Conciliations Secretariat
CONCILIATIONS
HANDBOOK
5th EDITION
September 2003
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EN
EN
FOREWORD
We welcome this fifth, updated edition of the Conciliations Handbook, prepared by the Secretariat. It
is published following the entry into force of the Treaty of Nice on 1 February 2003 and the
conclusion of the work of the Convention which we are confident will lead to generalisation of the
codecision procedure in EU legislation. The handbook explains in clear language the different stages
in the conciliation procedure which has reached maturity after four years of application of the
Amsterdam Treaty. It provides the background material that members need to prepare their work in
the Parliament delegations that meet the Council in trialogue negotiations or in the Conciliation
Committee. We would recommend it to all those who are involved or take an interest in the
Parliament's work as a co-legislator.
Giorgos DIMITRAKOPOULOS
Charlotte CEDERSCHIÖLD
Vice-Presidents responsible for conciliation
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Renzo IMBENI
CONCILIATIONS HANDBOOK
Contents:
1.
Definitions: Codecision, Conciliation and the Conciliation Committee .................... 4
2.
Brief description of the codecision procedure ............................................................ 6
3.
The delegation of the EP in the Conciliation Committee........................................... 8
-
How is it composed?
When is it composed?
Linguistic regime of the delegation
Where and when does the delegation meet?
Assistance
4.
Our counterparts: Who is the EP delegation dealing with?...................................... 10
5.
The Conciliation procedure step by step .................................................................. 11
-
Second reading of the Parliament
Appointment of the delegation
Constituent meeting of the delegation
Trialogues
Meetings of the EP delegation
The Conciliation Committee
After the Conciliation Committee: third reading
6.
Documentation for Members and the public ............................................................ 16
7.
Services of the Conciliations Secretariat .................................................................. 17
8.
Further information .................................................................................................. 19
Annexes:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Art. 251 of the Treaty............................................................................................... 20
Joint Declaration ...................................................................................................... 21
Rules of Procedure ................................................................................................... 23
Legal bases covered by Codecision ......................................................................... 25
Presentation of the Codecision procedure ............................................................... 26
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1. DEFINITIONS: CODECISION, CONCILIATION
AND THE CONCILIATION COMMITTEE
Codecision
Conciliation
The codecision procedure is the most important
of the legislative procedures of the European
Union. It is provided for in Article 251 of the
EC Treaty. According to the codecision
procedure, the Council of Ministers,
representing the governments of the Member
States, and the European Parliament (EP),
directly elected and representing the peoples of
the European Union, adopt EU legislation
jointly and on an equal footing, with equal
rights and obligations.
Conciliation, which is normally followed by
final adoption of the proposal (third reading), is
the final stage of the codecision procedure. The
basic provisions are in Article 251(3 - 7) of the
Treaty. The conciliation procedure always
applies if the Council does not approve all the
amendments of the EP adopted at its second
reading.
In addition to Treaty Articles, basic rules for
the conciliation procedure can be found in the
Joint Declaration of the EP, the Council and
the Commission laying down practical
arrangements for the codecision procedure and
for conciliation (adopted in May 1999, see
Annex B) and in the Rules of Procedure of the
EP (Rules 81-83, Annex C). Rule 82 (7)
provides for the Conference of Political group
Presidents to lay down further procedural
guidelines for the work of the EP delegation, if
necessary.
The codecision procedure:

applies at present to 43 areas or types of
Community action, spread over 36 Treaty
articles (see Annex D). In the future
codecision may also be extended to five
additional areas amongst so-called third
pillar matters (asylum, refugees and
displaced persons, visas, measures relating
to clandestine immigration, checks on
persons at external borders as well as some
social provisions);

is generally applied when the Council
decides by qualified majority (with three
exceptions indicated in Annex D where
unanimity is required);

is the normal procedure for all EC
legislation, except agriculture, fisheries,
taxation, trade policies (including external
trade, state aids, industrial policies,
competition etc.) and EMU;

Within these provisions the procedure is "selfregulatory". The three Vice-Presidents in
charge of conciliation, on behalf of the
President of Parliament, carry overall
responsibility for the procedure and report
regularly to the Conference of Presidents.
The Conciliation Committee
The Conciliation Committee is an interinstitutional body made up of representatives
of the EP and the Council. Article 251 (4) of
the Treaty lays down the provisions for its
composition and it is constituted separately for
each
legislative
proposal
requiring
conciliation.
has three stages: first reading, second
reading and conciliation followed by third
reading. The procedure can be concluded
at each stage, if the two branches of the
legislative authority have reached an
agreement
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Its task is to reach an agreement on a joint text.
In fulfilling this task, it is required to address
the common position on the basis of the EP
amendments.
The Conciliation Committee has two
delegations: the Council delegation composed
of the members of the Council (Ministers) or
their representatives and the EP delegation
composed of an equal number of MEPs
(currently 15).
The Commission takes part in the proceedings
with a view to reconciling the positions of the
Parliament and the Council.
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2. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF
THE CODECISION PROCEDURE
First reading
reading phase in both branches of the
legislative authority.
The European Commission submits its
legislative proposal to the EP and to the
Council at the same time. The EP delivers its
first reading on the Commission proposal
with or without amendments. If the Council
approves all the amendments of the EP, or if
the EP does not propose any, it may adopt the
act.
Conciliation and subsequent third reading
The Conciliation Committee has to be
convened within six or, if extended, eight
weeks after the Council has officially notified
the Parliament that it is not in a position to
accept all amendments from its second
reading.
If the Council can not fully agree with the
legislative text as adopted by the EP, it
establishes a common position.
The time after the EP second reading, and
especially the period between the Council
second reading and the convening of the
Conciliation Committee is used to prepare the
Committee meetings through informal
discussions and negotiations between the
institutions (trialogues). The EP delegation
and the Council, normally COREPER I, give
mandates to their representatives and when
appropriate, approve the results of these
negotiations. COREPER II deals with
codecision files in a limited number of fields
including development cooperation (Article
179), transparency (Article 255) and measures
concerning the self-employed (Article 47 of
the Treaty).
There is no time limit set in the Treaty for the
first reading for the Parliament or for the
Council.
Second reading
Within three months from the receipt of the
Council common position, the Parliament
may approve, reject or amend the Council's
common position at its second reading. In
case of approval, or failure to take a decision
(=vote) within the deadline, the act is adopted
on that basis. In case of rejection, voted by an
absolute majority of members, i.e. a minimum
of 314 votes, the procedure lapses.
When the Conciliation Committee is
convened for its first meeting, it has six weeks
in which to draw up a 'joint text'. Between the
meetings, negotiations are often pursued in
the form of trialogues or other informal
meetings between representatives of the
Institutions.
If the Parliament amends the common
position, the Council has to decide whether or
not to approve all the EP amendments. The
time limit for the Council's second reading
starts to run from the official receipt of the
position of the EP in the second reading. If the
Council approves all the amendments, the act
is adopted. In cases where the Council is
unable to do so, the codecision procedure
provides for the convening of the Conciliation
Committee.
After the agreement between the delegations
of the Parliament and Council delegations has
been reached, the co-chairs submit the joint
text, again within a period of six or, if
extended, eight weeks, to the full Parliament
and Council. They have to vote on the text as
it stands without any possibility of amending
it.
The Treaty provides for a deadline of three
months, four if extended, for the second
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After the completion of this third reading in
both institutions, the Presidents of the
Parliament and the Council sign the joint text
which has been adopted. At the first signing,
on 23 March 1994, it was agreed to designate
such legislative texts 'LEX'. This
denomination also applies to codecision texts
approved in first and second reading.
If on the other hand the Conciliation
Committee does not reach an agreement or if
the Parliament or the Council does not
approve the ‘joint text’, the act is deemed not
to have been adopted.
In this case the codecision procedure can only
start again on the basis of a new legislative
proposal from the Commission.
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3. THE DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
IN THE CONCILIATION COMMITTEE
How is it composed?
The EP delegation is appointed separately for
each conciliation procedure, in other words
for each legislative proposal requiring
conciliation.
The groups also appoint substitute members,
who can take an active part in the proceedings
of the delegation.
When is it composed?
The basic provision for the appointment of the
delegation is Rule 82 of the Rules of
Procedure of the Parliament (See Annex C).
When the Parliament has adopted
amendments to the common position at its
second reading, and if, on the basis of the
indications given by the Commission
(presented in the plenary) and the unofficial
information received from the Council, it
seems probable that conciliation will be
required, the Conciliations Secretariat of the
Parliament invites the political groups to
appoint the members of the delegation.
At the beginning of each legislature, or if
major changes in the overall composition of
the Parliament occur, the Conference of
Presidents determines the political make-up of
the delegation in conformity with the relative
political strength of the political groups.
At present the distribution is as follows: 6
EPP-ED, 5 PES, 1 ELDR, 1 GUE/NGL, 1
Green/EFA, and 1 place rotating between the
UEN and EDD groups.
In normal cases this is done during the first
few weeks following the second reading
votes. In exceptional cases, if the timetable
and the importance of the dossier so require,
the delegation can be constituted earlier.
The delegation has three Vice-Presidents of
the Parliament as permanent members, one of
them acting as the Chair of the delegation.
The permanent members are included in the
quota of the political groups.
The first constituent meeting of the delegation
is traditionally held during the next plenary
session following the adoption of the second
reading amendments, even if the Council has
not formally concluded its second reading.
However, to take account of the wish to limit
the number of meetings, the constituent
meeting can take place later, when first
indications of the Council’s reaction are
known and there is a need for an exchange of
views on the substance. For this procedural
reason, or if the Chair of the delegation
decides to start negotiations with the Council
before a meeting can be held, the delegation
can be constituted by written procedure.
The rapporteur and the chair of the
parliamentary committee responsible, also
included in the quota of his/her political
group, are appointed ex officio as members of
the delegation.
The remaining 10 members are appointed by
the political groups according to their internal
practices. Most of the other members
appointed are from the committee responsible
or from the committees which have given an
opinion to the competent committee.
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Linguistic regime of the delegation
The delegation operates in the languages of
the members of the delegation. However, the
basic documents used during the conciliation
procedure (Commission proposal, EP
amendments from the first reading, the
amended Commission proposal, the Council's
common position, EP amendments from the
second reading as well as the Commission
opinion) are available in all 11 languages at
the constituent meeting of the delegation and
on the Conciliation internet site..
Interpretation at the meetings as well as notes
to members, working documents in four
columns used in conciliation and compromise
texts, which are under discussion during the
preparatory phase, are available in the
languages of those in the delegation.
At the meetings of the Conciliation
Committee interpretation as well as the joint
four-column working documents or draft joint
texts are available in all 11 languages.
Where and when does the Delegation meet
The meetings are normally held in Strasbourg
during the plenary sessions. Meetings in
Brussels are held in connection with the minisessions or the relevant committee meeting.
Assistance
The delegation of the Parliament is assisted
by the Conciliations Secretariat, which works
in cooperation with the secretariat(s) of the
competent parliamentary committee(s) and
the Legal Service of the Parliament.
Close cooperation is also required with the
translation services (DG VII), the juristlinguists and the sessional services (DG I), the
interpretation services (DG VI) and the
Parliament's Press service (DG III).
The advisers of the political groups also
provide assistance for their members in the
delegation.
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4. OUR COUNTERPARTS:
WHO IS THE EP DELEGATION DEALING WITH?
The Council
The Commission
The delegation of the Council is composed of
the representatives of the Member States:
normally they are the deputy permanent
representatives (COREPER I) of each
Member State. At the meetings of the
Conciliation Committee a Minister or a
Secretary of State represents the Member
State holding the Presidency. That person cochairs the committee with the Vice-President
of the Parliament, who chairs that particular
delegation.
The representatives of the Commission are
normally invited to take part in all meetings of
the EP delegation as well as the meetings of
COREPER. They also participate in the
trialogue meetings and are present at the
meetings of the Conciliation Committee.
The responsible Member of the Commission
takes part in the formal sittings of the
Conciliation Committee and in the trialogue
and delegation meetings which are held just
before or on the fringe of the Conciliation
Committee meetings. The Commission plays
an important role in conciliation which is
different from the one it plays in first and
second
readings.
The
Commission
participates in the work of the Conciliation
Committee with a view to reconciling the
positions of the co-legislators (Council and
Parliament). Initiatives to this end may
include draft compromise texts.
The Presidency-in-Office of the Council
represents the Council in all contacts with the
Parliament. In practice the main actors are the
President-in-Office of COREPER I and the
chair of the relevant Council working group.
Team I (legislative procedures in codecision)
of the Legal Service in the Secretariat General
of the Council assists the Council delegation.
It is responsible for coordination of Council's
relations with the Parliament regarding
codecision files and for conciliation
procedures in particular.
At the preparatory trialogue meetings or at the
other meetings of the EP delegation, the
Commission is represented by the responsible
DG
(Director
General
or
his/her
representative), assisted by the Secretariat
General of the Commission including its Codecision Unit and its Legal Service.
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5. THE CONCILIATION PROCEDURE
STEP BY STEP
Second reading of the Parliament
At its second reading, the Parliament can
adopt amendments to the common position of
the Council by an absolute majority of its
members, in other words at least 314 votes in
favour of each amendment. The amendments
can be adopted on the basis of the report of
the responsible parliamentary committee or
on the basis of amendments tabled in the
plenary.
communicated in writing to the Conciliations
Secretariat.
During the plenary, the Commission gives an
indication as to whether it can include the EP
amendments in its opinion (modified
proposal) or not.
Constituent meeting of the delegation
A political group can, if it can not appoint all
its substitute members at the beginning of the
procedure, add their names at later stages of
the procedure. The Group communicates any
modification to the membership of the
delegation in writing to the secretariat.
The EP delegation usually holds its
constituent meeting in Strasbourg during the
plenary session following the adoption of the
amendments at second reading.
The results of the votes are transmitted to the
Council and the Commission is required to
give an opinion (modified proposal). The
Council has three (four, if extended) months
to decide whether it can adopt all the EP
amendments or not.
The purpose of the meeting is to give a
mandate to the Parliament's negotiation team
(Vice-President in chair, Chair of the
competent committee and the rapporteur) to
start informal negotiations with the Council in
a “trialogue” (see below) and to establish the
position of the Parliament's delegation,
especially when the initial negotiation
position or at least the first reactions of the
Council to the second reading amendments
are known. At constituent meetings, there is
also often a short exchange of views with
representatives of the Commission.
Appointment of the delegation
Unless it is probable that the Council can
accept all the EP amendments, the
Conciliations Secretariat starts preparations
for the appointment of the EP delegation. In
the first few weeks after the vote in plenary, it
sends a note to the political groups inviting
them to appoint the members according to the
Rules of Procedure, indicating also the
committee(s) responsible for the dossier.
For procedural reasons, if for instance the
Chair of the Delegation considers that the
negotiations with the Council need to start
urgently, or the opinion of the Council is not
available, the constituent meeting can be
replaced by a letter by the Chair of the
Delegation to the members appointed.
The three Vice-Presidents of the Parliament
who are permanent full members of every EP
delegation decide among themselves who
should chair each delegation.
The members are appointed according to the
internal practices of each political group and
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Trialogues
When the Council is ready to present its
position on the EP amendments, whether it
has formally concluded its second reading or
not, an informal meeting between the
Parliament, the Council and the Commission,
a “trialogue”, is arranged. No special time
frame is fixed for these meetings in advance.
The Commission is often invited to produce
compromise texts to be discussed in the
respective delegations or at the next trialogue
meeting.
The trialogues can ask that more technical
preparations or drafting work be done in a
working party at a political level (for instance
the EP rapporteur meeting the Council
working group chair) or at the level of civil
servants. Due to the growing number of
meetings required and the strict time limits
stipulated by the Treaty, these informal
meetings in various compositions are
becoming more common.
The negotiation team mandated by the
delegation represents the Parliament in the
negotiations, whereas the deputy permanent
representative (Chair of COREPER I) of the
Member State holding the Presidency
represents the Council. The DirectorateGeneral in question participates in the
meeting on the European Commission's
behalf. The number of people attending is
limited to a strict minimum (normally no
more than 10 persons from each institution) to
ensure the effectiveness of these meetings. If
need be, the Chairman of the Parliament's
delegation ensures that this limit is respected.
The results of the trialogues are discussed and
possibly approved at the meetings of the
respective delegations and further trialogues
or informal meetings arranged, where
necessary. After each trialogue and in advance
of the forthcoming delegation meeting,
members of the delegation are informed that
the trialogue took place, which members
attended, and whether there was any major
concrete development. They also receive,
where appropriate, a revised version of the
joint four-column working document and any
compromise texts presented at the trialogue.
All members of the delegation receive for
their information advance details of each
trialogue (timing, participants and venue),
even when not invited themselves. The
trialogue meetings are also included in the list
of daily meetings in the Parliament as well as
on the internet site of the Conciliation
Committee.
Normally a short trialogue meeting is held
right before the meeting of the Conciliation
Committee and sometimes even when the
Conciliation
Committee
meeting
is
interrupted for negotiations in trialogue to
clarify the situation, to find mutually
acceptable compromises and to avoid
misunderstandings between the delegations.
At the first trialogue, the Presidency
representing the Council gives the Council's
position on the EP amendments, accepting
perhaps some of them, rejecting some and
proposing compromise texts on others. A
joint four-column working document
indicating the positions of the two institutions
is used in the trialogues. Positions are
discussed and further compromise texts can
be drafted, subject to subsequent approval in
the respective delegations.
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Meetings of the EP delegation
delegation also takes procedural decisions, for
instance if another trialogue meeting should
be arranged or whether the Conciliation
Committee can be convened and if so, when.
The Conciliations Secretariat draws up a
summary record of each delegation meeting.
Delegation meetings are usually organised
shortly after the trialogue meetings or
whenever the development of the conciliation
procedure so requires. Like trialogues, a
delegation meeting always precedes the
meeting of the Conciliation Committee and is
also organised if the Conciliation Committee
meeting is interrupted for negotiations. At the
end of the conciliation procedure, the
delegation formally approves or rejects the
agreement reached. The delegation aims to act
by consensus. However, if a vote is needed,
an absolute majority of members (8) is
required.
After the first trialogue or other informal
contacts, the Chair convenes the delegation to
discuss the results of the negotiations.
Normally these meetings are held during a
plenary session or in conjunction with a
parliamentary committee meeting. In
accordance with Rule 82 (7), which
recognises the distinctive character of
conciliation (as compared with first and
second readings in the Parliament) the
deliberations of the Parliament's delegations
to Conciliation Committees are open to all
those working inside the Parliament, but not
open to the public. The political groups, the
relevant services of the Parliament and the
European Commission are formally invited to
attend the meetings.
At this meeting the negotiation team of the EP
delegation informs the other members of the
results of the trialogue meeting and the
delegation receives the position of the
Council in the form of a joint four-column
working document. The delegation also
considers compromise texts discussed at or
drafted after the trialogue.
The Conciliation Committee
The Conciliation Committee is convened by
the President of the Council with the
agreement of the President of the Parliament.
The Committee can be convened whenever
the positions of the Parliament and the
Council are close enough that the outstanding
questions could be solved. In any case, the
Committee has to be convened at the latest six
weeks, eight if extended, after the Council
second reading.
The Commission representatives can present
compromise texts or draft statements. They
may also be able to give some details on the
meeting of COREPER where the Council has
discussed the results of the first trialogue or
simply to provide more detailed technical
information.
The Conciliation Committee meetings are
normally held in Brussels, alternately on the
premises of the Parliament and the Council. In
the nine years since 1994, a conciliation
meeting has been held only once in
Strasbourg and twice in Luxembourg.
The aim of the delegation meeting is to adopt
a strategy vis-à-vis the Council's position at
every stage of the procedure as well as to
discuss any compromise texts. Agreement
concerning
certain
amendments
or
compromise proposals is given, if appropriate,
subject to overall agreement. If outstanding
questions remain, the delegation gives
instructions to the negotiation team to pursue
negotiations with the Council. The Parliament
In the calendars of the Parliament for 2003
and 2004, certain dates are reserved for these
meetings by marking them with a circle. Any
other date is possible if the two institutions
agree. A short trialogue and meetings of the
delegations normally precede a full
Conciliation Committee meeting.
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The Vice-President of the Parliament chairing
the EP delegation and the Minister or
Secretary of State holding the Presidency-inOffice of the Council co-chair the
Conciliation Committee meetings. The
meeting is opened by the co-chair from the
host
institution.
The
responsible
Commissioner represents the European
Commission.
normally scheduled to start in the late
afternoon or evening and can last - if
necessary - several hours, even until the small
hours of the night. The co-chairs of the
Committee may also decide to establish the
ending time of the meeting in advance.
If it seems to be clear that no agreement will
be found at the first meeting, any number of
further meetings can be convened within the
six week (eight, if extended) deadline for
reaching an agreement
At a single meeting of the Conciliation
Committee, several dossiers can be on the
agenda:

as "A point(s)", either to open the
conciliation procedure (maximum 8-week
time frame) or to formally mark the
agreement on those legislative proposals,
where the delegations have reached an
overall agreement already during informal
negotiations and subsequent meetings of
the delegations. There is no discussion in
the Conciliation Committee on these
items.

the principal theme of discussion is the
dossier where full agreement has not yet
been reached, the so-called "B point". The
Parliament delegation taking part in the
meeting is the delegation constituted and
responsible for this particular dossier.
After a successful conciliation, the Parliament
and the Council often hold a joint press
conference and, when appropriate, issue joint
press statements to mark the agreement
reached and to present the results to the
media. The joint text resulting from
conciliation is also posted in a provisional
version in one language (subject to legal and
linguistic revision) on the Parliament's
internet site as soon as possible after the end
of negotiations, thus enabling the general
public as well as the representatives of the
institutions to assess the outcome. The link to
the
draft
joint
text
is
http://www.europarl.eu.int/code/default_en.ht
m
After each Conciliation Committee meeting
the members of the delegation receive a note
resuming the results of the Committee.
The dossier under discussion is handled by
using a joint four-column working document
prepared by the EP and the Council
conciliation services. It is divided in two
parts: "Part A: Amendments on which
agreement has been reached (subject to
overall agreement)", and "Part B:
Amendments on which agreement has still to
be found". The discussion is normally limited
to these outstanding issues. The Commission
can be invited to propose compromise texts to
facilitate agreement. Sometimes declarations
by one or more of the institutions are also
used as a tool to reach an agreement.
After the Conciliation Committee: third
reading
When the Conciliation Committee has
reached an agreement, a draft joint text (PECONS) is prepared on the basis of the joint
working document and any modifications
made during the meeting(s). It is first
established in one language and subsequently
translated into the other ten official languages.
The draft joint text in the original language is
transmitted to the Members of the Delegation.
Once the Conciliations Secretariats and the
jurist-linguists of the Parliament and the
If agreement seems to be within reach, the
Conciliation Committee meetings are
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14
Council have finalised the joint text, the copresidents of the Committee send it along
with a transmission letter to the President of
the Parliament and the President-in-office of
the Council. Any declarations by the
institutions are annexed to this letter, which
also serves as minutes of the conciliation
procedure.
In cases where no agreement has been reached
in the Conciliation Committee, the Chair of
the Delegation makes a statement in the
Plenary, followed by a debate. So far under
the Amsterdam provisions there has been no
case of such a failure to agree.
From the signature of the transmission letter
approving the joint text, the two institutions
have six weeks (eight, if extended) to adopt
the act, without any possibility to amend it.
During this period, the members of the EP
delegation receive in their own language the
final joint text for information and comment
along with a report which outlines the results
of the conciliation procedure. The report
includes the record of the vote by the
delegation on the conclusion of the
conciliation procedure. The final joint text,
the report prepared by the rapporteur under
the authority of the chair of the delegation and
the transmission letter including any
declarations of the institutions adopted by the
Conciliation Committee are then submitted to
the sessional services of the European
Parliament (DG I). At this point the different
language versions of the text of the agreement
are all published on the internet site of the
European Parliament.
The chair of the delegation or any other
member of the delegation (normally the
rapporteur) shall make a statement on the
joint text. This statement is usually followed
by a debate. The Parliament then votes on the
joint text which requires a majority of the
votes cast to be approved.
After the adoption of the act in the Parliament
and in the Council, the definitive legislative
text, known as LEX, is signed by the
Presidents of the Parliament and the Council,
and published in the Official Journal with the
relevant declarations.
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6. DOCUMENTATION
FOR MEMBERS AND THE PUBLIC
Generally all necessary information and all
documentation is transmitted, whenever
possible, in advance in the original language
to the members of the delegation, political
groups and the relevant EP services by e-mail.
The members will find in their files several
standard documents:

at the first meeting, basic documents
relevant to the conciliation procedure in
question: Commission proposal, EP
amendments from the first reading, the
amended Commission proposal, Council's
Common Position, EP amendments from
the second reading, and the opinion of the
Commission, if available. This document
is provided in all 11 languages. At
subsequent meetings it is available on
request.

for each meeting the Conciliations
Secretariat draws up a note for members,
summarising the aims of the meeting, the
situation concerning the amendments, the
stage of negotiations with the Council and
the procedural aspects. This note is
available in the languages of the
delegation and distributed at the meeting.

at the delegation meetings the members
receive a working document in four
columns, so called "tables". The first two
columns present the original positions of
the Council (common position) and of the
Parliament (amendments from the second
reading). In the third column is inserted
the Council's reaction to these EP
amendments. The position of the
Parliament's delegation to the conciliation
committee is placed in the fourth column.
These two columns may be modified
several times during the procedure.
The public can reach the documents related to
dossiers in conciliation through the
Parliament's Register of documents. These
documents include monthly reports on
conciliation procedures, joint texts approved
by the Conciliation Committee and reports for
third reading.
The joint four-column working documents
produced in the context of the conciliation
procedure by Parliament and Council, with
each institution indicating its response to the
position of the other as the conciliation
procedure evolves, are in principle directly
available to the public, as laid down in the
provisions of the register, as soon as the
conciliation process has come to an end.
However, the documents may be made
available on request earlier, during the
conciliation procedure, provided both
institutions agree.
The EP Internet site of the Conciliation
Committee available in English and French,
http://www.europarl.eu.int/code/default_en.ht
m also contains information on conciliation
procedures as well as documents in all official
languages related to dossiers in conciliation.
In addition to this standard documentation,
other relevant documentation, such as letters
to the Chair or the rapporteur, may be
distributed to the members with the agreement
of the delegation chair.
DV\500487EN.doc
16
7. SERVICES OF
THE CONCILIATIONS SECRETARIAT
The tasks of the secretariat are:




to prepare and organise the meetings of
the European Parliament delegations to
conciliations as well as those with the
Council (technical meetings, trialogues
and the Conciliation Committee);
to provide assistance to the three VicePresidents, permanent members of the
conciliation delegation, in the running of
the conciliation procedure and in
preparing background notes for the
delegation;
to support, in cooperation with the
secretariats of the committees and the
Legal Service, the Chair of the competent
committee and the rapporteur, notably
drafting compromise texts and reports for
the plenary outlining the results of the
procedure;
to maintain and develop contacts with the
relevant officials in the Council and the
Commission
responsible for the
conciliation procedure;
DV\500487EN.doc
17

to respond to requests for procedural and
strategic advice on "horizontal" issues
arising in the context of the codecision
procedure;

to provide up-to-date information
concerning the progress of codecision
procedures, within the Parliament and in
response to queries from the public, e.g.
by publishing a monthly newsletter;

to organise a regular codecision workshop
at the administrative level with a view to
improving awareness of and encouraging a
broad exchange of views on current issues
at stake in the legislative procedure;

to liaise with Parliament's jurist linguists
to ensure the legal-linguistic verification
of texts throughout the codecision
procedure up to their signature by the
President of the Parliament and
publication in the Official Journal.
The Conciliations Secretariat forms a part of Directorate B of the Directorate General for
Committees and Delegations, for which Mr Ezio PERILLO is Director. It is made up as follows:
Brussels
ext
Room
Strasbourg
ext
Room
Michael SHACKLETON
42732
ATR 08K081
72404
SDM G01049
Brenda JAMES
42734
ATR 08K083
72405
SDM G01049
Klaus BAIER
44873
ATR 08K011
74369
SDM G01002
Alison DAVIES
43967
ATR 08K076
72268
SDM G01047
Pekka HAKALA
46273
ATR 08K089
72085
SDM G01048
Nikos TZIORKAS
42341
ATR 08K086
74357
SDM G01001
Elsa COSTA
40626
ATR 08K087
72058
SDM G01048
Leena LUOMA
43638
ATR 08K087
74614
SDM G01047
Carla LYON
42706
ATR 08K013
72545
SDM G01002
Kirsti PAAKKOLA
46274
ATR 08K085
72085
SDM G01048
Maria Angeles MARTINEZVALLS
42007
ATR 08K080
72560
SDM G01050
Chantal LEFORT
43807
ATR 08K078
77097
SDM G01050
Pantelis KARAGOUNIS
43492
ATR 08K082
72544
SDM G01001
46336
ATR 08K072
74387
SDM G01038
42962
ATR 08K076
72554
SDM G01039
Head of division/Secretary
Administrators / Secretaries
Assistance / Secretaries
Fax Brussels:
Fax Strasbourg:
+ 32 2 284 91 77
+33 3 88 17 90 75
Director / Secretary
Ezio PERILLO
Concepción NAVARRETE
RAMIREZ
Fax Brussels:
Fax Strasbourg:
+ 32 2 284 69 05
+33 3 88 36 92 14
DV\500487EN.doc
18
8. FURTHER INFORMATION
The following are available from the conciliation website:
1.
European Parliament, delegations to Conciliation Committee:
Activity Report 1 August 2002 – 31 July 2003
Presented by Vice-Presidents Giorgos DIMITRAKOPOULOS, Charlotte CEDERSCHIÖLD
and Renzo IMBENI
2.
European Parliament, delegations to Conciliation Committee:
Activity Report 1 August 2001 – 31 July 2002
Presented by Vice-Presidents Giorgos DIMITRAKOPOULOS, Charlotte CEDERSCHIÖLD
and Renzo IMBENI
3.
European Parliament, delegations to Conciliation Committee:
Activity Report 1 August 2000 – 31 July 2001
Presented by Vice-Presidents Renzo IMBENI, James PROVAN and Ingo FRIEDRICH
4.
European Parliament, delegations to Conciliation Committee:
Activity Report 1 May 1999 – 31 July 2000
Presented by Vice-Presidents Renzo IMBENI, James PROVAN and Ingo FRIEDRICH
5.
European Parliament, Delegations to the Conciliations Committee:
Activity Report 1 November 1993 - 30 April 1999.
Presented by Vice-Presidents Nicole FONTAINE, Renzo IMBENI and Josep VERDE I
ALDEA.
DV\500487EN.doc
19
ANNEXES
A.
Article 251 of the EC Treaty
1.
Where reference is made in this Treaty to this Article for the adoption of an act, the following procedure shall apply.
2.
The Commission shall submit a proposal to the European Parliament and the Council.
The Council, acting by a qualified majority after obtaining the opinion of the European Parliament,
-
if it approves all the amendments contained in the European Parliament's opinion, may adopt the proposed
act thus amended;
if the European Parliament does not propose any amendments, may adopt the proposed act;
it shall otherwise adopt a common position and communicate it to the European Parliament. The Council
shall inform the European Parliament fully of the reasons which led it to adopt its common position. The
Commission shall inform the European Parliament fully of its position.
If, within three months of such communication, the European Parliament:
(a)
(b)
(c)
approves the common position or has not taken a decision, the act in question shall be deemed to have been
adopted in accordance with that common position;
rejects, by an absolute majority of its component members, the common position, the proposed act shall be
deemed not to have been adopted;
proposes amendments to the common position by an absolute majority of its component members, the
amended text shall be forwarded to the Council and to the Commission, which shall deliver an opinion on
those amendments.
3.
If, within three months of the matter being referred to it, the Council, acting by a qualified majority, approves all the
amendments of the European Parliament, the act in question shall be deemed to have been adopted in the form of the
common position thus amended; however, the Council shall act unanimously on the amendments on which the
Commission has delivered a negative opinion. If the Council does not approve all the amendments, the President of
the Council, in agreement with the President of the European Parliament, shall within six weeks convene a meeting
of the Conciliation Committee.
4.
The Conciliation Committee, which shall be composed of the members of the Council or their representatives and an
equal number of representatives of the European Parliament, shall have the task of reaching agreement on a joint
text, by a qualified majority of the members of the Council or their representatives and by a majority of the
representatives of the European Parliament. The Commission shall take part in the Conciliation Committee's
proceedings and shall take all the necessary initiatives with a view to reconciling the positions of the European
Parliament and the Council. In fulfilling this task, the Conciliation Committee shall address the common position on
the basis of the amendments proposed by the European Parliament.
5.
If, within six weeks of its being convened, the Conciliation Committee approves a joint text, the European
Parliament, acting by an absolute majority of votes cast, and the Council, acting by a qualified majority, shall each
have a period of six weeks from that approval in which to adopt the act in question in accordance with the joint text.
If either of the two institutions fails to approve the proposed act within that period, it shall be deemed not to have
been adopted.
6.
Where the Conciliation Committee does not approve a joint text, the proposed act shall be deemed not to have been
adopted.
7.
The periods of three months and six weeks referred to in this Article shall be extended by a maximum of one month
and two weeks respectively at the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council.
DV\500487EN.doc
20
B.
Joint declaration on practical arrangements for the new codecision procedure (Article 251
of the EC Treaty)
Preamble
The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, hereinafter referred to as "the institutions", note that the
present practice of contacts between the Council Presidency, the Commission and the chairmen of the relevant committees
and/or rapporteurs of Parliament and between the co-chairmen of the Conciliation Committee has proved its worth. The
institutions confirm that this practice should be extended to cover all stages of the codecision procedure. The institutions
undertake to examine their working methods with a view to making effective use of all the possibilities afforded by the
new codecision procedure.
The institutions shall do what is necessary, in accordance with their rules of procedure, to promote reciprocal information
about codecision proceedings.
I.
First reading
1.
The institutions shall cooperate in good faith with a view to reconciling their positions as far as possible so that
wherever possible acts can be adopted at first reading.
2.
The institutions shall ensure that their respective calendars of work are coordinated as far as possible in order to
facilitate the conduct of proceedings at first reading in a coherent and convergent manner in the European
Parliament and the Council. They shall establish appropriate contacts to monitor the progress of the work and
analyse the degree of convergence.
3.
The Commission shall ensure that such contacts are facilitated and shall exercise its right of initiative in a
constructive manner with a view to making it easier to reconcile the positions of the European Parliament and the
Council with due regard for the balance between the institutions and the role conferred on that institution by the
Treaty.
II.
Second reading
1.
In its statement of reasons the Council shall explain as clearly as possible the reasons that have led it to adopt its
common position. During its second reading, the European Parliament shall take the greatest possible account of
those reasons and of the Commission's opinion.
2.
Appropriate contacts may be established with a view to achieving a better understanding of the respective positions
and thus to bringing the legislative procedure to a conclusion as quickly as possible.
3.
The Commission shall ensure that such contacts are facilitated and shall give its opinion with a view to reconciling
the positions of the Council and the European Parliament, with due regard for the balance between the institutions
and the role conferred on that institution by the Treaty.
III.
Conciliation
1.
The Conciliation Committee shall be convened by the President of the Council, with the agreement of the President
of the European Parliament and with due regard to the provisions of the Treaty.
2.
The Commission shall take part in the conciliation proceedings and shall take all the necessary initiatives with a
view to reconciling the positions of the European Parliament and the Council. Such initiatives may include, inter
alia, draft compromise texts reflecting the positions of the Council and of the European Parliament, with due regard
being had to the role conferred upon the Commission by the Treaty.
3.
The committee shall be chaired jointly by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council.
Committee meetings shall be chaired alternately by each co-chairman.
DV\500487EN.doc
21
The dates and the agenda for the Committee's meetings shall be set jointly by the co-chairmen. The Commission shall be
consulted on the dates envisaged. The European Parliament and the Council shall set aside, for guidance, appropriate
dates for conciliation proceedings and shall notify the Commission thereof.
While respecting the Treaty provisions regarding time limits, the European Parliament and the Council shall, as far as
possible, take account of scheduling requirements, in particular those resulting from breaks in the institutions' activities
and from European Parliament elections. In any case, the interruption of activities shall be as short as possible.
The Committee shall meet alternately at the premises of the European Parliament and those of the Council.
4.
The Committee shall have available to it the Commission proposal, the Council's common position, the amendments
proposed by the European Parliament, the Commission's opinion thereon and a joint working document by the
European Parliament and Council delegations. The Commission shall, as a general rule, submit its opinion within
two weeks of official receipt of the outcome of Parliament's vote and at the latest by the commencement of
conciliation proceedings.
5.
The co-chairmen may submit texts for the Committee's approval.
6.
The detailed outcome of votes and, where appropriate, explanations of vote, taken within each delegation to the
Conciliation Committee, shall be forwarded to the Committee.
7.
Agreement on a joint text shall be established at a meeting of the Conciliation Committee or, subsequently, by an
exchange of letters between the co-chairmen. Copies of such letters shall be forwarded to the Commission.
8.
If the committee reaches agreement on a joint text, it shall, after legal/linguistic finalisation, be submitted to the cochairmen for approval.
9.
The co-chairmen shall forward the approved joint text to the Presidents of the European Parliament and of the
Council by means of a jointly signed letter. Where the Conciliation Committee is unable to agree on a joint text, the
co-chairmen shall notify the Presidents of the European Parliament and of the Council thereof in a jointly signed
letter. Such letters shall serve as minutes. Copies of such letters shall be forwarded to the Commission for
information.
10.
The General Secretariats of the Council and of the European Parliament shall act jointly as the Committee's
secretariat, in association with the General Secretariat of the Commission.
IV.
General provisions
1.
Should the European Parliament or the Council deem it essential to extend the time limits referred to in Article 251
of the EC Treaty, they shall notify the President of the other institution and the Commission thereof.
2.
Texts shall be finalised by the legal/linguistic experts of the Parliament and of the Council acting in close
cooperation and by mutual agreement.
3.
Following the adoption of a legislative act under the codecision procedure by the European Parliament and the
Council, the text shall be submitted, for signature, to the President of the European Parliament and the President of
the Council and to the Secretaries-General of the two institutions.
The jointly signed text shall be forwarded to the Official Journal for publication if possible within at most one month, and
in any case as soon as possible.
4.
If one of the institutions finds a clerical error in a text (or in one of the language versions), it shall immediately
notify the other institutions. If the error is found in an act that has not yet been adopted, the legal/linguistic services
of the European Parliament and of the Council shall prepare the necessary corrigendum in close cooperation. Where
the error is found in an act that has already been adopted or published, the European Parliament and the Council
shall adopt, by mutual agreement, a corrigendum drawn up under their respective procedures.
DV\500487EN.doc
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C.
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament - Rules 81 - 83
Third reading - conciliation
Rule 81
Convening of Conciliation Committee
Where the Council informs the Parliament that it is unable to approve all Parliament's amendments to the common
position, the President shall, together with the Council, agree to a time and place for a first meeting of the Conciliation
Committee. The six-week or, if extended, eight-week deadline provided for in Article 251(5) of the EC Treaty shall run
from the time at which the Committee first meets.
Rule 82
Delegation to Conciliation Committee
1.
Parliament's delegation to the Conciliation Committee shall consist of a number of members equal to the number of
members of the Council delegation.
2.
The political composition of the delegation shall correspond to the composition of Parliament by political groups.
The Conference of Presidents shall fix the exact number of Members from each political group.
3.
The members of the delegation shall be appointed by the political groups for each particular conciliation case,
preferably from among the members of the committees concerned, except for three members who shall be
appointed as permanent members of successive delegations for a period of twelve months. The three permanent
members shall be appointed by the political groups from among the Vice-Presidents and shall represent at least two
different political groups. The chairman and the rapporteur of the committee responsible in each particular case
shall be members of the delegation.
4.
The political groups represented on the delegation shall appoint substitutes.
5.
Political groups and Non-attached Members not represented on the delegation may each send one representative to
any internal preparatory meeting of the delegation.
6.
The delegation shall be led by the President or by one of the three permanent members.
7.
The delegation shall decide by a majority of its members. Its deliberations shall not be public.
The Conference of Presidents shall lay down further procedural guidelines for the work of the delegation to the
Conciliation Committee.
8.
The results of the conciliation shall be reported by the delegation to Parliament.
DV\500487EN.doc
23
Third reading - plenary stage
Rule 83
Joint text
1.
Where agreement on a joint text is reached within the Conciliation Committee, the matter shall be placed on the
agenda of a sitting of Parliament to be held within six or, if extended, eight weeks of the date of approval of the
joint text by the Conciliation Committee.
2.
The chairman or another designated member of Parliament's delegation to the Conciliation Committee shall make a
statement on the joint text, which shall be accompanied by a report.
3.
No amendments may be tabled to the joint text.
4.
The joint text as a whole shall be the subject of a single vote. The joint text shall be approved if it secures a
majority of the votes cast.
5.
Where no agreement is reached on a joint text within the Conciliation Committee, the chairman or another
designated member of Parliament's delegation to the Conciliation Committee shall make a statement. This
statement shall be followed by a debate.
DV\500487EN.doc
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D.
Legal bases covered by Codecision
Codecision applies at present to 43 areas or types of Community action, spread over 36 Treaty articles as follows:
Article 12
Article 13(2) new
Article 18
Article 40
Article 42
**
Article 44
Article 46
Article 47(1)
Article 47(2)
Article 55
Article 65
Article 71(1)
**
Article 80(2)
Article 95(1)
Article 129
Article 135
Article 137 (1-2)
Article 141
Article 148
Article 149(4)
Article 150
Article 151(5)
Article 152(4)
**
Article 153(4)
Article 156
Article 157(3)
Article 159, 3rd paragraph
Article 162
Article 166
Article 172
Article 175(1), (3)
Article 179
Article 191
Article 255
Article 280
Article 285
Article 286
**
prohibition of any discrimination on grounds of nationality,
anti-discrimination measures,
citizenship: right of citizens to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member
States ,
freedom of movement for workers,
freedom of movement for workers: social security of migrant workers in the
Community,
right of establishment,
right of establishment: special treatment for foreign nationals,
taking up and pursuing activities as self-employed persons, training and conditions of
access to professions: mutual recognition of diplomas,
measures concerning the self-employed: amendment of national legislation,
right of establishment: services,
judicial cooperation in civil matters (except family law),
transport: common rules applicable to international transport, conditions under which
non-resident carriers may operate transport services within a Member State, measures to
improve transport safety,
sea and air transport,
harmonisation of the internal market,
employment: incentive measures,
customs cooperation,
social policy: workers' health and safety, working conditions, information and
consultation of workers, equality between men and women, measures to encourage
cooperation in fight against social exclusion,
social policy: equal opportunities and pay,
Social Fund: implementing decisions,
education: incentive measures,
vocational training: measures to contribute to the achievement of objectives,
incentive measures in respect of culture,
public health: minimum standards of quality and safety of organs and substances of
human origin, blood and blood derivatives, measures in the veterinary and
phytosanitary fields designed to protect public health, action to improve public health,
consumer protection,
trans-European networks: establishment, funding,
specific support measures in the industrial sphere,
specific actions for economic and social cohesion outside the Structural Funds,
European Regional Development Fund (implementing decisions),
framework programme for research and technical development,
research: adoption of programmes,
environment: measures, adoption and implementation of programmes
development cooperation,
regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their
funding,
transparency: general principles and limits on access to documents,
measures to counter fraud,
statistics,
protection of data: establishment of an independent supervisory body.
Unanimity in the Council
.
DV\500487EN.doc
25
Codecision may also be extended to the following five areas at a later date:
Article 63(1)
Article 63(2)
Article 63(3)
Article 62(3)
Article 137(1)
d, f and g
Asylum measures (subject to the definition of common rules and basic principles)
Refugees and displaced persons (subject to the definition of common rules and basic
principles)
Illegal immigration (subject to Council decision to be taken as of 1 May 2004)
Freedom to travel for nationals of third countries (subject to Council decision to be
taken as of 1 May 2004)
Social provisions (subject to unanimous decision of Council)
DV\500487EN.doc
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E.
Presentation of the codecision procedure
Proposal from the Commission to
the EP and Council
Parliament first reading:
no EP amendments
Parliament first reading:
EP amendments
Commission opinion on EP amendments
(amended Commission proposal)
Council first reading: the Council does not
modify the text
The act is adopted
Council first reading: The Council does not
approve the outcome of the EP first reading
and adopts a common position
Commission opinion
on the common position
Council first reading: the Council approves
all amendments
The act is adopted
Parliament second reading:
(deadline 3 + 1 months)
Parliament approves the common position or
does not take a decision within the deadline
The act is adopted
Parliament adopts amendments to the common
position by an absolute majority of its
Members
Commission opinion on EP amendments
Parliament rejects the common position by
an absolute majority of its Members
The act is not adopted
Council second reading
(deadline 3 + 1 months)
The Council approves
all Parliament’s amendments
The act is adopted
The Council does not approve
all Parliament’s amendments
Conciliation Committee is convened within
a period of 6 + 2 weeks, and has a further
6 + 2 weeks to reach agreement
Successful conclusion to conciliation
The EP and Council are unable to adopt
the joint text within the period of 6 + 2 weeks
The act is not adopted
Third reading: Within a period of 6 + 2 weeks,
approval of the joint text by the EP (majority of
votes cast) and by the Council (QMV)
The act is adopted
DV\500487EN.doc
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Unsuccessful conclusion to conciliation
The act is not adopted