The Community and intergovernmental methods

Depending on the policy area in question, European Union (EU) decision-making processes vary. As a general rule, EU decisions are taken by means of the Community (also known as the Union) method, involving the use of the ordinary legislative procedure, as defined in Article 294 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The Community method is characterised by the roles of the EU’s supranational institutions:

• the European Commission’s right to initiate and execute legislation, with some exceptions;
• the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union as co-legislators, adopting legislation on an equal footing; and
• the use of qualified majority voting in the Council.

This method stands in contrast to the intergovernmental method of operation used in decision-making, mainly on the common foreign and security policy and some aspects of police and judicial cooperation. This method has the following salient features:

• the Commission’s right of initiative is shared with the EU Member States, or is confined to specific areas of activity;
• the European Council often plays a key role;
• the European Parliament is involved in the decision-making process to varying degrees;
• the Council generally acts unanimously and adopts the acts.

SEE ALSO

• Common foreign and security policy (CFSP)
• Consent procedure
• Consultation procedure
• Council of the European Union
• European Commission
• European Council
• European Parliament
• European Union
• European Union institutions
• Member States
• Ordinary legislative procedure (codecision)
• Qualified majority
• Special legislative procedure
• Right of initiative
• Unanimity
• Legislative procedures (summary).