The procedure in the EU is more complicated because legislation is drafted, amended and adopted in interaction with the 15 member states and the EU institutions. The founding treaties negotiated by the member states contain rules governing the way in which relations between the member states and the EU are to function, and the way in which decisions on more detailed rules may be prepared by the EU institutions. Developments have been shaped by the member states' desire to introduce common rules in particular areas . The purpose of cooperation, therefore, is not to address the entire spectrum of legislation, only the issues where member states have identified a need for common rules. EC cooperation also includes agricultural, environmental, competition and trade policies.
Issues relating to asylum and civil law also belong here.
The third pillar comprises police cooperation and criminal matters. It is mainly under the EC pillar that the EU institutions are empowered to draft legislation. Under the third pillar, the Council of Ministers may take framework decisions on the coordination of national legislation. It is only in regard to activities under the first pillar that the member states have transferred elements of their sovereignty to the EU institutions. The Commission has the exclusive right to initiate proposals for new legislation.