Negotiations in the Ordinary Legislative Procedure: The Perspective of the European Parliament

Abstract

The ordinary legislative procedure of the EU consists of a process where the European Council proposes legislation and the European Parliament and the Council adopt it together. This codecision procedure was created by the Maastricht Treaty and balances three European interests: The European Parliament must protect the interests of the citizens; the Council must protect those of the Member States and the Commission must promote the general European Interest. The ordinary legislative procedure consists of three readings. First, the Commission submits a proposal to the EP and the Council. The plenary will then adopt or reject the proposal, with or without amendments. If the proposal cannot be adopted at the first reading, a second reading follows. The EP receives the Council’s position and must make a decision within 3 months after that. If the proposal is still not adopted, a Conciliation Committee is composed, that has the task of reaching an agreement based on the positions of the EP and the Council. In the past years, a trend can be seen where more and more proposals are concluded in the first reading. This shows the flexibility of the codecision procedure and the willingness between institutions to cooperate. The author concludes by stating that the European Parliament has become a real actor within this ordinary legislative procedure. She, however, warns about the potential lack of transparency that can take place within these trilogue discussions between the EP, EC and the Council. The European Parliament has taken new procedural measures to address this issue.