EU Ordinary Legislative Procedure — Parliament & Council

Posted on Dec 29, 2025 in International Relations

The ordinary legislative procedure is the main method for adopting legislation in the EU. It involves the European Parliament and the Council of the EU as co-legislators. These two bodies work together to legislate in the EU.

Principal Legislators

  • Council of the EU — Represents the governments of the Member States.
  • European Parliament — Represents EU citizens directly.

Right of Legislative Initiative

  1. European Commission — The European Commission is the main institution with the right of legislative initiative.
  2. Other actors — In specific cases, other institutions may initiate the legislative process.

Stages of the Procedure

  1. Proposal — The European Commission submits a legislative proposal.
  2. First Reading — The Parliament and the Council review the proposal.
  3. Second Reading — If there are differences, a new review is carried out.
  4. Conciliation — If there are still differences, an agreement is sought.
  5. Third Reading — Final approval stage if required.

First Reading

  1. Parliamentary review — The European Parliament reviews the proposal and may approve or amend it. If the European Parliament approves the proposal, it becomes law. If the European Parliament amends the proposal, it must send the amended proposal to the Council of the EU for approval.
  2. Council decision — The Council may accept the Parliament’s position or amend it. If the Council accepts the Parliament’s position, the proposal becomes law. If the Council amends the Parliament’s position, it must send the amended proposal to the European Parliament for further review.

Second Reading

  1. Review by Parliament — The European Parliament examines the Council’s position. It can approve, amend, or reject it. If it approves the Council’s position, the proposal becomes law. If Parliament amends the Council’s position, it sends the amended proposal back to the Council.
  2. Council decision — The Council examines the amendments proposed by Parliament. It has the option of accepting them, rejecting them, or proposing its own amendments. If the Council accepts Parliament’s amendments, the proposal becomes law.
  3. Possible conciliation — If no agreement is reached between Parliament and the Council, the Conciliation Committee is convened to try to find a compromise text. The Conciliation Committee is made up of representatives from Parliament and the Council, and seeks a text that is acceptable to both institutions. If the Conciliation Committee reaches an agreement, the proposal becomes law. If no agreement is reached, the proposal is rejected.

Conciliation Committee

  1. Composition — The Conciliation Committee is composed of an equal number of representatives from Parliament and the Council.
  2. Objective — The objective of the Conciliation Committee is to reach agreement on a joint text that is acceptable to both institutions.
  3. Time limit — The Conciliation Committee has six weeks to reach an agreement.

Third Reading

  1. Parliamentary review — Parliament votes on the agreed text. If it approves it, the legislative act enters into force.
  2. Council review — The Council votes on the agreed text. If it approves it, the legislative act enters into force.
  3. Result — If both approve, the legislative act is adopted. If one of them rejects it, the legislative act is not adopted.