The consent procedure is one of the special legislative procedures of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

.

Single European Act

The assent procedure was introduced by the Single European Act

Single European Act

The Single European Act was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a Single Market by 31 December 1992, and codified European Political Cooperation, the forerunner of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy...

. Under this procedure, the Council of the European Union

Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...

 must obtain Parliament's

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 assent before certain decisions can be made. Acceptance ("assent") requires an absolute majority of votes.

The right of the European Parliament to reject or indefinitely delay the proposal is absolute. There is no formal provision for amendments by the European parliament, but in fact the Parliament can produce an interim report making recommendations for modifications, and a conciliation has also been introduced.

The areas included under the assent procedure were:

• specific tasks of the European Central Bank
  European Central Bank
  The European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...
  
   (ECB);
• amendments of statutes of the European System of Central Banks
  European System of Central Banks
  The European System of Central Banks is composed of the European Central Bank and the national central banks of all 27 European Union Member States.-Functions:...
  
   (ESCB) / European Central Bank;
• Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds
  Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds
  The Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund are financial tools set up to implement the Cohesion policy also referred to as the Regional policy of the European Union. They aim to reduce regional disparities in terms of income, wealth and opportunities...
  
  ;
• the uniform electoral procedure for the European Parliament;
• certain international agreements;
• the accession
  Enlargement of the European Union
  The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
  
   of new member states;
• approval of the President and the other members of the Commission

Treaty of Amsterdam

Following the adoption of the Treaty of Amsterdam, sanctions

International sanctions

International sanctions are actions taken by countries against others for political reasons, either unilaterally or multilaterally.There are several types of sanctions....

 imposed on an EU Member State

Member state

A member state is a state that is a member of an international organisation.The World Trade Organization has members that are sovereign states and members that are not, thus WTO members are not called member states.- Worldwide :...

 for a serious and persistent breach of fundamental rights requires Parliament's assent under Article 7 of the EU Treaty

Maastricht Treaty

The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...

.

In its opinion on the 2000 Intergovernmental Conference

Intergovernmental Conference

An Intergovernmental Conference is the formal procedure for negotiating amendments to the founding treaties of the European Union. Under the treaties, an IGC is called into being by the European Council, and is composed of representatives of the member states, with the Commission, and to a lesser...

, the European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

 argued in favor of extending this procedure to apply to the conclusions of agreements having global economic and commercial implications.

Lisbon Treaty

With entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, the assent procedure was renamed consent procedure, and it was defined as part of the special legislative procedures, as opposed to ordinary legislative procedure (formerly codecision).

Its applications include:

• horizontal flexibility clause (art. 352 TFEU),
• combating discrimination (Article 19(1) TFEU),
• membership of the Union (Article 49 TEU),
• arrangements for withdrawal from the Union (Article 50 TEU)
• association agreements,
• accession of the Union to the ECHR,
• agreements establishing a specific institutional framework,
• agreements with important budgetary implications,
• agreements in areas where the ordinary legislative procedure applies.

Under the consent procedure, the Parliament express its approval on a Council draft act by an absolute majority vote, without possibility to amend it. Informally, the Parliament is involved by the Commission since the beginning of the procedure, in order to guarantee its consent, although the Treaties do not formally forecast it.