Article 251

   1.   Where reference is made in this Treaty to this Article for the adoption of an act, the
   following procedure shall apply.

   2.   The Commission shall submit a proposal to the European Parliament and the Council.

   The Council, acting by a qualified majority after obtaining the opinion of the European
   Parliament:

   -   if it approves all the amendments contained in the European Parliament's opinion, may      
       adopt the proposed act thus amended,                                                       

   

   -      if the European Parliament does not propose any amendments, may adopt the proposed act, 

   

   -   shall otherwise adopt a common position and communicate it to the European Parliament. The 
       Council shall inform the European Parliament fully of the reasons which led it to adopt    
       its common position. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament fully of its      
       position.                                                                                  

   If, within three months of such communication, the European Parliament:

   (a)   approves the common position or has not taken a decision, the act in question shall be   
         deemed to have been adopted in accordance with that common position;                     

   

   (b)   rejects, by an absolute majority of its component members, the common position, the      
         proposed act shall be deemed not to have been adopted;                                   

   

   (c)   proposes amendments to the common position by an absolute majority of its component      
         members, the amended text shall be forwarded to the Council and to the Commission, which 
         shall deliver an opinion on those amendments.                                            

   3.   If, within three months of the matter being referred to it, the Council, acting by a
   qualified majority, approves all the amendments of the European Parliament, the act in
   question shall be deemed to have been adopted in the form of the common position thus amended;
   however, the Council shall act unanimously on the amendments on which the Commission has
   delivered a negative opinion. If the Council does not approve all the amendments, the
   President of the Council, in agreement with the President of the European Parliament, shall
   within six weeks convene a meeting of the Conciliation Committee.

   4.   The Conciliation Committee, which shall be composed of the Members of the Council or
   their representatives and an equal number of representatives of the European Parliament, shall
   have the task of reaching agreement on a joint text, by a qualified majority of the Members of
   the Council or their representatives and by a majority of the representatives of the European
   Parliament. The Commission shall take part in the Conciliation Committee's proceedings and
   shall take all the necessary initiatives with a view to reconciling the positions of the
   European Parliament and the Council. In fulfilling this task, the Conciliation Committee shall
   address the common position on the basis of the amendments proposed by the European
   Parliament.

   5.   If, within six weeks of its being convened, the Conciliation Committee approves a joint
   text, the European Parliament, acting by an absolute majority of the votes cast, and the
   Council, acting by a qualified majority, shall each have a period of six weeks from that
   approval in which to adopt the act in question in accordance with the joint text. If either of
   the two institutions fails to approve the proposed act within that period, it shall be deemed
   not to have been adopted.

   6.   Where the Conciliation Committee does not approve a joint text, the proposed act shall be
   deemed not to have been adopted.

   7.   The periods of three months and six weeks referred to in this Article shall be extended
   by a maximum of one month and two weeks respectively at the initiative of the European
   Parliament or the Council.