How does an idea become an EU law?
A new EU law can bounce between the Parliament and the Council twice, and if they still disagree, a joint committee has six weeks to save it.
▶ Start the storyAn EU law usually starts as a proposal from the European Commission and becomes law only when both the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament approve it. Most legislation follows this rule: it needs to be proposed by the Commission and approved by the Council and the Parliament. The Commission has a virtual monopoly on introducing legislation, which makes it the , although it often acts at the request of the Council or on the suggestion of Parliament.
The main route is called the ordinary legislative procedure, once known as codecision. It works like rounds of ping-pong. At first reading, Parliament adopts its position. If the Council approves the wording, the law is adopted. If not, the Council adopts its own position and sends it back. At second reading, the act is adopted if Parliament approves the Council's text or fails to decide, but Parliament can also reject it, which kills the law, or amend it and send it back.
If the two still disagree, a made up of the Council and an equal number of MEPs drafts a joint text. If it cannot agree within six weeks, the act has failed.
The outcome comes in different forms. A regulation has direct effect: the roaming-charges regulation immediately set price limits on mobile phone calls made in another EU state. A directive has to be into national law by each country.
Regulation
- Has direct effect
- Example: limits on mobile roaming prices
Directive
- Must be into national law
- Each country writes its own version
There is a checking mechanism too. National parliaments can raise a yellow card on grounds if one third object, forcing a review.
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Recap
Commission proposes, Parliament and Council both agree; regulations apply directly, directives are turned into national law.
💡 A trick to remember it · Picture a ping-pong table with two players who must both end up smiling or the point does not count.
Surprising fact · If conciliation fails within six weeks, the proposed law simply fails.
Connects to
- ⚖️ When EU law and national law clash, which one wins?
- 📜 Which treaties built the European Union, from Rome to Lisbon?
- 🏛️ Who does what in the European Union: who proposes, who votes, who judges?
- ⚖️ How did judges get the power to strike down a law Congress passed?
- ⚖️ Why do so many countries split power into three branches?
- European single market
Sources (1)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (15 claims) cites at least one of these.