2.6 EU decision making procedures
The role of each of the Community’s institutions in developing items of EU legislation depends upon the Treaty article on which they are based. This determines whether the Council of Ministers makes decisions on the basis of unanimity or qualified majority; the extent of the European Parliament’s influence; and whether the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions have a right to be consulted.
Consultation procedure In the original Treaty of Rome, all legislation was agreed by the consultation procedure, which requires only one reading in Parliament of a Commission proposal. Under the consultation procedure (now set out in Article 175(2) in relation to some areas of environmental policy), the Council may take a decision only after it has sought the opinion of the Parliament, but is under no legal obligation to accept any of its amendments. The consultation procedure still applies to five categories of environmental measure: provisions primarily of a fiscal nature; town and country planning, and land use (with the exception of waste management and measures of a general nature); the management of water resources; and measures which significantly affect the structure of Member States’ energy supply. In these areas, the Council also takes decisions on the basis of unanimity. |
