Most environmental legislation agreed under Article 175 is now adopted under the co-decision procedure (see Figure 2.6.1 below). This procedure was introduced by the 1993 Maastricht Treaty, and its application was greatly extended by the 1999 Amsterdam Treaty. Under co-decision the Council acts by qualified majority, and MEPs have wide powers to amend draft legislation. In the final analysis the Parliament may reject draft legislation entirely, even though a majority of Member States is in favour of it. After a first reading of a proposal by the Parliament, in which MEPs usually amend the proposal, the Council adopts its ‘common position’, which contains the Council’s own changes to the Commission’s proposal. Parliament then holds a second reading. If the Parliament does not agree with the Council’s common position, representatives of the two institutions meet in a conciliation committee to negotiate a compromise text, which must be approved by both the Council (by QMV) and the Parliament (by simple majority). Failure of either institution to agree the joint text means that the proposal falls. At any point during this process, the Commission may issue a revised proposal to take account of the views of the Council and Parliament.