EU Law-making The EU has no general law-making power. There are specific Treaty provisions, which authorise it to make laws in particular fields.

Allocation of legislative procedures The ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision procedure) shall consist in the joint adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of an act on a proposal from the Commission. The special legislative procedure: the acts are adopted by the Council with the participation of the European Parliament. The choice of procedure is determined by the Treaty. In turn, this determines the respective powers and influences of the different EU Institutions.

Types of legislative act in EU Law All legislative acts must be published in the Official Journal and enter into force twenty days after publication. To exercise the EU competences, the Institutions adopt regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions. A Regulation has general application. It is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. A Directive is binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but leaves to the national authorities the choice of form and methods.

A Decision is binding in its entirety. A Decision which specifies those to whom is addressed is binding only on them. Recommendations and Opinions have no binding force. International agreements with non-EU states are regarded as secondary legislation.

Regulations are the most centralising of all EU instruments and are used whatever there is a need to uniformity. Directives must be transposed into the national law. The majority of Decisions are addressed to the Member States, with only a small number addressed to private parties, especially in the field of competition law. There are Directives which look like Regulations because they are so detailed that eliminate the national discretion.

Ordinary legislative procedure The Commission submits a proposal to the European Parliament and the Council. (First reading). The EP adopts its position at first reading and communicates it to the Council. If the Council approves it, the act is adopted. If not, it adopts its position at first reading and communicates it to the EP. (Second reading). If the EP approves the Council’s position, the act is adopted. If not, it proposes amendments. If the Council approves them, the act is deemed to have been adopted. The Council acts unanimously, when the Commission has a negative opinion.

(Third reading). If the Council does not approve all the amendments, a special Conciliation Committee [C.C.] intervenes, composed equally of the members of both Institutions. The task of this C.C. is to reach an agreement on a joint text, which has to be approved in a period of six weeks by both Institutions. If they fail to do so, the proposed act shall be deemed not to have been adopted.

Special legislative procedures Consultation procedure: The Commission submits a proposal to the Council. The Council consults the EP. The Council adopts the measure, either by qualified majority or by unanimity, depending upon the field in question. (General Tariff Preferences) Assent procedure: The EP will have to consent to the measure (budget, criminal justice policy, anti-discrimination policy).

The democratic deficit and the legislative process The are concerns about the quality of representative democracy. EU law-making may undermine parliamentary democracy at a national and regional level. Article 10 TEU. The functioning of the EU shall be founded on representative democracy. Article 12 TEU. National Parliaments contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union.