ABSTRACT
The primary source of EC law is the Treaty of Rome (establishing the European Community), as amended. The Treaty itself contains provisions for the making of secondary legislation. There is, however, no single institution that can be called the Community ‘legislature’, nor is there one single procedure for making secondary legislation. There are a number of legislative procedures in which three of the institutions, the Council, the Commission and the EP all play a role. In addition, the Treaty often requires the institutions to consult other bodies, usually the Economic and Social Committee and/or the Committee of the Regions, before making legislation. The Commission is the initiator of legislation and the legislative procedure will usually begin with a proposal from the Commission, although the Council’s role in taking the political initiative has increased. The Commission will usually have consulted widely before making a proposal and will often have produced Green and White Papers for consultation in advance of issuing a formal proposal. Originally, there was only one legislative process – the consultation procedure in which the Parliament had very little part to play. It had the right to be consulted, but its opinion could be disregarded by the Council, which had the sole power to decide whether or not to accept, amend and ultimately adopt the measure proposed by he Commission.
