drafted by the Commission. The respective roles played by Council and Parliament depend on the legislative procedure being used.
Legislative procedures
There are three main legislative procedures in the EU: the codecision procedure, the cooperation procedure, and the assent procedure. Of these, the codecision procedure is the most common, covering about 80% of all legislation.
The choice of procedure used for each specific legislative proposal depends on the policy area of the proposal in question. For instance, consumer protection legislation is always decided using the codecision procedure. The rules governing which procedure applies to which policy area are laid down in the Treaties of the European Union.
There is a fourth procedure, the consultation procedure, which was historically important but today is used only for decisions about treaties and enlargement of the Union.
Codecision procedure
- Main article: Codecision procedure
The codecision procedure is the main legislative procedure by which European laws are adopted. This procedure gives the European Parliament the power to adopt legislation jointly with the Council of the European Union, requiring the two bodies to agree on an identical text before any proposal can become law.
If the two institutions are unable to reach agreement, a conciliation committee is set up with an equal number of members from both Parliament and Council. The committee attempts to negotiate a compromise text which must then be approved by both institutions.
Both Parliament and Council have the power to reject a proposal either at second reading or following conciliation, causing the proposal to fall. The Commission may also withdraw its proposal at any time.
The codecision procedure was introduzed with the Maastricht Treaty (1993). Its scope was expanded considerably by the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) and the Treaty of Nice (2001), with the result today that about 80% of all European Union policy areas are subject to codecision. (This proportion would have increased further, to virtually all areas, if the European constitution had entered into force.)
Assent procedure
- Main article: Assent procedure
Under this procedure, the Council of the European Union must obtain Parliament's assent before certain important decisions can be taken. Hence, Parliament has the power to accept or reject a proposal, and its rejection of a proposal is final. However, Parliament does not have the power to make amendments.
Cooperation procedure
- Main article: Cooperation procedure
The cooperation procedure is a rarely-used procedure according to which the European Parliament is allowed two readings of legislative proposals, but does not have the final say about which amendments become law, this power being reserved by Council.
Historically, this procedure was more widely used, but recent treaty revisions have de-emphasized it in favour of the far more common codecision procedure. Today, the cooperation procedure applies only to certain aspects of economic and monetary union law.
Consultation procedure
- Main article: Consultation procedure
Under this procedure, Council is required to consult Parliament on legislative proposals (as well as other bodies such as the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions). However, Council is not bound by Parliament's position. Hence, under the consultation procedure, Paliament can recommend amendments or rejection which the Commission is bound to consider, and it can delay the adoption of a measure, but it cannot enforce its will against the will of Council.
Historically, the consultation procedure was the EU's main legislative procedure. Since its replacement by the codecision procedure in most areas, however, it is today used for revision of the treaties, adoption of external treaties, associations and enlargements of the EU.
Inter-governmental "pillars"
According to the treaties which have evolved to govern the European Union, the European Union rests upon three "pillars". The first pillar is the European Community itself, which has legal personality and adopts most European legislation using the procedures described above.
However, some legal decisions can be enacted in the other two pillars (the Common Foreign and Security Policy and co-operation in the fields of justice and home affairs). These two pillars are essentially intergovernmental, with the Council of Ministers as the main legislative body. The Commission is less influential (and recourse cannot be had to the European Court of Justice).
For actions in the second and third pillars, the European Parliament also plays a lesser role. However, it should be noted that the European Union's budget applies across all three pillars, and since Parliament has control of the budget in every detail, it exerts a degree of control even in those areas where it has no direct legislative authority.
If the Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe had been ratified by all member states, it would have abolished the 'pillar' structure, bringing all EU activity under the umbrella of the 'European Union' proper.
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