The European Parliament and the Co-Decision Procedure: A Re-Assessment

In this paper, I re-assess the co-decision legislative procedure introduced by the Maastricht Treaty on European Union. Specifically, I examine the dispute as to whether co-decision enhanced or diminished the European Parliament's influence over EU law-making. Employing a combination of formal analysis of the different stages of the procedure and evidence from its actual operation, I argue that Garrett and Tsebelis' claim that co-decision reduces Parliament's legislative powers is both theoretically and empirically unsupported. The implications for the Parliament's position within European politics are evaluated in the conclusion.