EPTTo follow proposals from idea to finalized legally binding directive/regulation is quite a task. Laws are mostly proposed by the European Commission after having been recommended it and the commission finding it necessary.
For larger legislation on European level it starts at the commission giving their DGs a task to come up with specific legislation. You can see the roadmap here:
http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/planned_ia/roadmaps_2013_en.htm
At a later point in the process, the potential legislation will reach the consultation stage, where it is possible for European citizens and specific interests to give their input in a questionaire. This consultation period is several months long and you can give it a go here:
http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/consultations/index_en.htm
After the consultations an impact assesment is written and you can see this years IAs here:
http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/ia_carried_out/cia_2013_en.htm
Remember to note the number of the proposal COM(year)***. It will make it much easier to follow!
As soon as the commission release the proposal to the Council and European Parliament it gets a bit harder to track.
Any communication from the Eurpean Commission to the European Parliament and the Council will enter prelex, where the documents can be searched:
http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/apcnet.cfm?CL=en
It is an easy way to find basic information on what the commission is doing and since the commission has the “right to initiative” on most legislation it is usually the first place a new proposal enters!
After some time, the proposal will get on the table of the European Parliament and a link will be provided to the Parliaments Observatory.
Any communication internally in the European Parliament and to the European Commission and the Council enters the Parliaments Observatory and can be searched here:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/search/search.do?lang=null
The Parliaments Observatory is the most comprehensive in terms of supplying information on the plans regarding proposals. It shows the responsible committees and how reports are coming along, as well as planned votes. Furthermore, you can find information on the councils progress on the topic by a link to consilium.
Any communication on the Councils meetings and the results enter consilium and can be searched here:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/documents/access-to-council-documents-public-register?lang=en
Since the legislative process can be pretty lenghty for the ordinary legislative procedure, it can take years to get through the process and a lot of back and forth communication can happen. Eventually the proposal is rejected or accepted. If it is rejected, it moves back to start where the commission can start a new piece of legislation. If it is accepted, the proposal will be final.
For final regulations/directives and other legal documents, EUR-lex provides the answer:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm
