Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcasts.

Once an EU law is passed, it may be necessary to define the technical nitty-gritty, or to

ensure it's implemented under uniform conditions across the EU. That's why the European Parliament

and the Council can authorise the European Commission to adopt delegated and

implementing acts. But what are they and how to choose between the two? Stay with us.

Lawmaking by the Executive is a phenomenon that exists not only in the European Union,

but also in all member states, as well as in other jurisdictions.

Before the Lisbon Treaty, Executive Legal Acts were adopted by the European Commission

under the watchful eye of specialised committees composed of national experts.

That system was known as cometology.

But in 2009, partly in response to the Parliament's call for greater oversight

and democratic legitimacy of comatology acts, the Lisbon Treaty introduced delegated

and implementing acts, and the distinction between the two. Now, what are we talking about?

In a nutshell, delegated acts let the Commission specify or add technical details to EU laws,

while implementing acts ensure uniform conditions for their implementation across the EU.

Now, they're not only qualitatively different, they're also adopted under different procedures with different

types of involvement of the European Parliament, the Council and the Member States.

They are both very common. In 2023, the Commission adopted over 300 delegated acts and over

900 implementing acts. Now let's start with the delegated acts. They are adopted by the

Commission on the basis of a delegation of power granted in an EU law, also called the Basic

Act. But this Delegation of Power is subject to strict limits.

Yes it is. For example, a Delegated Act can only supplement or amend non-essential elements of the Basic

...