European Union legislative procedure

The European Union creates legislation through many legislative procedures. Most legislation needs to be proposed by the European Commission and approved by the Council of the European Union and European Parliament to become law.

European Union legislative procedure
European Union flag
Type
Houses	Council of the European Union European Parliament National parliaments of the European Union
History
Founded	1 December 2009 (2009-12-01)
Leadership
Presidency of the Council of the European Union	Poland since 1 January 2025
President of the European Parliament	Roberta Metsola, EPP since 18 January 2022
Structure
EU Council political groups	No official division by political groups
EU Parliament political groups	8   EPP (Template:MEPcount)   S&D (Template:MEPcount)   PfE (Template:MEPcount)   ECR (Template:MEPcount)   Renew (Template:MEPcount)   Greens/EFA (Template:MEPcount)   The Left (Template:MEPcount)   ESN (Template:MEPcount)   NI (32)   Vacant (1)
EU Council committees	10 configurations Agriculture and fisheries Competitiveness Economic and financial affairs Education, youth, culture and sport Employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs Environment Foreign affairs General affairs Justice and home affairs Transport, telecommunications and energy
EU Parliament committees	22 Budgets Budgetary Control Economic & Monetary Affairs Employment & Social Affairs Environment, Public Health & Food Safety Industry, Research & Energy Internal Market & Consumer Protection Transport & Tourism Regional Development Agriculture & Rural Development Fisheries Culture & Education Legal Affairs Civil Liberties, Justice & Home Affairs Constitutional Affairs Women's Rights & Gender Equality Petitions Foreign Affairs Human Rights Security & Defence Development International Trade
Joint committees	Conciliation committee
Meeting place
Europa building: Council of the EU's seat since 2017 in Brussels, Belgium
Louise Weiss: European Parliament's seat since 1999 in Strasbourg, France

Since December 2009, after the Lisbon Treaty, three EU branches have been the main power in the legislative process: the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, with the national parliaments of the EU having another role.