European Union decision

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A Decision (defined in Article 249/EC) is one of the three binding instruments provided by secondary EU legislation. A decision is a law which is not of general application, but only applies to its particular addressee of the decision (be it Member States, companies or individuals).

The legislative procedure for adoption of a decision varies depending on its subject matter. The Codecision procedure requires agreement of and allows amendments by both the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The Assent procedure requires agreement of both Parliament and Council, but the Parliament can only agree or disagree to the text as a whole - it cannot propose amendments. The Consultation procedure requires agreement of the Council alone, the Parliament merely being consulted on the text. In some areas, such as competition policy, the Commission may itself issue decisions.

Common uses of decisions involve the Commission ruling on proposed mergers, and day-to-day agricultural matters (e.g. setting standard prices for vegetables.)