European Union law and legislative process


Legislative process

Within the European Union, the Commission has the right of initiative, which means that that all binding secondary legislation must originate from the Commission. The Commission draws up a proposal which it then submits to the Council with a detailed explanation.

The Council refers the proposal to the European Parliament and possibly the Court of Auditors or the Economic and Social Committee for consultation.

This consultation results in an Opinion, possibly suggesting amendments, which is returned to the Council. Opinions are not binding on the Council.

After further discussion within the Council the proposal is adopted. The Council normally implements measures bringing proposed legislation into effect, although in certain circumstances these implementing measures rest or are transferred to the Commission.

After adoption certain Acts must, by virtue of law, be published in the L (Legislation) Series of the Official Journal of the European Union. These Acts include Regulations and General ECSC Decisions and Recommendations. Such Acts becomes effective on the date of their entry into force, which can be found in the InForce field.

Other Acts such as Directives, Decisions, and ECSC Recommendations do not need to be published, but normally they are also published in the Official Journal, especially if the addressee includes one or more Member States. Such Acts become effective on the date of notification, which can be found in the Notification field.


Primary legislation

The powers, duties and responsibilities of the European Union and its institutions are based on the Treaties on which it was founded and on those Treaties which subsequently amended the founding Treaties. These Treaties are the primary legislation of the European Union. The founding Treaties are:

ECSCEuropean Coal and Steel CommunityTreaty of Paris, 1951
EECEuropean Economic CommunityTreaty of Rome, 1957
EURATOMEuropean Atomic Energy CommunityTreaty of Rome, 1957

These Treaties have been amended by the following Treaties:

Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single CommissionBrussels, 1965
Treaty establishing the Single MarketLuxembourg, 1987
Treaty establishing the European UnionMaastricht, 1992
Treaty establishing the European UnionAmsterdam, 1997

The Amsterdam Treaty will enable further accessions of other sovereign states who wish to join the EU.

In addition, there have been Treaties of Accession for each of the countries which have joined the original six, starting with the one that included the United Kingdom in 1972.

There are also Conventions and Agreements with sovereign states outside Europe which are in effect Treaties, covering arrangements, financial aid, exchange of research information, and so on.

Primary legislation is found in Sectors 1 and 2 of the EU’s CELEX database and in the CELEX Treaties database and the CELEX External Agreements database on the Justis service.


Secondary legislation

Secondary legislation of the European Union is found in Sectors 3 and 4 of the EU’s CELEX database and in the CELEX Legislation database on the Justis service.

Secondary legislation consists of laws created by the Community institutions and includes Regulations, Directives, Decisions, Recommendations and Opinions.

Regulations and General ECSC Decisions
The definition of a Regulation is a legal Act which has general applications, is binding in its entirety, and is directly applicable in all Member States. The definition has also been assigned to General Decisions based on the ECSC.

These two types of legislation apply directly to the citizens, courts and governments of each Member State and therefore do not have to be transferred into domestic laws to have the force of law.

Regulations and General ECSC Decisions are chiefly designed to ensure uniformity of law across the Community. They are used to establish and develop market organisations, for example there are regulations on restrictive practises and freedom of movement.

Directives and ECSC Recommendations
Directives and ECSC Recommendations are binding laws addressed to one or more Member States. These laws state objectives to which the addressee must confirm within a specified time frame. Unlike regulations, Directives and ECSC Recommendations must be implemented by Member States by altering their domestic laws to comply with the stated objectives.

This process is known as “harmonisation” or “approximation of law” since it involves the alignment of domestic policy throughout the Community.

Decisions
EEC and Euratom Decisions and Individual ECSC Decisions (as opposed to General ECSC Decisions) are Acts directed at specific individuals, firms or Member States. These acts are binding on the addressees in their entirety. Decisions addressed to Member States are directly applicable in the same way as Directives.

Non-binding Legislation
Opinions and EEC and Euratom Recommendations are generally addressed to Member States and may state a view on a specific situation or urge the addressee to adopt certain behaviour, but they are not legally binding or enforceable. Opinions need not follow the legislative procedure, but may be issued directly from the originating Community institution. The details of European Community programmes are outlined in resolutions.


eu-legislation.html; last updated 16th November 2006
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