Making European Legislation

• Council, Commission and Parliament all have a role in making EU law
• All legislation starts with a proposal from the Commission
• Parliament has an increased role - but still limited
• Increasingly, the passing of EU legislation requires the approval of the European Parliament as well as the Council, through the ordinary legislative procedure (previously known as the co-decision process)
• Ordinary legislative procedure gives the same weight to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on a wide range of areas (for example: economic governance, immigration, energy, transport, the environment and consumer protection). The vast majority of European Laws are adopted jointly by the European Parliament and the Council.