Learning objective 1: What are the legislative procedures?
The Commission has the exclusive right of initiative, but it cannot decide alone in the majority of the
cases. The absolute majority of legislative procedures require a decision by the Council, acting alone
or together with the European Parliament. There are two types of legislative procedures, an ordinary
and a special one.
The ordinary legislative procedure 294 TFEU:
1. Commission submits a proposal to both the Council and Parliament.
2. The first reading
- Parliament adopts a position first with amendments and the council reacts
- The council can approve or reject the position and adopt an own position with own
amendments. In this case, the council needs a unanimous vote (art. 293(1) TFEU).
- If the council adopts a position that differs from the parliament, the second reading
begins:
3. The second reading
- The parliament must decide within a period of three months, whether it approves the
council’s position. The Parliament can amend (c)*, reject (b)* or approve (a)* the
council’s position (*art. 294(7) TFEU).
o Approve = the acts shall be deemed to have been adopted.
o Reject = by a majority of its component members, the council’s position shall be
deemed not to have been adopted.
o Amend = the ball is returned to the council and commission. The commission
gives the council advise on the amendments:
Positive: the council can approve all amendments unanimously
Negative: council can approve all amendments by a qualified majority.
If the council does not approve all the amendments: the president of
the council and the president of the parliament convene a meeting of
the Conciliation committee.
4. In the Conciliation committee
- they try to reach a compromise within six weeks.
- The Commission serves as a mediator and no longer has the same level of control over its
proposal. The amendments of the commission proposal is no longer dependent on an
unanimity decision of the council.
- If the Conciliation committee cannot agree, the act is deemed not to have been adopted.
Is the committee agrees, the third reading commences.
5. Third reading
the Council and the Parliament both had 6 weeks to adopt the act in accordance with the
joint draft text. The council must adopt this decision by qualified majority, while the
parliament must approve the joint draft text by majority of votes cast.
Differences between the position of the European Parliament and the Council:
1. The council is not bound by the time-limits in the first and second reading, thus an inaction of
the council does not result in the proposal being adopted in accordance with the
parliament’s position.
2. For the parliament it is harder to disagree with the council, in order for the parliament to
adopt amendments to or reject the council’s position, article 294(7)(b) and (c) TFEU call for a
majority of the Parliament’s component members to vote in favour of such action. However,
article 294(7)(a) does not set an explicit voting requirement for approving the council’s
position. As a result, the basic voting requirement of article 231 TFEU applies, meaning that
The Commission has the exclusive right of initiative, but it cannot decide alone in the majority of the
cases. The absolute majority of legislative procedures require a decision by the Council, acting alone
or together with the European Parliament. There are two types of legislative procedures, an ordinary
and a special one.
The ordinary legislative procedure 294 TFEU:
1. Commission submits a proposal to both the Council and Parliament.
2. The first reading
- Parliament adopts a position first with amendments and the council reacts
- The council can approve or reject the position and adopt an own position with own
amendments. In this case, the council needs a unanimous vote (art. 293(1) TFEU).
- If the council adopts a position that differs from the parliament, the second reading
begins:
3. The second reading
- The parliament must decide within a period of three months, whether it approves the
council’s position. The Parliament can amend (c)*, reject (b)* or approve (a)* the
council’s position (*art. 294(7) TFEU).
o Approve = the acts shall be deemed to have been adopted.
o Reject = by a majority of its component members, the council’s position shall be
deemed not to have been adopted.
o Amend = the ball is returned to the council and commission. The commission
gives the council advise on the amendments:
Positive: the council can approve all amendments unanimously
Negative: council can approve all amendments by a qualified majority.
If the council does not approve all the amendments: the president of
the council and the president of the parliament convene a meeting of
the Conciliation committee.
4. In the Conciliation committee
- they try to reach a compromise within six weeks.
- The Commission serves as a mediator and no longer has the same level of control over its
proposal. The amendments of the commission proposal is no longer dependent on an
unanimity decision of the council.
- If the Conciliation committee cannot agree, the act is deemed not to have been adopted.
Is the committee agrees, the third reading commences.
5. Third reading
the Council and the Parliament both had 6 weeks to adopt the act in accordance with the
joint draft text. The council must adopt this decision by qualified majority, while the
parliament must approve the joint draft text by majority of votes cast.
Differences between the position of the European Parliament and the Council:
1. The council is not bound by the time-limits in the first and second reading, thus an inaction of
the council does not result in the proposal being adopted in accordance with the
parliament’s position.
2. For the parliament it is harder to disagree with the council, in order for the parliament to
adopt amendments to or reject the council’s position, article 294(7)(b) and (c) TFEU call for a
majority of the Parliament’s component members to vote in favour of such action. However,
article 294(7)(a) does not set an explicit voting requirement for approving the council’s
position. As a result, the basic voting requirement of article 231 TFEU applies, meaning that
