EU legislative process

This subtopic contains a range of resources relating to EU legislative process, procedures and principles relevant to the types of legislation which fall under the umbrella of EU law, including:

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EU Treaties (and all their amendments)
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Regulations
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Directives
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Decisions
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Opinions and Recommendations
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Tertiary legislation (including implementing and delegated legislation)

EU law is developed further by the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and legal principles developed by it.

The EU is based on the rule of law. Actions taken by the EU are founded on treaties approved voluntarily and democratically by all EU Member States. Under the principle of conferral, if a policy area is not cited in a treaty, the European Commission cannot propose a law in that area as it is not an EU competence.

There are different types of EU legal documents. A treaty is a binding agreement between EU Member States setting out EU objectives, rules for relevant EU institutions, how decisions are made and the relationship between the EU and its Member States. Amendments allow for EU enlargement, and areas of co-operation.

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Latest Public Law News

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The House of Commons Library has published a briefing on the voting age, following the announcement of plans to reduce the voting age to 16 for all elections in the UK. This briefing details the current voting age for UK elections and considers the debate about lowering the voting age.

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The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its 33rd Report of 2024–25, drawing special attention to Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules (HC 997). The statement includes two key sets of measures. The first makes significant changes to the skilled worker visa route, tightening the conditions for granting such visas and removing the social care sector from the list of occupations eligible to recruit migrant workers. Several aspects of this new system remain unclear, pending a consultation that has yet to be launched. The second closes new applications to the two statutory schemes that supported Afghans who assisted UK operations and objectives in Afghanistan, including through resettlement in the UK. The statement is drawn to the special attention of the House due to insufficient explanatory material to clearly understand its policy objective or intended implementation.

UN Committee finds UK breached Aarhus Convention over lack of public consultation on Brexit legislation

The UN Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee has published draft findings concluding that the UK breached Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention during the development of the EU Withdrawal Bill. The Committee found that the UK failed to: (1) implement required public consultation timeframes; (2) make the draft Bill available for public scrutiny; and (3) provide opportunities for public feedback. The findings, which follow a 2017 complaint by Friends of the Earth, will become legally binding under international law if adopted by the Convention’s member states in November 2025. If adopted, the UK will be required to implement legislative changes to ensure effective public consultation on future environmental laws. The UK government may choose to implement the findings ahead of the November 2025 meeting.

JCHR announces call for evidence in scrutiny of Human Rights Act 1998 (Remedial) Order 2025

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