European Union legislative procedure
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The legislative procedures of the European Union are the ways in which the European Union creates and enacts legislation. The procedure used for any given legislative proposal depends on the policy area in question. The rules governing which procedure applies to which policy area are laid down in the Treaties of the European Union.
Whenever the Council is involved in legislating it either votes by unanimity or by qualified majority which like the choice of procedure depends on the policy areas in question.
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[edit] Codecision procedure
- Main article: Codecision procedure
The Codecision procedure (also known as the Article 251 procedure) is the main legislative procedure by which directives are adopted. The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament jointly adopt legislation based on a proposal by the European Commission. Both Parliament and Council are required to agree on an identical text before a proposal can be adopted.
The procedure was introduced with the Maastricht Treaty and was initially intended to replace the Cooperation procedure (see below). The Codecision procedure was amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam and the number of legal bases where the procedure applies was greatly increased by both the latter treaty and the Treaty of Nice.
[edit] Cooperation procedure
- Main article: Cooperation procedure
The Cooperation procedure (also known as the Article 252 procedure) used to be a very important procedure which covered a wide variety of enacted legislation. It marked the first step toward real power by the European Parliament. Under the procedure the Council can, with the support of Parliament and acting on a proposal by the Commission, adopt a proposal by a qualified majority, but the Council can also overrule a rejection of the particular proposed law by the Parliament by adopting a proposal unanimously.
The procedure was introduced by the Single European Act to give wider powers to the European Parliament. It was amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam when its replacement with the Codecision procedure failed to be agreed. It was previously used on a large range of topics, but changes to the treaties brought about by the Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice treaties have limited it to certain aspects of economic and monetary union law.
[edit] Consultation procedure
- Main article: Consultation procedure
Before the Single European Act the Consultation procedure was the most widely used legislative procedure in the then European Community. Under this procedure the Council can adopt legislation based on a proposal by the European Commission after consulting the European Parliament. While being required to consult Parliament on legislative proposals, the Council is not bound by Parliament's position. In practice the Council would frequently ignore whatever Parliament might suggest and even sometimes reach an agreement before receiving Parliament's opinion. In order to obtain some leverage against proposals it disliked, Parliament would filibuster by putting off giving its formal opinion, thereby stalling the legislative process.
Consultation is still used for legislation concerning:
- the harmonisation of indirect taxation affecting the establishment and the functioning of the internal market (Article 93[1])
- the approximation of laws which relate directly to the establishment and functioning of the common market (Article 94)
- objectives of the Union which relate to the common market but which lack an explicit legal basis in the treaties (Article 308)
- competition law (Article 83)
- fiscal measures relating to the environment (Article 175)
- visa, immigration and asylum policy (protocol of the Treaty of Nice on Article 67 of the Treaty establishing the European Community)
- discrimination (Article 13)
- liberalising specific services (Article 52)
The procedure is also used in relation to the Union's advisory bodies such as the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee that are required to be consulted under a range of areas under the treaties affecting their area of expertise. Such a procedure takes place in addition to consultation with the European Parliament or the other legislative procedures.
[edit] Assent procedure
- Main article: Assent procedure
Under this procedure, the Council can adopt legislation based on a proposal by the European Commission after obtaining the consent of Parliament. Thus Parliament has the legal power to accept or reject any proposal but no legal mechanism exists for proposing amendments. Parliament has however provided for conciliation committee and a procedure for giving interim reports where it can address its concerns to the Council and threaten to withhold its consent unless its concerns are met.
The procedure is used for issues concerning Union membership and economic and social cohesion.
[edit] Commission and Council acting alone
Under this procedure the Council can adopt laws proposed by the Commission without requiring the opinion of Parliament. The procedure can be used for particular parts of the freedom of movement of capital (Article 57) and the Common Commercial Policy (Title IX).
[edit] Commission acting alone
Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of EU laws are not dictates from the Commission. However the Commission does have the ability to adopt legislation without consulting or obtaining the consent of anyone. The Commission can adopt laws on its own initiative concerning monopolies and concessions granted to companies by Member States (Article 86(3)) and concerning the right of workers to remain in a Member State after having been employed there (Article 39(3)(d)). Two directives have been adopted using this procedure: one on transparency between Member States and companies (Dir. 80/723 [1980] OJ L195/35) and another on competition in the telecommunications sector (Dir. 88/301 [1988] OJ L131/73).
[edit] Note
- ^ Articles cited refer to the Treaty establishing the European Community (otherwise known as the Treaty of Rome) unless otherwise indicated.
