Unofficial reports may be found in binders annexed to the European Union Law Reporter mentioned above as a selective reprinting of legislation. Basic introduction to legislative history and process 2 An excellent manual which charts out in some detail the documentation for each stage of the legislative processes mandated for certain areas of legislation in the Maastricht treaty is Richard Corbett, The Treaty of Maastricht from conception to ratification . Longmans Group, 1993. The history of the treaty is also discussed and preparatory documents reprinted. The Commission sends a proposal to the Parliament and the Council.
Parliament can amend the proposal or take no action.
If the latter, then the Council adopts the act. In the former situation, the Council may accept the amendments or issue a Common Position, which is a statement of the version it endorses. Under the Amsterdam Treaty amendments, Parliament may take no action for 3-4 months, approve the Common Position, reject it, or amend it. The proposal bounces back to the Commission, which can approve or disapprove the amendments of Parliament to the Common Position. Then the Council comes in again, and can adopt the act as amended by Parliament even over the Commission's objections, provided the vote in the Council is unanimous rather than the qualified majority vote usually taken.