In nearly all cases the Commission has the right of initiative to propose new laws. Its proposals are then approved or rejected by the Council and Parliament, both of which have legislative power. The role played by the Council and Parliament differs depending on the applicable decision-making procedure. The three main procedures are:

Consultation procedure
In the consultation procedure, the Commission submits a proposal to the Council, which then consults Parliament. The Council is not bound by Parliament’s opinion but in certain cases it is obliged to consult Parliament. If it does not, its decisions are unlawful.

Co-decision procedure
In the co-decision procedure, the Council and Parliament share legislative power. Both institutions read and discuss a proposal during one or more sessions. If agreement cannot be reached, the proposal is submitted to a conciliation committee. The introduction of the co-decision procedure in more policy fields has extended Parliament’s legislative power in recent years. The co-decision procedure has become the normal (but not sole) legislative procedure.

Assent procedure
In the assent procedure, which is applicable in a number of specific cases, the Council may take decisions only with the explicit assent of Parliament.

NB: There is also a cooperation procedure, but it has rarely been used since the Treaty of Amsterdam. It is used only for decisions on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

The Council takes decisions by means of the following voting methods:

1. Absolute majority: the Council adopts a proposal if it has the support of more than 50% of the votes cast. This method is used for procedural and non-controversial issues.

2. Qualified majority: the votes cast by each member of the Council are weighted and a minimum number of votes are necessary for a proposal to be adopted. The weightings were changed on the accession of the ten new Member States on 1 May 2004. Most Council decisions are taken by qualified majority voting, including those on the internal market, the harmonisation of laws, the environment, education, culture and public health.

3.Unanimity: certain decisions may be taken by unanimous vote only and all Member States effectively have the power of veto. Although unanimity has increasingly been replaced with qualified majority voting it is still applicable in sensitive policy areas. It is compulsory, for example, on matters of foreign policy, defence, direct and indirect taxation, social security and EU enlargement.