| Pre-Maastricht | Post-Maastricht Third Pillar |
Post-Amsterdam First
Pillar (Communitarized areas of former Third Pillar) |
||
| 1999-2004 | Post-2004 | |||
| Asylum, Immigration, External Borders |
Domestic policy-making giving way to intergovernmental cooperation outside the Community framework | Third Pillar, Title VI, Article K of TEU | Article 73 of Amsterdam Treaty | |
| European Parliament |
No role | Limited role | Consultation for the first five years after Amsterdam Treaty takes effect, co-decision afterwards | |
| European Court of Justice |
No jurisdiction | No jurisdiction | Referral for an obligatory first ruling for national last-instance courts | |
| Decision- making |
Intergovernmental negotations Nonbinding decisions in the form of resolutions Binding decisions in the form of treaties |
Unanimity rule on all issues | Council acts unanimously on proposals from Commission and member states for the first five years | Council will act unanimously on a move towards qualified majority voting (with no need for national ratification of this decision) |
| Commission's Right of Initiative |
None Occasional observer status at intergovernmental meetings |
Shared right of initative for the Commission and Member States | Commission has shared right of initiative (member states have encouraged the Commission to assume an exclusive right for asylum issues) | Commission has exclusive right of initiative in Title IIIa |
Source: Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties
| Constitutional | |||
| Institutional | Constrained | Empowered | |
| Constrained | Pre-Mastricht JHA Actor |
Post-Maastricht, Pre-Amsterdam Weak Agent |
|
| Empowered | Amsterdam – 2004 Strong Agent |
Post-2004 Improved autonomy (in immigration, asylum, and external borders) |
|
Source: Adopted from (European Commission 1999d)