THE NON-LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The entry into force of The Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009 substantially changed the terminology used in legislative (decision-making) procedures in the EU. The basic change was the introduction of the division of acts of EU secondary law into legislative and non-legislative ones. At the same time legislative procedures were further specified and described in two forms as the ordinary legislative procedure and special legislative procedure. Apart from the two legislative procedures, EU decision-making procedures should also be taken into account, which, while producing specific political and legal consequences, did not aim at the adoption of a legislative act. They are determined by both the provisions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This type of decision-making procedure should be described as a non-legislative procedure. Decision-making mechanisms also take into account the hybrid nature of the EU and a variety of interests of the Member States with the simultaneous need for maintaining the cohesion of the European Union