Ordinary legislative procedure (2024)

If Council adopts Parliament's position without changes, the legislative act is adopted and published as a directive (or regulation or decision) of the European Parliament and of the Council.

If the Council proposes changes to the Parliament's position at first reading, the resulting document is: Position of the Council at first reading.

During the 2014-2019 legislative term, 89% of the files were agreed at first reading, compared with 85% in the 2009-2014 legislative term, , 72% in 2004-2009 and 29% in 1999-2004.

The average time for a a Commission proposal to be adopted on the first reading - from publication until the signature following the adoption of an act first-was just below 18 months in the 2014-2019 legislative term, compared to 17 months in the 2009-2014 term, 16 months in the 2004-2009 term and 11 months in 1999-2004.

Preparatory work in Council runs in parallel with the first reading in Parliament, but Council may only formally conduct its first reading based on Parliament's position. Council can: accept the Parliament’s position, in which case the legislative act is adopted; or adopt changes to Parliament's position, leading to a Council's first reading position, which is sent to Parliament for a second reading.

1. The Commission proposal is sent to the Council at the same time it goes to the European Parliament.

2. Preparatory work in Council thus runs in parallel with the European Parliament, but Council may only adopt its position after Parliament has acted.

3. The institutions are encouraged to exchange information on the progress and timetable of negotiations in the framework of the ordinary legislative procedure.

4. As with Parliament, there is no time limit for the Council first reading.

5. Council decisions are prepared within specific working parties made up of representatives of the member states and chaired by the representative of the country holding the six-monthly rotating presidency, assisted by the Council's secretariat. The working parties report to the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper, Part I or II), which prepares every Council decision taken at ministerial level.

6. Prior to reaching a first reading position, Council may reach an agreement in principle, commonly termed a general approach.

   1. This can constitute the Council’s mandate for negotiations with the Parliament.

   2. More often, the Council adopts negotiating mandates in the Committee of the Permanent Representatives (Coreper). Once negotiations with the Parliament have concluded, or when there are no negotiations, the Council first reaches a "political agreement", laying down the broad outline of its proposed first reading position. The details of this agreement are then finalised by the working party, verified by lawyer linguists (legal experts for each language who supervise the legal and linguistic correctness of the texts) and formally adopted as a first reading position by the Council at a subsequent meeting.

   In both cases, the Council only finalises its position after receiving Parliament's first reading amendments and the Commission's resulting amended proposal.

7. A first reading position may be adopted without debate where agreement has been reached at a preparatory stage ("A" item on the agenda) or with debate ("B" item) or, in exceptional cases, by written procedure. In the first two instances, deliberations are public.

8. Council decides by qualified majority except on taxation, social security, foreign policy, defence and operational police cooperation, which require unanimity.

9. There are four possible scenarios for Council's first reading:

   1. If Parliament has not adopted any amendments and Council does not wish to change the Commission's proposal, it can approve the act by qualified majority. The act is then adopted.

   2. If Parliament has introduced amendments, adoption of the act is dependent on the Council approving all the amendments by qualified majority if the Commission has incorporated them into its amended proposal, or by unanimity if it has not. If the Council approves all Parliament's amendments, the act is adopted.

   Once the act is adopted, it is submitted for the signature of the Presidents and Secretaries-General of Parliament and Council, and is published in the Official Journal.

   3. While it is not explicitly laid down in the Treaty, it is widely accepted that acting by a qualified majority the Council may reject the Commission proposal as a whole.

      The Commission may decide at any time during the first reading to withdraw or alter its proposal.

   4. If Council does not adopt all Parliament's amendments or wants to introduce its own changes, it adopts a first reading position.

10. The text of the first reading position is sent to the Parliament, together with a statement of reasons, and any statements made by the Council and/or the Commission for the Council's minutes. The Commission informs Parliament of its position.

11. Parliament is generally notified of the Council´s first reading position at the plenary session following its formal adoption. The time limits laid down by the Treaty for the subsequent stages of the procedure begin after Parliament announces reception of Council´s first reading position in plenary (the day after the announcement, which usually takes place on Thursday).

12. Wherever possible, informal contacts take place in the period between the political agreement and the formal notification of Council´s first reading position, with a view to facilitating a (early) second reading agreement (also known as "negotiated first reading position").

Negotiations between the EU institutions

When the co-legislators are aiming for a first reading agreement they organise informal meetings attended by representatives of the Parliament (rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs), the Council (Presidency chair of the working party and/or Coreper, sometimes also a minister), and the Commission (department responsible for the dossier, sometimes also the responsible Commissioner). These meetings are knowns as trilogues.

The aim is to ensure that the Parliament amendments adopted in plenary are acceptable to Council. The Commission frequently plays a mediating role in respect of compromise texts.

The co-legislators also frequently negotiate after Parliament’s first reading but before the Council adopts its first reading position. If successful, such negotiations lead to so-called early second reading agreements, as the Parliament’s second reading position, which will be identical to Council’s first reading position, will conclude the legislative procedure.

Unlike negotiations at the first reading stage, Parliament’s mandate will be its first reading position. Where negotiations are successful, the chair of the parliamentary committee responsible will send a letter to the Coreper chair, in which the Parliament undertakes to approve the Council's amendments if they are in line with the agreed compromise.

The provisional agreement must be approved in the committee responsible, by a simple majority vote. It is then tabled in plenary by the committee. responsible.