Institutionen der Integration Ratspräsidentschaft und ... - E-LIB

Valentin Schröder Institutionen der Integration Anhang A-6
cance. The main documents that are considered to form part of the preparatory material are explained
below.
1.5.2. Preparatory act
1.5.2.1. Legislative proposals and opinions from the Commission (graphical representation)
The Commission has a near-monopoly in initiating Community instruments (directives, regulations,
decisions or international agreements), except where it shares this right with the Member
States (see Member States’ initiative) or the European Central Bank. The treaties almost always
require the Council to take decisions on the basis of proposals from the Commission. However,
the Council can invite the Commission to draw up a proposal, as can the European Parliament.
At any point in the procedure the Commission can amend its proposal or, if necessary, withdraw
it.
The Commission is again involved in a later stage of the legislative procedure. Once the Commission’s
proposal has been transmitted to the European Parliament and the Council, point (c) of
the second subparagraph of Article 251(2) lays down that, if Parliament proposes amendments to
the common position adopted by the Council, the amended text is forwarded to the Council and
to the Commission, which delivers an opinion on those amendments. If the Commission is not
in favour of the amendments proposed by Parliament, the Council must act unanimously; if it is
in favour, the Council may act by a qualified majority.
1.5.2.2. Member States’ initiative
The Treaty of Amsterdam provided for the Member States to have a right of initiative on questions
of asylum and immigration. For a period of five years the legislative right of initiative was
thus shared between the Commission and the Member States, either party being able to put forward
proposals independently of the other. This transitional period of five years ended on 1 May
2004, and the Member States now have a right of initiative only for the second and third pillars,
i.e. in the fields of foreign and security policy and police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
1.5.2.3. Council common position
A common position is an instrument adopted by qualified majority by the Member States meeting
within the Council as part of a legislative procedure in which the Council shares its decisionmaking
power with the European Parliament (cooperation procedure or co-decision procedure).
It expresses the Council’s position on a Commission proposal in the light of the opinion of the
European Parliament (see European Parliament’s legislative resolution) and the opinions of the
other institutions and bodies involved in the procedure (European Economic and Social Committee,
Committee of the Regions, European Central Bank, Court of Auditors).
1.5.2.4. European Parliament’s legislative resolution
The European Parliament is involved in a number of stages in any legislative procedure(cooperation
procedure and co-decision procedure): the documents adopted by Parliament at
each stage in the procedure are generally resolutions and may contain instruments of various
types, such as opinions or amendments to the Council’s common position. Legislative procedures
are referred, depending on the subject matter, to a Parliamentary committee, which prepares a
report containing a draft resolution for adoption by Parliament in plenary session.
1.5.2.5. Opinions of the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee
of the Regions
The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions give technical
opinions on questions concerning regional policy and economic and social policy respectively.
Opinions are given either on a Committee’s own initiative or at the request of Parliament, the
Council or the Commission and serve to guide these institutions in their legislative activity. It is
sometimes mandatory to consult the European Economic and Social Committee and/or the
Committee of the Regions, but their opinions are not binding.
1.5.3. Other documents from the institutions
1.5.3.1. Commission communication
378