Decision-Making in the European Union – EC Library Guide: Selected publications

Selected EU publications

The EU in 2023 – General report on the activities of the European Union = L'UE en 2023 – Rapport général sur l’activité de l’Union européenne = Die EU im Jahr 2023 – Gesamtbericht über die Tätigkeit der Europäischen Union

European Commission: Directorate-General for Communication, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.

Would you like to know how the EU addressed the challenges of 2023 and what it achieved during the year? Are you curious about the main policy developments and how citizens benefited from them? You can find the answers to all these questions and more in The EU in 2023.
The European Union – What it is and what it does = L’Union européenne – Sa fonction et ses activités = Die Europäische Union – Was sie ist und was sie tut

European Commission: Directorate-General for Communication, Publications Office of the European Union, 2022.

This publication is a guide to the European Union (EU) and what it does. The first section briefly explains what the EU is. The second section, ‘What the European Union does’, describes what the EU is doing in 40 different areas to improve the lives of people in Europe and further afield. The third section, ‘How the European Union makes decisions and takes action’, describes the institutions at the heart of the EU’s decision-making process and how their decisions are translated into actions.
Europe’s choice – Political guidelines for the next European Commission 2024−2029 = Le choix de l'Europe – Orientations politiques pour la prochaine Commission européenne 2024−2029 = Europa hat die Wahl – Politische Leitlinien für die nächste Europäisch

European Commission: Directorate-General for Communication, Leyen, U., Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.

Campaigning across Europe ahead of this year’s European elections was a reminder of what makes our Union what it is. Almost 500 million people with such disparate cultures, complex histories and differing perspectives all coming together at the same time to articulate their wish for an entire Union of 27 countries. In casting their vote they also help to build a shared European identity – all of this bound together by our rich and varied cultural tapestry. This is Europe’s greatest strength. It makes Europe more than a construct or a project. Europe is our home: unique in design and united in diversity. From the record number of first-time voters to those who have voted in every European election, people expressed hopes and aspirations for a healthier and more prosperous future. But they also pointed to the fact that we are in an era of anxiety and uncertainty. Europeans have real doubts and concerns about the instabilities and insecurities we face – from the cost of living, housing and doing business to the way issues such as migration are handled.

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From our security at home to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. They also worry that Europe is often not fast enough; that it can be either too distant or too burdensome. All of these expectations and concerns are real, legitimate and must be responded to. For that reason, I believe it is essential that the democratic centre in Europe holds. But if that centre is to hold it must live up to the scale of the concerns and the challenges that people face in their lives. Failure to do so would fuel resentment and polarisation and leave a fertile ground for those who peddle simplistic solutions but in reality want to destabilise our societies. This is the backdrop to what is an era of profound change – for our society and our security, our planet and our economy. The speed of change can be destabilising and, for some, can lead to a sense of loss for the world as it used to be and a worry for the world as it will be.
The implementation of Article 31 of the Treaty on European Union and the use of qualified majority voting – Towards a more effective Common Foreign and Security Policy?

European Parliament: Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union, Wessel, R. and Szép, V., Publications Office of the European Union, 2022.

This study has been commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the AFCO Committee. It analyses the possibilities and challenges regarding unanimity and qualified majority voting as well as the use of passerelle clauses in EU decision-making, with a special focus on the use of qualified majority voting in the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.
Perspectives for EU governance – Between Community method, new-intergovernmentalism and parliamentarisation

European Parliament: Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union, Costa, O., European Parliament, 2022.

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament's Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the AFCO Committee, analyses the evolutions of the modes of governance at EU level. It shows that the so-called Community method has undergone a double evolution towards more intergovernmentalism, on the one hand, and more parliamentarisation, on the other. In particular, in recent years, the first trend has dominated. The study proposes solutions to defend the centrality of the Community method and to increase the Union’s capacity to act in an efficient, integrated and democratic way.
Special legislative procedures in the treaties – Institutional balance and sincere cooperation

European Parliament: Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union, Böttner, R., Publications Office of the European Union, 2022.

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the AFCO Committee, examines the legislative procedures in the Treaties. It focuses on special legislative procedures where either Parliament or the Council adopts an act with the participation (consultation or consent) of the other institution. This should not mean, however, that the participating institution could not influence the substance of the act. Instead, the principles of institutional balance and mutual sincere cooperation require that the opinion of the participating institution be duly taken into account.
Understanding EU decision-making

European Institute of Public Administration, Best, E., Publications Office of the European Union, 2016.

This book presents in a concise and accessible way why the EU institutional system exists in its present form, how the EU fits into the world as a system of governance, and who is involved in EU policy processes. It outlines the historical context which has shaped the EU system, gives a summary of the system's basic principles and structures, and describes its actors, procedures and instruments. The main theme is to show that EU decision-making is not just a matter of action at some higher and separate level, of ‘them and us’, but rather that it involves different forms of cooperation between European, national and regional authorities, as well as interaction between public and private actors.

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Numerous short case studies illustrate how people’s day-to-day activities are affected by EU decisions, and how individuals’ concerns are represented in the decision-making process. The book provides insights and examples which will be very helpful for all students of European integration. It will also be a valuable resource for European citizens wishing to understand the basic realities and rationales, as well as some of the dilemmas, behind EU policy-making.
Understanding trilogue: Informal tripartite meetings to reach provisional agreement on legislative files

Briefing. European Parliament, 2021.

Thanks to successive Treaty revisions, the European Parliament has acquired the status of legislator on an equal footing with the Council. Today the ordinary legislative procedure (Article 294 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union − TFEU), previously known as co-decision, covers a vast amount of policy areas. In order to pass legislation, Parliament, representing the EU citizens, and Council, representing the governments of the EU Member States, have to agree on an identical text, which requires time and negotiations.

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The complexity of the EU legislative process has been sometimes criticised for being lengthy and subject to gridlock, thus the risk of not responding to societal problems in a timely manner. To overcome this criticism, the legislators have developed informal contacts to speed up the legislative process while ensuring representativeness and oversight. One of the tools commonly used today to ensure the effectiveness of the legislative process is trilogue, defined as 'informal tripartite meetings on legislative proposals between representatives of the Parliament, the Council and the Commission'. These tripartite meetings have been the object of criticism for a number of reasons, including the fact that the number of participants is limited and that they take place beyond close doors. Due to the absence of any explicit reference in the Treaties, trilogues started on a very informal basis in the early 1990s and evolved over time. At the beginning, the institutions filled the legal void with informal practice that was subject to an increasing degree of formalisation over time and then resulted, inter alia, in successive modifications of Parliament Rules of Procedure (RoP). These modifications were driven by the need to ensure that trilogues efficiently support the legislative process in Parliament while remaining fully transparent and representative. Today, RoP define the key elements upon which trilogues are built, how to conduct negotiations, and how to ensure that both committees and plenary are fully informed and can exercise their oversight role. Still, some elements such as the number and frequency of meetings, the practical conduct of negotiations depend very much on the nature of the legislative file to be negotiated, and thus remain uncodified.