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Ordinary legislative procedure

Ordinary legislative procedure

The majority of European laws is adopted using the ordinary legislative procedure. This gives the European Parliament and the Council of the EU an equal say on a wide range of issues.

Parliament positions

Under the ordinary legislative procedure, the European Parliament adopts its position at first reading on the basis of the proposal presented by the Commission. If the position is not approved by the Council, the European Parliament may adopt its position at second reading by adopting amendments to the Council position.
As a general rule, EP positions take the form of consolidated texts, whereby political amendments and technical adaptations are incorporated in the Commission proposal (at first reading) or the Council position (second reading).
The first and second reading positions are forwarded to the Council and the Commission and serve as a basis for further steps in the ordinary legislative procedure.
For further information see: Rules of Procedure (Rule 203) and ordinary legislative procedure.

Explanation of marking of EP positions:

  • Texts agreed with the Council before their adoption by the EP:

    In political amendments, new or replacement text is marked in bold italics and deletions are indicated by the symbol ▌. Technical modifications resulting from legal-linguistic revision and not related to political amendments are not marked.
  • Texts which have not been agreed with the Council before their adoption by the EP:

    In political amendments, new or replacement text is marked in bold italics and deletions are indicated by strikethrough of the deleted text. Numbers of individual amendments are clearly indicated in square brackets. Technical modifications resulting from legal-linguistic revision and not related to political amendments are not marked.