Ordinary legislative procedure (Codecision)

The ordinary legislative procedure consists of the joint adoption of legislative acts by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, in general, following a proposal from the European Commission.

It is defined in Article 294 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and is the most common European Union (EU) lawmaking procedure.

With the Treaty of Maastricht and the introduction of the codecision procedure, the Parliament became a co-legislator on an equal footing with the Council, except in the cases provided for in the treaties where special legislative procedures apply.

The Lisbon Treaty renamed the codecision procedure the ordinary legislative procedure and increased the number of policy areas to which this procedure applies, thus enhancing the Parliament’s powers.

The procedure comprises one or two readings and, if needed, a conciliation procedure and a third reading. The Council votes by qualified majority. The European Parliament votes by simple majority of the votes cast at the first and third readings and by majority of its members at the second reading.

SEE ALSO

• Conciliation Committee
• Council of the European Union
• European Parliament
• Legislative acts
• Qualified majority
• Legislative procedures (summary)
• The Treaty of Lisbon (summary)
• Treaty of Maastricht on European Union (summary)
• Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (summary)
• Legislative powers (European Parliament)
• Ordinary legislative procedure (European Parliament)