European Parliament

It was 20 years ago: How the European Parliament came into its own

Published

13 years ago

November 1, 2013

The Parliament has been the people's voice at a European level since 1979 but it was only in 1993 that it was recognised as an equal partner by the other EU institutions. Introduced by the Maastricht Treaty, the co-decision procedure gave the Parliament and the Council of the European Union an equal say on a wide range of issues. Now the vast majority of European laws are adopted this way. On 5 November the EP organises a special conference to mark 20 years of co-decision.

In 1999 the co-decision procedure was extended and made more effective by the Amsterdam Treaty. Under the Lisbon Treaty that took effect on 1 December 2009 it was renamed the ordinary legislative procedureand made into the main way of creating new European laws.
The co-decision procedure entered into force on 1 November 1993. To mark 20 years of co-decision, a conference will be held at the Parliament on 5 November. It will be dedicated to the EP’s increasing powers under the Treaty of Lisbon and what this means for the future. The conference will be opened by EP president Martin Schulz and Gianni Pittella, the vice-president responsible for conciliation.

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