Self-Control Exercise on Legislative Procedures
Fill in the Blanks!
Read the paragraphs below and fill in the missing words!
(a) The consultation procedure.
Under the consultation procedure, the
submits a proposal to the
Council; the European Parliament gives its opinion on the Commission’s proposal
to the
. On the basis of that opinion, the Commission may amend its
draft. The
then examines the proposal, may amend the proposal., adopt
it as it is, or reject it. The Council adopts the proposal by qualified
majority or
. If the Council chooses to reject the Commission’s
proposal – it must act on unanimity. If foreseen in an Article of the TFEU as a
legal basis, consultation is compulsory and the adoption of the act depends on
the
’s opinion. The scope of the consultation procedure was
significantly diminished by the Lisbon Treaty, bringing some areas from under
that procedure under the ordinary legislative procedure, and some areas under
the consent procedure.
(b) The ordinary legislative
procedure. Ordinary
legislative procedure is regulated by Article 294 TFEU, which Article foresees
readings after the Commission has proposed an act to the
and the Council of the EU. Under the first reading the
European Parliament adopts its position and communicates it to the
. If
the Council approves the
position, the act will be adopted, but if the
does not approve the position, it adopts
its own position and communicates it to the
for a second
reading. Under the second reading, if
the
has not taken a decision within three months, the
act concerned shall be deemed to have been adopted in the wording which corresponds
to the position of the Council; if the
approves the Council’s
position, the act concerned shall be deemed to have been adopted in the wording
which corresponds to the position of the
. In case the European
Parliament rejects the Council’s position, the proposed act shall be deemed not
to have been adopted; or if the European Parliament proposes amendments to the
Council's position, the text thus amended shall be forwarded to the Council and
to the
, which is expected to give an opinion on those amendments. If the
approves all those
amendments acting by a qualified majority, the act shall be deemed to have been
adopted; if the Council does not approve the amendments, a meeting of the
is convened. Under the
, if the Conciliation
Committee approves a joint text, the act is adopted if approved by the Council by a qualified majority,
and by the Parliament by a
of the votes cast. If the
fails to approve the
text – the act shall be deemed not to have been
adopted. The Lisbon Treaty renamed the procedure, and extended it to forty new
fields (Chalmers, Monti 2008:35).
(c) The consent
procedure. The consent procedure means that the
must
agree positively to the adoption or repeal of a measure. The
cannot adopt the proposal without the
Parliament’s agreement.