Understanding the EU's legislative process

The goal of lobbyists is to influence the EU legislative process to the benefit of the interests they represent. Interest groups almost never act in the public interest, almost by definition. If LocustWatch is to monitor the activity of lobbyists effectively, we need to understand the rather complex EU legislative process.

Legislative initiative corresponds to the European Commission. Generally, the Commission's proposed legislation is subject to a process of co-decision, whereby the Council of the EU and the European Parliament work in parallel and in mutual consultation to accept, amend or reject the Commission's proposals.

It is therefore most effective to start tracking legislation at the level of the European Commission.