Legislative Process in Europe

Eu Legislative Process

Whereas in a state the will of the people will usually be expressed in parliament, it was for a long time the representatives of the Member States’ governments meeting in the Council who played the decisive role in expressing the will of the EU. This was simply because the EU does not consist of a ‘European nation’ but owes its existence and form to the combined input of its Member States. These did not simply transfer part of their sovereignty to the EU, but pooled it on the understanding that they would retain the joint power to exercise it. However, as the process of Union integration has developed and deepened, this division of powers in the EU decision-making process, originally geared towards the defence of national interests by the Member States, has evolved into something much more balanced, with constant enhancement of the status of the European Parliament. The original procedure whereby Parliament was merely consulted was first of all broadened to include cooperation with the Council, and Parliament was eventually given powers of co-decision in the EU’s legislative process.

Context of Legislative Process in the European Union

Under the Treaty of Lisbon these co-decision powers of the Parliament became the ‘ordinary legislative procedure’, i.e. ‘the general rule’, thereby further enhancing the EU’s democratic credentials. The co-decision procedure consists in the joint adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of a regulation, directive or decision on a proposal from the Commission. Only in a few explicit cases does the adoption of a regulation, directive or decision by the European Parliament with the participation of the Council, or by the latter with the participation of the European Parliament, constitute a special legislative procedure. In addition to these legislative procedures, there are also the ‘approval procedure’, which gives the European Parliament the final decision on the entry into force of a legal instrument, and the ‘simplified procedure’, which is used when non-binding instruments are issued by only one Union institution.