III. With New Strenght Towards a Bicameral System

Already the Convention has confirmed and added to the position of the European Parliament and its legislative functions. The Constitutional Treaty has largely adopted these provisions proposed by the Convention. "Codecision" has thus been extended and enhanced to become the 'ordinary legislative procedure' [Graphic] for European Laws and European Framework Laws (Art. I-33 TCE).

Compared to the cases of current co-decision procedures, the ordinary legislative procedure will be applied in almost twice the number of articles of Union legislation [diagram]. Moreover, this standard legislative procedure was introduced for 47 articles, and it was extended to additional central policy fields - such as asylum and immigration policy, as well as the measures taken in fighting international crime and terrorism.

The procedure of consent has also gained relevance in the written text. Nonetheless, those cases with no participation of the European Parliament are not to be overlooked [Integrationtrends].

The annual budgetary procedure (Art. III-404 TCE) has, after Nice, come under the ordinary legislative procedure, though the IGC has introduced small amendments to the Convention draft in favour of the Council.

Taken together, these modifications amplify a trend towards a 'three-polar community method'; starting from the re-confirmed and newly extended monopoly of legislative proposal residing with the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council have been attributed key roles in a "legislative bicameral system".

 

 

Links:

• Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
• European Parliament Website