Conciliation Committee

Under the codecision procedure¹ between Council² and Parliament³, a Conciliation Committee may be set up as provided for in Article 294⁴ of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union⁵ (TFEU). It can be convened to resolve any disagreements between the two institutions following the second reading of a legislative proposal.

Comprising members of the Council or their representatives and an equal number of representatives of Parliament, the Committee is co-chaired by the President of the Parliament and the President of the Council⁶. Its mission is to reach agreement on a text acceptable to both parties. The Commission⁷ also plays a part in the Conciliation Committee to help the European Parliament and the Council to resolve their differences.

The Council and the Parliament must adopt the proposal within the six weeks following the convening of the Committee:

• - 

  by an absolute majority of the votes cast in Parliament;
• - 

  by a qualified majority⁸ in the Council.

Should one of the two institutions reject the proposal, it is deemed not to have been adopted.

If the Committee is convened for budgetary matters, it must provide a decision within the twenty-one days following its meeting. The Parliament and the Council must therefore approve the joint budget plan within fourteen days.

• 1. 

  This procedure is the standard decision-making procedure used in the European Union, unless the treaties specifically state one of the special legislative procedures is to be applied to a particular subject. Before the Treaty of Lisbon came into force late 2009 it was referred to as the co-decision procedure. The essential characteristic of this procedure is that both the Council of Ministers as well as the European Parliament have a deciding vote in the legislative process, and both institutions may amend a proposal.
   
• 2. 

  In the Council, government ministers from each EU country meet to discuss, amend and adopt laws, and coordinate policies. The ministers have the authority to commit their governments to the actions agreed on in the meetings.
  Together with the European Parliament , the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU.
  Not to be confused with:
   
• 3. 

  The European Parliament is the EU's law-making body. It is directly elected by EU voters every 5 years.
  What does the Parliament do?
  The Parliament has 3 main roles:
  Legislative
   
• 4. 

  1. Wanneer in de Verdragen voor de aanneming van een besluit naar de gewone wetgevingsprocedure wordt verwezen, is de onderstaande procedure van toepassing.
   
• 5. 

  Het Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie (VwEU) is een gewijzigde versie van het Verdrag tot oprichting van de Europese Gemeenschap (EG). De gewijzigde versie is in 2009 van kracht geworden. In het VwEU staat wat de bevoegdheden zijn van de Europese Unie, en op welke manier de Europese Unie die bevoegdheden kan uitoefenen. Dit verdrag vormt samen met het Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie de basis van de Europese Unie.
   
• 6. 

  Elk half jaar (van januari t/m juni en van juli t/m december) wordt de Europese Unie afwisselend voorgezeten door een lidstaat. Het land dat voorzitter is, leidt de vergaderingen van de Raad van de Europese Unie. Het Voorzitterschap van de Raad speelt een essentiële rol bij de sturing van het wetgevend en politiek besluitvormingsproces.
   
• 7. 

  The European Commission is the executive body of the EU and runs its day-to-day business. It is made up of the College of Commissioners, 27 European Commissioners, one for each member state, who are each responsible for one or several policy areas. In addition, the 'Commission' also refers to the entire administrative body that supports the Commissioners, consisting of the Directorates-General and the Services.
   
• 8. 

  The Council adopts a proposal when the following conditions are met: