Procedure for passing laws in the European Union
EU law is generally divided into three
different but interdependent types of legislation.
Primary legislation
It is produced by direct negotiations between
the Member States and includes the Treaties that establish the
European Union.
Secondary legislation
It is based on the Treaties and may take the
form of Regulations, Directives, Decisions or Recommendations.
- Regulations are binding in all EU Member
States and are directly applicable. They do not need national
implementing legislation.
- Directives are also binding. However, they are
different from Regulations because they only bind as to their
objectives. They leave the choice of form and the means of
implementation to national authorities. Both Regulations and
Directives are addressed to all Member States.
- Decisions can be addressed to any or all Member
States, businesses or individuals, and are binding only for their
recipients.
- Recommendations are not binding.
The Council of the European Union
The Council is the European Union's main
legislative body, and exercises its legislative power in
co-decision with the European Parliament. The Council adopts
community legislation and concludes international agreements on
behalf of the EU. It also coordinates the common foreign and
security policy, and adopts measures in the area of police and
judicial cooperation.
Depending on the subject, the Council acts by
a simple majority of its members, by a qualified majority or by
unanimous decision.
Community legislation (Regulations,
Directives, Decisions and Recommendations) must be published in the
Official Journal of the European Communities in all the
official EC languages.
The European Commission
The Commission initiates the legislative
process by drafting proposals for Regulations and Directives. The
Commission works in close cooperation with the Council of Ministers
and the European Parliament.
The Council may amend the Commission’s
proposals by a qualified majority. In case of disagreement with the
Commission, the amendments require unanimity. When revising its
proposals, the Commission is also required to take amendments of
the Parliament into consideration. The final drafts, together with
the preliminary draft budget, are submitted to the Council.
If Directives or Regulations are not being
respected by Member States or organisations, the Commission has the
power to refer cases to the European Court of Justice. Finally, the
Council supervises the implementation of competition rules and also
controls mergers and acquisitions above certain size.
The European Parliament
The EP is fully full involved in the
Community's legislative process. It is empowered to amend and even
adopt legislation in co-decision or cooperation with the Council.
It is also required to give an opinion before the Council can adopt
a legislative proposal from the Commission. However, neither the
Commission nor the Council are obliged to accept the EP’s
opinions.
The Maastricht Treaty has given the EP
the authority to ask the Commission to put forward proposals for
Regulations and Directives.
Once adopted, community law is directly
applicable to the courts of Member States. Its right interpretation
and implementation is safeguarded by the European Court of Justice
and the Court of First Instance.
See: official site of
the European Union
