In practice, a very large part of the codecision files is now agreed at first and second readings (including second reading agreements: if Parliament approves the Council`s position at first reading without amendment). The third and final phase of the procedure, the so-called “reconciliation”, has become exceptional and is limited to very difficult cases. During the eighth Parliament, all files were adopted as part of the ordinary legislative procedure prior to third reading. The ordinary legislative procedure is as follows: the European Commission is presenting a proposal. The European Parliament (EP) and the Council of Ministers (Council) will adopt or amend the proposal. If the Council`s epund fails to agree on the proposed amendments, both parties will be able to amend the proposal a second time. If they still do not reach an agreement, they will enter into negotiations. At the end of this conclusion, both institutions may vote for or against. The 705 MEPs in the European Parliament are elected by direct universal suffrage every five years. It organizes itself as a normal multi-party parliament when it does most of its work on its committees and sits in political parties and not in national delegations. However, their political groups are very weak because of their status as large ideological groups of existing national parties. The development of the European integration process and the development of the EP`s role as co-legislator have led to an increase in the number of trilogue meetings. [27] During the 2009-2014 legislature, when the Lisbon Treaty came into force and the codecision procedure became an ordinary legislative procedure – which defined the role of PARLEMENT and the Council of the EU as a col-law – 85% of the acts were adopted at first reading, 13% were adopted at second reading, while only 2% were included in the conciliation procedure.

This trend corresponds to an increase in the number of trilogues (more than 1500 over the same period) [28] and is considered evidence of the effectiveness of trilogues in the expedited legislative process. [23] The most important instrument used in trilogues is the quadrangle document, a worksheet that is divided into four sections and includes the positions of the three EU institutions. The first column is devoted to the EC`s position, the second to the EP`s position, the third to the Council`s position. The fourth and final column is left to the compromised text that must be created. Although the first two positions are public, the other two often have elements of text that have not been taken up and the content of the fourth column remains inaccessible to the public. [27] Trilogues have been criticised for the lack of transparency and democracy, both for the limited number of EU representatives involved and for the working methods. [29] In 2015, the European Ombudsman, the EU body responsible for investigating complaints of maladministration by EU institutions and other bodies, opened a strategic investigation to identify the need for reform of the trilogue in order to put forward proposals to increase transparency. [30] If the Council does not approve at second reading some or all of the amendments adopted by Parliament, a conciliation committee will be convened.