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The European Parliament may approve or reject a legislative proposal, or propose amendments to it. The Council is not legally obliged to take account of Parliament's opinion but in line with the case-law of the Court of Justice, it must not take a decision without having received it.

In the beginning, the 1957 Treaty of Rome gave Parliament an advisory role in the legislative process; the Commission proposed and the Council adopted legislation.

The Single European Act (1986) and the Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon Treaties successively extended Parliament's prerogatives. It can now co-legislate on equal footing with the Council in a vast majority of areas (see Ordinary legislative procedure) and consultation became a special legislative procedure (or even a non-legislative procedure) used in a limited number of cases.

This procedure is now applicable in a limited number of legislative areas, such as internal market exemptions and competition law. Parliament´s consultation is also required, as a non-legislative procedure, where international agreements are being adopted under the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).